Vantaggi
I think ofcom can work very well for some people, although it didn't work well for me. I'll try to explain why. At large, Ofcom is a classic public sector work environment. You would find yourself happy at Ofcom if you prefer public sector dynamics, along with their pros and cons. Some of them are listed below. Despite some downsides, which are common to many public sector environments, the organisation still manages to outperform other public sector bodies thanks to the high calibre of most colleagues and their enthusiasm for the common cause. If you are the "public sector type of person", Ofcom is probably one of your best picks, along with Treasury and Cabinet Office. If you have no idea how a day at the public sector looks like, watch an episode of “Yes Minister”. Try to imagine yourself working under Sir Humphrey. If that scenario doesn’t depress you, and you are okay working less hours in return for lower pay, Ofcom is an absolutely fantastic place to work at. If that scenario does depress you, however, you would likely loose the joy of life working at Ofcom. That's what happened to me. Pros: 1. Very flexible work hours. These would normally be 9-5. Colleagues can come late and stay late, come early and leave early if they find it comfortable. Most colleagues “work from home” on Fridays, which is office jargon for effectively working only 4 days a week. 2. Very thorough attention to details, encouraging high quality work. 3. Overall high calibre staff. 4. Overall friendly work environment, with much support for personal and professional development. 5. Gorgeous office on the Thames with views of London that would make you smile a little every morning when you walk in. 6. Overall accommodating to personal preferences. Feel like your workload is too high? just say so and it would be reduced. Feel like specialising on a particular industry? the organisation would go a long way to provide that. The list goes on. 7. Overall friendly to parents, women, ethnic minorities and those with a disability.
Svantaggi
1. The structure of incentives doesn't encourage productivity. In other words, there is little incentive for colleagues to be active, deliver ahead of deadlines, propose new ideas, take on further responsibility, or outperform expectations. These things aren't frowned upon - of course - but there is no reward for such behaviour. 2. The organisation lacks rigorous tools to identify productive performance. In other words, a colleague who was assigned little workload could spend the first hour of the day completing her tasks (in a high standard), but devote the remainder of her day to watching kittens on Facebook and still receive great reviews in performance appraisals. A selected amount of colleagues thus choose to spend their days like this. It is still the exception rather than the norm though, thanks to the overall high calibre of staff. 3. Decision making is slow, and much of the work isn't really necessary for anything (despite the high standard of it, as mentioned above). In other words, if tomorrow the organisation would lay-off half its workforce, it would likely make very little difference to consumers and the communications industry. On second thought, it will probably benefit consumers; Ofcom would be reaching the same results but in a more concise manner and in a shorter time. 4. Pay is lower than in industry, and promotion is slow.