Does Smithsonian pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Smithsonian employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.6 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Smithsonian. This rating has improved by 4% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Smithsonian?

69% of Smithsonian employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Smithsonian 4.2 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.1 for culture and values and 3.4 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Smithsonian?

Intern (56) , Internship (13) , Explainer (10) , Retail Sales Associate (9) , Sales Associate (9) , Contractor (8) , Postdoctoral Fellow (8) , Research Assistant (8) , Museum Specialist (7) , Program Coordinator (7) , Security Officer (7) , Archivist (6) , Curator (6) , Education Specialist (6) , Program Assistant (6)

What are the pros of working at Smithsonian according to real employee reviews?

"And you will meet so many great people (tourist) from all over the world." ((in 69 reviews)); "Benefits are great and the option to telework." ((in 31 reviews)); "Great staff I enjoyed my time there." ((in 22 reviews)); "dynamic and diverse work environment, one" ((in 18 reviews)); "Great coworkers and behind the scenes access to museum collections" ((in 17 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Smithsonian according to real employee reviews?

"Pay is low but definitely no lower than industry standards." ((in 29 reviews)); "Low salary for DC metropolitan area" ((in 15 reviews)); "Lack of leadership and hard to fire" ((in 13 reviews)); "Unpaid internship where I was doing some of the same work that paid employees were doing." ((in 12 reviews)); "Long hours and very administrative at times" ((in 9 reviews))

What are the top reviewed Smithsonian locations?

Washington , Chantilly , New York , Suitland , Arlington , Chicago , Front Royal , Annapolis , Edgewater , District Heights , Falls Church , Herndon , Manassas , Sterling , Wisconsin Rapids , Tucson , Ann Arbor , Burlington , Saint Cloud , Shepherdstown , San Diego , Berkeley , Las Vegas , Ruston , Seattle , Catonsville , Columbia , California , Chevy Chase , Fort Washington

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Smithsonian

Smithsonian reviews

4.1

69% would recommend to a friend

(510 total reviews)

Dr. David J. Skorton

80% approve of CEO

64% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

4.3

Diversity & inclusion

4.2

Work/Life balance

4.1

Culture & values

3.6

Compensation and benefits

3.5

Senior management

3.4

Career opportunities

Smithsonian has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 510 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Smithsonian employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Nonprofit & NGO industry (3.7 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

510 reviews

4.0

Nov 3, 2015

Great People - Lots of Challenges

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

It's amazing to work for an organization dedicated to education and to making informal learning fun. My coworkers were wonderful, passionate people for the most part, who were honestly trying to make a difference. Benefits package is phenomenal.

Cons

The Smithsonian is severely understaffed these days and there's a great divide between what senior management believes makes sense and what employees on the ground know to be true about our visitors and stakeholders. A lot of departments operated in a fairly siloed manner and it can be difficult to convince people in other departments to work with you.

4.0

Oct 7, 2015

Great Summer Job

Sales associate

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Great Hours, Minimum Wage, Friendly Work Environment,

Cons

Shorter Hours in the winter, Short Staffed, Minimum Wage for heavy workload, Confusing Managers, No room for advancement unless your upper UPPER management likes you. Would say great for college students but in the Summer/Spring you sign up for 24 hours and they force you 40.

4.0

Oct 5, 2015

Summer Fellow

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Amazing research opportunity between the Archives of American Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, I assisted predoctoral research fellows and curators, I got invaluable professional experience and met many staffers who were generous with their time and advice

Cons

Not always clear how to parlay contract positions into longer term assignments but definitely good to continue to keep in touch with superiors.

Viewing 421 - 423 of 510 Reviews

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Jobs at Smithsonian

Associate Director, Information Technology

Membership Manager, IS-0301-12

Administrative Specialist(Institutional Operations and Communications), (IS-0301-9)

IT Specialist (SysAdmin/Network) (IS-2210-11/12/13)

IT Specialist (Sys Admin)