SAIC Reviews in Alexandria, VA

I worked at SAIC full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – project team, policies and processes

Cons – Difficult customer, PM was unrealistic

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at SAIC as a contractor for more than a year

Pros – Like I said above the company does have a good reputation along with good benefits. Since the company is a mid size company there are always lots of jobs that you can move within the company.

Cons – Good or poor management is all relative to the division that you are in. My job doesn't really have very many options for advancement or working outside of a combat zone, so once the contract is done then we will all be forced to look for work. The biggest complaint that I have is that I was burned on my tuition reimbursement. The company approved me for reimbursement since the claim to be fully supportive of getting a higher level education, knowing that I was going to be on a leave of absence. Later claiming that they could not give me the tuition reimbursement because I was on a LOA status. The policy is extremely vague.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at SAIC

Pros – Good salary, very flexible hours.

Cons – Working at the Towers is the best way to advance. Away from the Towers you aren't visible for advancement.

Advice to Senior Management – Advance younger people more willing to work hard than older employees who advance just there because of their past military/government success.

I have been working at SAIC

Pros – Most managers are good people.

Cons – If one does get a bad manager, the leadership is unwilling to do what's necessary to correct the situation .

Advice to Senior Management – It's important to be fair to the employees instead of just covering for the "managers" who may not be performing the tasks that are best for the team.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at SAIC

Pros – Its always been a stable company. During my tenor when the market was down SAI stock was up or stable. There is plenty of work and the company continues to grow. Senior management have a keen since as to what the future holds and how the company can continue to remain competitive.

Cons – Sometimes there is more work than available resources so it is not uncommon to work extra unpaid hours. There is not alot of team building experiences.

Advice to Senior Management – Improve the onboarding process. Open the doors for members that hold a Secret clearance to seek Jobs with TS or greater. Open channels of communication between engineers in different divisions/groups etc. I guarantee there are duplicate efforts being performed throughout the company and lessons learned that could be shared.

I worked at SAIC

Pros – SAIC provides work on contracts that are difficult to find anywhere else. The work is always interesting, meaningful and rewarding. Some of the best people in their respective fields work for the company and it is always a pleasure to work with these types of highly skilled people.

Cons – Senior Management is often grossly out of touch with employee morale as well as how to effectively manage employees and their interrelationships. Employees often have to fend for themselves and form cliques in order to survive and advance. Thus advancement is often a function of popularity vs. job performance. Employees are often treated as functional cogs in a machine instead of people.

Senior management is often hired out of the officer corp of the military and have little knowledge or understanding of the corporate world and of skills based jobs (vs. managerial jobs). Opportunities to move into the management ranks are most often limited to those employees who were prior officers even when other, more qualified candidates exist. This creates a "para-military" mindset in the company that is at best ignorant of the employees and at worst destructive and cancerous within the employee ranks.

Advice to Senior Management – Think a little outside the box of the training provided the military officer corps and try to run a business instead.

I have been working at SAIC

Pros – Very flexible work place (this is really up to my division - not the company as a whole).
Good benefits.

Cons – Poor salaries for newer / younger employees. Times were much better in the years before the company went public, and the raises the older workers got were MUCH higher. Therefore, there is now a de-facto two-tier pay system - one for those there before the company went public, and one for those who began their career afterwards. The older employers make a good 30% premium all other things remaining equal.

Advice to Senior Management – Start working on removing some of the dead weight in middle management and the large amount of poor performers who've been feeding at the trough since 911 bonanza began ten years ago. Many of these workers do not carry their weight, and are becoming a burden on those that perform.

SAIC (and all the other big miliatary / government contractors) are going to run into trouble as the technical talent moves to smaller / younger companies where they're not required to subsidize the large salaries and expensive health bennies of the older workers.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at SAIC

Pros – Flexible work environment, and a little less cutthroat than the private sector.

Cons – a lot of incompetent employees that float by because of high security clearances.

Advice to Senior Management – quit tossing developers aside when projects are put on hold, only to have to retrain someone the next month when it starts again.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at SAIC

Pros – Job with a mission - government oriented
Good employee support although communication could be better

Cons – Military mindset throughout company - could stand to be more business oriented
No clear career path. Promotions are there but you have to find your own way

Advice to Senior Management – Work more as a commercial business and less as a military subsidiary. Focus on revenue, profits and customer satisfaction.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at SAIC

Pros – Management tries hard to find support for employees who lose coverage, which makes it pretty stable employment in a competitive environment.
Management is very supportive of continued education--the company will pay tuition.

Cons – The quality of management varies tremendously depending on location.
There is no path for career advancement in some divisions.
The corporate environment isn't what it was during the good old "employee owned" days.

Advice to Senior Management – Don't focus so much on the short-term bottom line. Don't lose talent because temporary lack of support lowers profit margins.