Department of Energy Reviews

Pros

1. Stable Job Field.
2. Excellent Benefit Package.
3. Excellent Retirement Package.
4. Friendly Atmosphere.
5. Flexible Time Schedule.
6. Ability to carry over 30-days worth of vacation time.

Cons

1. The opportunity to move up takes longer compared to private sector.
2. Maximum pay cap is not as high as private sector.

Advice to Senior Management

1. Offer a one-to-one mentoring program to help peers gain valable experience such as leadership and management skills that will allow the individual to move up in the ranks.

Pros

Great people at the bottom of the organization; they are the ones that execute and clean-up the messes of management.

Cons

Program managers lack technical know-how. Organization is overly bureaucratic. This Place is all about titles...but lacks substance.

Advice to Senior Management

In reality, the organization needs to follow the NSF model of bringing program managers; seasoned pros with an extensive history. The organization needs to stop hiring people "off the street". The lack of experience and technical know-how shows. The leadership at the top has the right vision...it is more of a matter of whether those in the middle get it.

Pros

Interesting advanced technologies and science are being deployed for clean and renewable energy. Working with the public is important for DOE's future.

Cons

Huge revolving door, inter-departmental divisiveness and a working environment that picks favorites. Consultants tend to be mis-treated, and dis-empowered. That's wrong. The "ivory tower" of national labs led by career Feds is highly insular. DOE tends to be always on the defensive. It needs to be pro-active in communications, internally and externally with the public. It's a huge, monolithic and bureaucratic research institution.

Advice to Senior Management

Create more transparency and public awareness and jobs in clean energy, and treat consultants equal to feds -- we're all in this together to help America grow into a better place.

Pros

Great colleagues and management team.

Cons

Difficult environment due to outside congressional friction over clean energy funding policy.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep fighting the good fight.

Pros

The Germantown facility is a nice facility on lush green lawn and located right off of 1-270. The are plenty off office space, less cubicles than the facilty in downtown D.C.

Cons

Lack of new technology, a server with constant gliches and a limited supply of resources makes it hard to get work done at times. Average age of the workforce are age 55 and up, so progressive thinking is at a standstill in many departments. Office politics (you find this everywhere).

Advice to Senior Management

Dont be afraid of change and new ideas. Fight for your employees advancement. Consider 10 hour shifs as an alternate work schedule for all not some.

Pros

Smart, qualified people, with many looking to grow
Work life balance is great
Respect and reputation is high

Cons

=Change takes longer, people resist change
Rewards and results take longer to achieve
Minimal bonuses, to be expected

Pros

- Work/life balance exceptional (40 hour weeks, no more; AWS (alternate work schedule) offered by some managers allows you to work 9 hour days for 2 weeks to get the required 80 hours, thus allowing one day every other week off once those 80 hours are reached)
- Loan forgiveness and payments for classes towards an advanced degree
- Opportunities to network with other government agencies, industry, and academia
- Ability to work on projects/tasks of interest to you

Cons

- You are at the mercy of Congress and the current administration. If policies affect your office or if pay freezes are viewed as a viable way to reduce our deficit, then discretionary spending (aka government agencies) take that hit
- Bureaucracy ultimately one of the factors making me look elsewhere. Bureaucracy held up my pay and bonuses, affected getting work done, resulted in me doing meaningless work at times, list goes on. Could be very frustrating (and disheartening) at times to see how much the bureaucracy impacted work.
- At least in my experience, young technical staff were extremely under utilized. I felt like I had so much more to offer, and frequently showed my capabilities, but unfortunately I (along with several other highly qualified and capable young technical colleagues) were not utilized to the extent we felt appropriate.
- Due to the under utilization, concern is that the longer I stay, the less relevant work experience I can show to outside entities as a qualification

Advice to Senior Management

- Utilize the younger qualified technical staff: they're willing and extremely interested in doing meaningful work
- For the political appointees, listen to the career staff. While it may not always align with policies, it might add to the credibility of what we say outside the walls of DOE

Pros

Job Security, Benefits, and Community

Cons

Pay is TYPICALLY below national average

Advice to Senior Management

None!

Pros

- Energy work is at forefront of policy

Cons

- Low morale due to poor management

Advice to Senior Management

Treat human capital as a valuable asset, and not a negligible resource.

Pros

good pay comparing to equivalennt position somewhere else

Cons

small place and not that much of fun after work

Advice to Senior Management

more care to the employee in terms of their carreer development and future path. let your employee have a feeling of belonging.