Pros
1) GHS has recruited many talented and passionate people who in recent years, come from more diverse backgrounds. It could be a humbling and learning experience to be surrounded by such a group of people. 2) If you are from the public health world, you will pick up comms/media skills here, and vice versa. It is a nice mix. 3) Each person is often staffed on 2 to 3 accounts. Many people use the GHS experience as a stepping stone for better jobs thanks to the big client names and a variety of projects they work on. 4) GHS is known for its expertise in public health writing, which does not happen by accident. The standard for writing is high at GHS and you will be trained to write and think better. It is the silver lining about working here. 5) GHS has tried to be better to attract and retain talent. I am not sure if true change has really happened but there have been bottom-up efforts.
Cons
TLDR: Oh my god, hell on earth is real and it is GHS. Run! Because GHS culture loves being polite and non-confrontational, I gave it to them offline and bonus them with this no-filter version online for the world to see. And no, a coffee chat or a conversation as a follow-up is not welcome. If you are considering an opportunity at GHS, please be very careful about what you want out of this experience because working here IS damaging to your mental health and traumatizing. It has repeatedly failed so many people. In a larger context, GHS is a machine that perpetuates everything that is problematic about communication in global health and international development. Spin? Yes. Meaningless buzzwords? Yes. (By the way, you cannot advertise yourself as a company that uses “communications and advocacy to change the world” when in reality you work for big pharmas! If you want to change the company, you have to be honest with yourself first.) I doubt that leadership will admit this, but they have all been at this company and groomed for way too long to realize that GHS is an absurd and backward place (that’s why their work, collaboration, and project management style belong to the 80s but that’s another story). There are GHS fans who will keep saying that this is a hard place to work at and the job is not for everyone. Sure, consulting is a challenging job, but this does not give them the excuse to build, contribute to, and condone a work culture that is toxic, cutthroat, and abusive. White supremacy is built into the very structure that keeps the status quo. - Abuse of power: leaders who keep framing everything as “a learning experience,” as “we are trying to help you,” as “we care about you and your professional development,” while at the same time belittling you, gaslighting you, making you feel small for raising questions or concerns. We want to see you grow with us? No, it is grooming and molding. That’s why everyone who succeeds at GHS thinks in the same way - creativity is stifled, differences in thoughts and ideas are not celebrated, and I think as an agency, they can never do creative communication and advocacy campaigns. - White capitalist ideals: you have to constantly choose between navigating to make small differences or be seen as “not able to cut it.” You have to be polite when raising concerns, know when to shut up when being around white leadership. You have to play their game if you want to move up here. - $$ over people: GHS is a machine that keeps churning people out. Their business model is to hire young, impressionable people who will accept low pay while working long hours to be slaves to clients, burn them out from six months to two years before they leave the job. Then the cycle starts all over again. You feel “disposable.” - Extremely low pay for what they are asking for: If I were a consultant and being worked to death, I at least should be making loads of money for it. But I did not and you deserve better. - Public health privilege: the pipeline of privileged students to GHS is real (and if you come from a less privileged background, you don't last long here). They do recruitments at “top” institutions where students come from a certain background, talk, think, write in a particular way. This is perpetuated to conveniently weed out people who may not necessarily fit into the GHS culture. You won’t be set up for success here unless you know how to play their game at the cost of your own trauma. - The Professional Development sandwich model fosters a culture of fear and abuse.