Want a job in DC? Look elsewhere. - Legislative Associate Stateside Associates Employee Review

Although I have resisted the temptation to post a review on this site for quite some time, when I heard there were false reviews being posted by the CEO, I felt it necessary to help set the record straight. It has been said in many other posts, but the turnover rate is high. Very high. During my tenure at Stateside the turnover rate was nearly 100% annually. For a company of any size, let alone a staff of over 40, this is clearly a red flag. I note the turnover rate to highlight the one overarching problem with Stateside Associates: employee relations are abysmal. Employees are overworked, underpaid, under-appreciated and, generally speaking, mistreated. From January through May, it was not uncommon to work twelve hours a day for seven days a week and still be behind on your work. Now I will concede that this in and of itself is to be expected: as any government affairs professional knows, you will work longer hours when the legislature is in session. However, the pay and treatment from Stateside management did not reflect this sentiment. Management would often scold employees for being behind on work, and raises and promotions were things of folklore. In some instances, management would go so far as to use employees as scapegoats for their mistakes, ensuring clients that "a new employee made the mistake...so we'll take care of the issue." The only incentive to go to 2300 Clarendon Boulevard every day was to keep a paycheck coming in until you found another job. While I believe the CEO's post made a mild concession that this is not a "cushy" job, she is making light of a far worse situation. Granted, everyone who has several jobs under their belt can point to the one job that made all other jobs seem like walks in the park in comparison. Former employees of Stateside clearly agree that our experiences there fit that description. But when the levels of stress and excessive degradation employees experienced leads some employees to depression and even seizures, it must be placed in a new category. Stateside is not simply the worst job I have ever had, I would argue that it is the worst job any person could have.