Vantaggi
There's ample opportunity to network with others in the field to help you find another full-time job, whether in international relations, international business, intelligence, political risk, etc. Wikistrat's online platform, the "GloMod", is truly revolutionary in that it allows participants worldwide to participate in the company's simulations and scenarios in real-time. This is especially important given that, again, most of the company's Analysts are global and are in different time zones. Consequently, the opportunity for immediate feedback is tremendous.
Svantaggi
Wikistrat's business model is to corral analysts worldwide online, work them for little or no pay, then publish the analysts' work in a final report (whereby the Senior or even Lead Analyst apparently takes all the credit) which is then distributed to clients at a profit. Even when the company does occasionally pay you through PayPal, they expect you to pickup up the cost of the transaction fee. This may be only a matter of a few dollars and cents, but it's the principle of the matter and it leaves a thoroughly disgusting impression. As mentioned in previous postings, Wikistrat's point system is supposed to somehow make you forget you're not actually being compensated monetarily for your time. Even worse, Analysts who are recognized as "Analyst of the Week" are exploited as free company salespeople/spokespeople online, as Wikistrat does not formally even have a marketing department (at least according to their website). The same is true of Analysts who give interviews in other fora/media totally unrelated to Wikistrat.