BAE SYSTEMS (United Kingdom) – “Low pay, poor managers, and an old boys network”

Pros

- Good starting salary for graduates.
- Some interesting work, if you can get it. I was on a good project that was fun but most work at BAE Systems is very boring right now. [They currently have senior software engineers doing CM work].

Cons

- Other than initial graduate pay the salaries here are a lot lower than similar defence companies in the area.
- Senior management treat you like a mushroom (keep you in the dark and feed you cr*p). I can't recall the last time I attended a large meeting where senior managers didn't make up some lie about how good things were when in fact they hadn't won any bids for ages.
- There are a significant number of senior people who circulate in the same high-level jobs and screwing up everything they touch. These managers are only there to help each other with perks (eg, approving travel for each other's familes on company expenses) whilst consistently failing to perform their actual duties.

Advice to Senior Management

Fire the senior managers who are making obvious rorts of the system and put in some competent people who actually want to work and achieve company goals.