-Location
-There are several drawbacks to Project Vote Smart’s remote location. The first is cost of living. While the organization generally cites the below-average cost of living in Philipsburg when explaining the low salary range, the claim is misleading, as the organization’s analysis of cost of living ignores several factors. The first is the commute. It takes approximately thirty minutes each way in the summer and almost an hour each way in the winter. This means not only a lot of time spent en route each day but a lot of wear-and-tear on your car (the majority of the commute is on a poorly-maintained dirt/gravel road) and a lot of money spent on gas. The second is the cost of utilities during the winter. Most of the houses in Philipsburg are old and poorly insulated. The cost of heating is incredibly expensive, given the monthly salary of most of the employees. The third is that because Philipsburg is so small, most employees drive to Anaconda or Missoula to buy groceries and other common items that they can’t buy in town. In addition, any travel that requires flying first requires driving to Butte or Missoula.
-The second is that driving conditions in the winter (feasibly October-April in that part of Montana) are, at best, frustrating and, more realistically, dangerous. It is quite common for cars to get stuck on Moose Lake Road in the winter and spring and, as there is no cell phone service, the only option the passengers have (if they can’t dig the car out themselves) is to wait for another car to pass by and either get help digging it out or leave it and hitch a ride. Sometimes the road is impassable and employees may or may not be compensated for the time they spent trying to get to work - it is left to the discretion of the President and National Director.
-Office Environment
-The office environment is extremely unprofessional. The “Policies and Procedures Manual,” which vaguely outlines behavior expected from employees and interns, is largely unenforced and, therefore, routinely ignored. Both employees and interns frequently arrive late, wear pajamas to work, and come to work so hungover that they are all but useless. All cleaning in the office is [theoretically] completed by employees and interns but chore assignments are, again, largely unenforced and, therefore, routinely ignored. As a result, it is common to run out of toilet paper, paper towels and soap. Because many people eat at their desks and chores are often either forgotten or ignored, it is not uncommon to find mouse droppings and/or dead mice in various corners of the office.
-There is very little consistency in the enforcement of the policies. For example, I saw one employee arrive over an hour late almost every day for six months and not disciplined and four employees fired (publicly) without warning and for no given reason. This makes for an environment characterized by uncertainty and unease and serves to demotivate otherwise good employees.
-Some members of the administration regularly harass employees. This includes yelling, threatening, and name-calling, as well as deriding employees via emails to the entire staff or during meetings at which all staff members and interns are present.
-Work
-Training is inconsistent. As a result, some employees receive in-depth instruction and some receive almost no instruction at all. In part as a result of the unusually high turnover, there are multiple training manuals for most departments and tasks and, in most cases, no one (including the National Director) is sure which manual is most current. A lot of time is wasted trying to piece together an accurate understanding of the processes as they were most recently envisioned and, therefore, how to improve upon them. This also leads to a low level of inter-departmental consistency, which makes collaboration onerous, if not impossible.
-The work can be very monotonous. Unless you are in a leadership position (most employees cannot be, as there are only four departments of which one can become director), the work is very repetitive. The organization has not invested in finding ways to automate certain tasks, which would free up employees for higher-level work. For example, some employees spend their entire tenure updating candidates’ biographical information. This entails reviewing each candidate’s website(s) and copying and pasting information such as his or her birthday into the database.
Ultimately, I would not recommend anyone pursue a job or internship at Project Vote Smart. At best, it is mismanaged and many employees and interns leave feeling taken advantage of and frustrated at their inability to do anything about it. Employee dissatisfaction is evident by the extremely high rate of turnover. There is a reason why so many of the idealistic, talented individuals who are lured by the idea of furthering a cause they believe in leave angry and embittered. I have worked at several similar nonprofits that I would recommend over Project Vote Smart. For someone with little to no prior experience, you will not learn very much at Project Vote Smart. For someone with more prior experience, your experience and skills will not be utilized and you will be frustrated by the lack of room to grow and ability to develop professionally.