Great for a government agency, ideal for former private sector employees who want work/life balance - Analyst OPIC Employee Review

3.0
1 Oct 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great benefits (even better than most federal agencies - free gym, a lot of support for training and employee development, more early release and days off around holidays, most employees in finance, legal, or policy do a fair amount of international travel and get lots of comp time), friendly and competent team members, relaxed and positive work environment. High morale. Great organizational mission.

Cons

Though the organization's mission is great, OPIC is not as mission-driven as it could be, especially with regard to internal communication. The pay isn't very competitive (it is the government, after all). And like most government agencies, managers are promoted according to longevity as opposed to actual skill in management; and therefore could benefit from management training. Innovation is lacking as is individual agency (again, the government). It's a small agency so opportunities for internal advancement are extremely limited. The agency has to be reauthorized to exist every couple of years or so which makes for fairly myopic strategy. It also means employees don't enjoy the same sense of security most other federal workers have.

Explore other reviews about OPIC

5.0
10 July 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Interesting deals Bright colleagues Good networking Nice working environment

Cons

Unpaid Can be doing grunt work

4.0
25 Apr 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Working at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation was a good step for me to get a good grounding in finance before trying to get a private sector job. I knew very little about financial statement analysis, and was able to learn to analyze each statement in detail and make intelligent judgments about companies in a number of different markets. My supervisors were supportive, and being that it was a government employee, there was never any rush for me to produce. This gave me a easy-going learning environment that would not have been possible in the private sector. Overall, I would recommend internships there.

Cons

While the government pace of working at OPIC can provide a relaxing learning environment, it can also be maddeningly boring. Many of the other interns at OPIC found that they did not have many meaningful assignments - I believe that this is related to the fact that supervisors at OPIC don't have a private sector incentive to get value from your work. A related annoying of working at OPIC is that it has a strikingly non-congenial work atmosphere. People aren't rude or intentional standoff-ish, but are in general not very easy to communicate with. I think this is because most employees are ex-bankers who have settled and have a family, and found OPIC (unsurprisingly) to be the easiest way to make a decent salary in the government.

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