SI International Reviews

Pros

They applied DoD clearance for me.
The pay is a little above average in the region. (if they are prime on that program)
The benefits are on par with others in the similar size.

Cons

SI is losing a lot of their contracts in a lot of places since SERCO bought them. (or a little earlier before that)
So, don't expect you will land on another contact with them if your contract is ending. (sometime prematurely)

Advice to Senior Management

Keep the balance between benefits of investors and employees. Your main asset is human capitals and you have to make those assets more valuable to keep the business for long run.
Don't just look on earnings and bottom line. Have to think for long term.

Pros

The benefits were the only reason why I stayed employed.

Cons

Took advantage of Government. Yes, we had federal holidays, we observed them, however, it was mandatory for us to work on Saturdays just for the hours. If there was no work, we would work 8 hour shift placing labels on old file folders just so we could submit "x" amount of employees working on Saturday (overtime). It was common practice to hold immigration files on desks until the last day that was allowed. Did not want to get ahead of the workload. Not enough work for all the employees hired. Had to find things for employees to do! We were told if there was no work, to grab the file folders and label them so we can use them again.

Advice to Senior Management

Praise employees. Stop upper management from promoting inter office gossip. If conflicts, address them immediately. Train, Train, Train employees. I was not trained until the last month I was there~~my "supervisor" could not train me, but had to go to her employee for advice! Advance supervisors/managers only if they know what they are doing!

Pros

I can't really think of too many pros when it comes to SI International. They were fairly flexible when it came to time off.

Cons

They gave standard raises across the board no matter what your performance was and were about nothing other than the bottom line so they could sell the company. They had poor health care benefits that were extremely expensive for a single person. I believe I paid 150 per check and we were paid bi-weekly.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop being so cheap. Your frugality makes it hard for employees to take pride in their jobs and company. Everyone would be better served with appropriate compensation

Pros

Interesting projects
Nice people
Good benefits
Very flexible schedules
Plenty of free parking

Cons

Unfortunately, there are many:
Management in the Learning Division leads in absentia, and it shows - there is no sense of team, and you feel like no more than a resource in a factory. This is possibly why there is a very high turnover. There is considerable office politics at play, and while there is an "open door" policy, you can't feel certain that something shared won't hurt someone (even yourself) down the road. While there are many interesting projects, you can't be certain that the one chosen for the job is the most qualified - rather, it's sometimes the one that appeals most to management, for whatever reason. Ironically, for an organization that builds training for others, there is practically no training or conference attendance budget - the only way you can go to a conference is if it is free, you have been published, or if you are presenting at the conference. There are always promises of improving, but given that management gets sizable bonuses in spite of poor performance, there is little incentive for them to do so.

Advice to Senior Management

Try to focus on your employees to make it a team and a place people look forward to coming to.

Pros

Time off and that may change once the new company takes over.

Cons

Treated like children, crap for raises and bonuses, always being watched my management, absolutely no advancement possibilities, no benefits for seniority

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to what your employees have to say and try to boost morale!

Pros

Reasonable potential for making connections within DHS agencies

Cons

Not a good place for beginners. Most people here are mid to senior level.

Advice to Senior Management

Practice better communication with your staffs and be more upfront, rather than so much back room maneuvering.

Pros

We help bring the government up to the 20th century. To be quite honest, this is the most forward thinking company I have worked for. While I am looking for another position, it is because of my immediate manager, and not because of the company. If there were a way to tactfully tell my manager "I like the company, but I don't care to work for you anymore" and still get a good recommendation, I would do it.

Cons

Some of the middle management guys are allowed to bring their "issues" with them to work. Bringing pets or kids or a spouse to work is great, but If the issues brought to work would get a worker written up, they should also get a manager written up.

Advice to Senior Management

Have the upper level management establish a better relationship with the people who do the work. This might stop some of the "ship jumping" that has been occurring recently.

Pros

They give you the freedom to innovate and the structure in which to be productive. Employees have autonomy to pursue solutions the best way possible. This would not be possible in some of the government agencies which we support. So in effect we can be patriotic and smart at the same time.

Cons

The benefits package is not as strong as, say, Google. It aligns with government contractors that are running at the margin.

Advice to Senior Management

I think senior management is doing a good job given the situation. Importantly, they maintain a strong staff dedicated to getting new business from the federal government. I would advise patience and staying the course. I would also advise an aggressive effort to install technologies to reduce travel expenses since fuel costs will continue to $7/gallon for Jet-A and gasoline.

Pros

The best reason that I can offer for someone to work for SI International is the benefits. The company offers great benefits as well as great vacation and time off.

Cons

Some of the downsides about working for SI International is that almost all employees make the same amount of money. There are no raises unless they get a better contract from the government.

Advice to Senior Management

The advice that I would give my Senior Management is that they need to actually communicate with all employees more. When new rules are put into force then the management needs to let all employees know.