Pros
- I had a good PI so it was hectic busy and very productive and great place to learn but I saw many other RAs flailing and mostly wasting their time under PIs who never responded to emails, were never around and were barely aware that their research was ongoing in India.
Kontras
- despite my PI providing me with an amazing opportunity to grow, my PI was terrifying to actually speak to and work with, the hours were crazy, I barely had any life outside of work and finally, I had to do a lot of personal counselling (during and after my job) to undo a lot of the mental trauma and deep insecurity that surfaces when working such ungodly hours for so little pay and when working for a PI who was so smart/terrifying/demanding. - I didn't know that RAs basically had to say yes to every single thing that the PI asks - wish I had known this before joining J-PAL - J-PAL has a huge problem with hiring a certain kind of foreign-MPP/development studies, "cool" South-Delhi/ South-Bombay/South-Bangalore Econ grads who are all unanimously upper-caste and have a very particular way of interacting with the surveyors, with the staff and each other. For someone not from this socio-economic group, it is a bit isolating. If you are from this socio-economic group - you will have a fantastic time with all your "like-minded" people. The other RAs and managers are all very smart and fun but honestly, everyone sounds and looks and talks the same and it's difficult to get other perspectives.