Pros
You can enjoy very good tax-exempt salary similar to the UN scale, at least 2-3 times better than salaries that you will get from other competitors (i.e. democracy NGOs). Flexible work environments (e.g. you can work from home as well as the office provides you with free cappuccinos and free bowls of fruits!) and unbeatable benefits (e.g. plenty of any kinds of leave, medical/life insurance, generous travel allowance, almost unlimited learning allowance, even fitness grant, etc.) at the HQ office in Stockholm, working with young and passionate talented colleagues. You can also enjoy a wonderful view from your luxury and spacious office – a beautiful stone building on a small island literally surrounded by water.
Cons
International IDEA has been suffered by serious silo mentality for many years perhaps since the establishment of the organization in 1995, not well communicating or collaborating each other between Programmes (i.e. HQ, several Regional Programme offices and country offices). As there are many democracy-support competitors around the glove (e.g. giant UNDP, OSCE, IFES, NDI, IRI, NIMD, Westminster Foundation, etc.) now, IDEA is hardly able to provide any niche or value-added proposition to the challenging world, compared with these competitors. In addition, IDEA’s programmes, mostly comparative knowledge publications, are not cost-effective because of very high staff salary and management costs. You will have serious doubts about how effectively IDEA can spend valuable taxpayers’ money. All important decisions are made by senior management behind the closed door without any proper consultation with colleagues who have expertise in specific topics. IDEA lacks transparency, integrity and honesty; surprisingly lacks democratic decision-making processes though the organization cynically wants to pursue democracy around the world. The authoritarian management style accompanied with serious cronyism and nepotism by the Secretary-General and his surroundings is unbearable and a real shame.