IEEE is a nightmare:
- Politics. The organization is very top heavy, which means you have lots of people working towards keeping their positions secure at the detriment of the organization.
- Siloed. Politics prevent organizational units from working together to deliver benefits to the members that pay their salary. Working in IT, I was tasked to recreate a system "owned" by another organizational unit because the "owner" wouldn't allow it to be used unless it had "proper sub-branding".
- Regressive. Politics + silos mean that ambitious, needle-moving initiatives will never be in a state where they can actually improve the organization and gain more members.
- Lack of transparency. IEEE is volunteer-driven, and many higher-ups keep IEEE members and volunteers in the dark. Instead of breaking down why it will take X amount of budget and time to build products the right way, they will instead make lofty promises that can't be met.
Simply put, if you have any sort of ambition, IEEE's bureaucratic nightmare will bury any kind of forward movement. If you like working for a living, you'll get as much as you can handle, because staffing is limited and you'll be working around other team's "limitations" (or, unwillingness to participate). If you prove yourself to be a good worker, just expect more work. Don't expect additional resources to be allocated, and certainly do not expect growth.