US Coast Guard Reviews

Current Employee – been working at US Coast Guard full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Great camaraderie and sense of team work. Great benefits including educational benefits. If you enlist for 4 years you should be able to get a BA/BS in that time without touching your GI bill. Great leadership skills development. You get to move every four years

Cons – Budget cuts are making it tougher to advance or promote. The Coast Guard always seems to fall back into the do more with less mentality. You will always find yourself reminding everyone the Coast Guard is one of the FIVE armed forces.

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

Current Employee – been working at US Coast Guard full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Medical, Dental, TSP (401k), Life Insurance, College Credits, College paid for by GI Bill, Interest Free Loans, MWR benefits (discounts).

Cons – Moving every 1, 2, 3, or 4 years. Not knowing where you will be next is stressful. Time spent away from family.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to your junior members.

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

Former Employee – worked at US Coast Guard full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Great benefits, much is provided for you beyond a normal job, including educational benefits.

Cons – Crazy hours, very mechanistic, centralized organization with little freedoms. Can spend months at sea, depending on your billet. Sometimes very hard work.

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

Former Employee – worked at US Coast Guard full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great missions. SAR is predominant as well as vessel safety, port security, aids to navigation, and drug interdiction.

Cons – Need more deployments. Deployments are where we make our money in drug interdiction and vessel boardings. Ensuring the safety of our coast lines and ports is essential.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep to the fundamental missions that keep the organization viable.

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

Current Employee – been working at US Coast Guard full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Benefits
Vacation
Pay, housing and BAS BAH
Travel, Hours

Cons – Advancement process
Transfer season every 3 to 4 years

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at US Coast Guard as a contractor for less than a year

Pros – Most people actually do work!
The resources are great!
Very family oriented.
I learned a lot there

Cons – Federal gov't hiring freeze smh
Too much red tape for the simplest things
Contractors are not allowed to attend free trainings at headquarters

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at US Coast Guard full-time

Pros – none they will use you up and spit you out

Cons – lots long hours lots of back stabbing

Advice to Senior Management – retire

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at US Coast Guard full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – The Coast Guard offers excellent health and retirement benefits as well as family support, work life balance, telework, and stability. Coast Guard bases have gyms, cafeterias, exchanges, clinics, ball fields, etc.

Cons – As a federal agency, the Coast Guard is at the whim of the annual federal budget cycle, which can make projects difficult to plan from year to year. Currently facing possible sequestration impact.

Advice to Senior Management – Show a personal interest in your employees.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at US Coast Guard full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – We are smaller than the other military services, which makes us a tight community. What better job exists than working as a team to save people's lives and protecting the homeland? Because we are so small as a service, we empower our junior people with responsibility much sooner than you might get in other services.

Cons – There are very few cons in this job. I guess if there had to be one, it is the fact that the job is 24/7, but that is what we expect. People need help at all hours of the day. We make sure we are ready to help them when they do.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep empowering your people. We do an excellent job with that.

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

Current Employee – been working at US Coast Guard full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Experience, security and the comrade rime

Cons – Frequent Travel and working conditions

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