SAIC Reviews in Washington, DC

I have been working at SAIC full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – * Career Advancement Opportunities are vast. SAIC offers free courses, college tuition assistance and career training to help you advance within the company. Most of us have been with the company for 4+ years and have no intention in leaving.
* Communication - We hear from our senior leadership whether good or bad. We also have great teams working together to exceed customer expectation. Most importantly, management trusts you to do your job and doesn't micro-manage employees.
* Overall all opinion - Great company to work for. I have only had one bad experience and once reported the company took care of the matter promptly.

Cons – * Most work is contract work and with contract work, sometimes contracts aren't renewed or even cancelled due to government financing. Caveat - the company will try to place you to avoid termination.
* Project budgets are very lean, usually no money for outside vendor training or speciality office supplies.

Advice to Senior Management – * Make outside training budgets part of the corporate budget not the division or program level.
* Convince customers to encourage telecommuting for trades such as project controls, schedulers and management analysts - we tend to not see the customer enough to warrent physical space in the office thus saving you thousands of dollars annually on leased office space and big bonus... we actually get more done when we telecommute.
* For inner city workers who commute offer parking assistance (parking passes) or mass transit/commuter reimbursement - we pay alot of money to come to the jobs we love... love us back.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at SAIC full-time for more than a year

Pros – Their benefits are good. As a contractor housed at the customer site I don't deal much with SAIC but when I need them the support staff is great.

Cons – I have very little oversight so the performance review cycles are a bit tricky

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at SAIC

Pros – Great experience to work with latest tools and technologies. Company really appreciates talent. I joined SAIC in November and got my first raise in April which was within 6 months. Haven't had that ever before.

Cons – No flexibility. Sign in and out stuff.

Advice to Senior Management – Need to work on employee career management. Although they say they have resources, they aren't very helpful.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at SAIC full-time for more than a year

Pros – SAIC has great overall benefits. 6% 401k match, but has 5 year vested period with 20% a year. decent vacation time.. 19 days annually, good healthcare...

Cons – The company has many sub-units that make up the company. Each unit is different. You never know what you may get.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at SAIC

Pros – Good salary, health insurance, adequate vacations days

Cons – Not very much management feedback. opportunities for growth and training are few and far between

Advice to Senior Management – Management needs to have a stronger presence both with the client and employees

I have been working at SAIC

Pros – Excellent benefits.
Excellent opportunity for job growth.
Ability to work with and learn a lot of different technologies.

Cons – If there are not any contract work in you department, you might get layed off.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at SAIC

Pros – Health insurance is cheap and OK. Client site is ok when the need arises to go out and see the light of day.

Cons – I've never worked for a company so bent into tormeting employees into submission and compliance than SAIC. Like other Beltway Bandits it is a company deeply mired in a government/military mindset (of operation and profit taking) that just doesn't fit in the twenty first century. You're reminded constantly about ethics not for your sake but for theirs. Immediate supervisors and managers are very removed from you; if you have not been here for more than three years you are an outsider. Time keeping policies are stiffling, obsesive-cumpulsive and oppresive (in the last month I've had mine rejected four times for little things). It quickly becomes a dead-end job and you dread waking up each morning to face your commute, spend eight gruelling hours at your desk and pray for time to go fast so you can leave.

You're basically a cog in the machine. Period. Heck, there aren't even supplies in the kitchen or the work area I was in (i.e., basics like napkins, spoons, cups, pencils, pens). I bought my own pens, pencils and cups from the CVS down the street. What does this remind you of? The word you're thinking of starts with a 'P'. You have to use client computers, which are boarded up ('secured') so much, you can't even use SAICs own document management systems correctly.

And let's not get started on the quality of the projects you do. If you've been in a government project before you've seen it: milk the government for all the time you can, while you can. No quality, no real management of the issues that the government has, outdated ideas, you get the point.

If you get a call from an SAIC recruiter, just politely tell them to go away. The guys at HQ have it good. If you have TS/SCI clearance and I guess if you work at a really exotic location (e.g., research) you're good too. Otherwise, it is hell. Stay away.

Advice to Senior Management – My advice for SAIC leadership? SAIC is too big and has its fingers on way too many pots for its own good. Apparently this once was an employee-owned company; there is no evidence now of that ever happening. Maybe other SAIC projects are great and employees over there are happy about the work they do. But I don't think that is the case everywhere you go.

Loosen up on the bureaucracy. Be nimble and flexible. As younger people join SAIC, and quicly become dissilussioned you will start suffering and leave, again, causing no instituional growth and gaps in knowledge. Be better with technology: the web 2.0 revolution is happening right outside your door and you're holed up in your closet, crying and praying for it to go away.

Or better yet, please go away an be extinct. Like the dinosaurs you and the other Beltway Bandits are. By doing so perhaps you will save us, the taxpayers, some money.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at SAIC

Pros – The work can be quite rewarding.
Some of the people you meet and work with make the difference between staying or leaving.

Cons – no longer about the employee - all about the Execs making more and more money. Bonuses have all but disappeared for the actual performer.

Advice to Senior Management – When you take care of the employee or staff, they in turn will take care of you. Forego this one principle in your career, and you will always struggle with making your numbers.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at SAIC

Pros – SAIC has great intentions and a good heart. For example, they conduct Gallup surveys within the company and address their short-comings. They just need to be careful in their growth not to lose their heart and keep treating employees with respect.

Cons – SAIC came out with their "One SAIC" mantra a couple years ago, to promote various groups working together cohesively. It hasn't materialized yet. Groups on the same level at times compete for the same contract, and management keep passing strict requirements (during these economic tough times) downward, causing tensions from one level to the next.

Advice to Senior Management – Employees serving the clients (mostly scientists and engineers) don't really know what management does. The communications released from the various levels don't always match up with the actions of management.

I worked at SAIC

Pros – Salary is good for the area, but only if you belong to the "good ole boy's" group.

Cons – If you have not worked for SAIC or know someone who works for SAIC you are considered an outsider. You will get no where in your profession. Manager's don't teach they just collect their paychecks and any employee benefits left over at the end of the year.

Advice to Senior Management – Treat Everyone as an employee not a social friend. This goes for Upper Management within Corporate.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend