Researcher, Energy Security - Researcher Wikistrat Employee Review

2.0
27 Sept 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very interesting platform and project dynamics. This Virtual Organization relies heavily on self-regulation instead of constant supervision. Huge group of interesting perspectives and background contributing on a variety of projects. Pay is based on performance and was regular until suddenly dropping. Great opportunity to network and interface with other people who are interested in the field both professional and some who might better be qualified as hobbyists.

Cons

Ideas of hobbyists and professionals are largely held on equal footing which seems to lead to a lot of burnout where experts get tired of debunking wild ideas. Similarly bad is that some projects ran by a few members are heavily biased towards their own preconceptions of the topic at hand. Pay suddenly dropped despite increased projects, rumor has it that most of them aren't actually for a specific client but to be used for pitching potential clients. Full time staff are a total mess, I've been contacted a few times to schedule a meeting but then it's forgotten about and follow up emails are ignored. Similarly, I started randomly getting the equivalent of "professional spam" from their HR and project leaders about paying projects that don't pay or recommending random fellowships and positions of which Wikistrat isn't actually involved in the recruitment process. More and more project "scenarios" seem to be derived mostly from random hypotheticals not based on data or an individual's professional experience. The "internal wiki" is largely defunct nor does the firm have any interest in compensating analysts for contributing to it.

Explore other reviews about Wikistrat

5.0
27 Dec 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great community of analysts. Good networking opportunities

Cons

No pay. Large community makes it difficult to get contributions noticed

2.0
27 Nov 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There's ample opportunity to network with others in the field to help you find another full-time job, whether in international relations, international business, intelligence, political risk, etc. Wikistrat's online platform, the "GloMod", is truly revolutionary in that it allows participants worldwide to participate in the company's simulations and scenarios in real-time. This is especially important given that, again, most of the company's Analysts are global and are in different time zones. Consequently, the opportunity for immediate feedback is tremendous.

Cons

Wikistrat's business model is to corral analysts worldwide online, work them for little or no pay, then publish the analysts' work in a final report (whereby the Senior or even Lead Analyst apparently takes all the credit) which is then distributed to clients at a profit. Even when the company does occasionally pay you through PayPal, they expect you to pickup up the cost of the transaction fee. This may be only a matter of a few dollars and cents, but it's the principle of the matter and it leaves a thoroughly disgusting impression. As mentioned in previous postings, Wikistrat's point system is supposed to somehow make you forget you're not actually being compensated monetarily for your time. Even worse, Analysts who are recognized as "Analyst of the Week" are exploited as free company salespeople/spokespeople online, as Wikistrat does not formally even have a marketing department (at least according to their website). The same is true of Analysts who give interviews in other fora/media totally unrelated to Wikistrat.

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