Smithsonian reviews

4.1

66% would recommend to a friend

(508 total reviews)
avatar

Dr. David J. Skorton

75% approve of CEO

64% positive business outlook

Smithsonian has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 508 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).

Reviews by job title

508 reviews
3.0
Nov 6, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Manager was pleasant, helpful. Department, located in Natural history museum, consisted of intelligent, friendly scientists. Great coworkers; close to Metro station.

Cons

Not much room for advancement if working in administrative field. During summer months its hard to find a quick place to eat lunch due to the summer crowds.

2.0
Oct 28, 2014

15 years middle manager

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Amazing opportunities to work on global projects and collaborate with internationally celebrated artists and scholars. Good benefits and some great colleagues.

Cons

senior management disconnect from reality. Serious organizational flaws. Senior level bureaucrats get promoted to positions they cannot perform. Lousy pay

5.0
Oct 22, 2014

Great experience!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Very collegial work environment with extremely smart people. Work-life balance is fantastic. The agency values learning and diversity. Benefits are also good.

Cons

Takes a long time for things to change, though I think this is true of most government agencies. Pay is not as good as private companies, but still much better than most government agencies.

Viewing 424 - 426 of 508 Reviews

Glassdoor has 797 Smithsonian reviews submitted anonymously by Smithsonian employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Smithsonian is right for you.