US Department of Defense Reviews

Pros

able to take 10 min breaks no matter what the workload is

Cons

performing the same job tasks ad nauseam

Advice to Senior Management

None

Pros

It has been a great experience to see parts of the world in support of the overal defense mission.

Cons

The acount of politics and complexity to the budget process create daily challenge in getting the real work done.

Advice to Senior Management

Reduce paperwork on managers.

Pros

Very big, lots of opportunities. A lot of folks are nice. good benefit. lots of perks (gym, childcare, after hour activities)

Cons

I guess it is like any other agency inside the beltway. You will have to be very careful on what you do, and get yourself covered.

Advice to Senior Management

A lot of systems are redudant between the agencies. Would like to see a standardized list for all the systems.

Pros

Serving you country. Working with outstanding people.

Cons

Uncertainty, like most jobs. A lot of employee (military) turnover which makes it difficult to maintain consistency.

Advice to Senior Management

Better communication about what's happening at the top.

Pros

Leave, Benefits, Advancement opportunities, good managers

Cons

HR incompetent, Minority advancement scare

Pros

They have some good benefits

Cons

They could revamp the pay system to something other than NSPS

Advice to Senior Management

Fix pay system

Pros

Overall Deartment of Defense is a great place to work.
The people are great.
Great benefits and salary.
You get a security clearance which is great.

Cons

The work days some times seem very long.
When I left I had to give back my security clearance badge, I guess it was temporary.

Advice to Senior Management

Overall Deartment of Defense is a great place to work. My experience with them leaves me not to know exactly what to advise them to change.

Pros

Relaxed setting, very flexible work schedule. Four 10 hour days with opportunity to telework.

Cons

Low salary compared with private sector.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate more clearly with your employees.

Pros

-Benefits are competitive: federal holidays off, competitive health care, 401k matching

-Work isn't hard: people strive for mediocre, if you are qualified to do your job, you will shine among the incompetent!

-Decent salary: well that was before the freeze on step increases...

Cons

-Resistance to change: VERY FEW new ideas introduced into the work environment. Things are done as they have always been done for over 20 years; conservative workforce.

-Highly incompetent workforce: many employees are given jobs because of certain statuses, not because they are truly qualified for their position; people often don't know how to do their jobs well, or only complete some of their tasks while forgoing others, which hurts everyone.

-Work sometimes seems pointless: lots of redundancy in work efforts; not uncommon for more than one office to produce the same services; sometimes wasteful with resources.

Advice to Senior Management

Take a look at your workforce; average age is 49. Few new ideas introduced which causes issues in the workforce as employees complete daily tasks that are redundant, inefficient, and ineffective.

Pros

You get to work on the latest technologies on the latest hardware. It was a great position to build experience and stay cutting edge in my field.

Cons

While pay was good, promotions were few and far between. Yearly raises and bonuses are equal across the board and based on time versus performance.

Advice to Senior Management

It was a big mistake taking away the demo pay program which paid for performance. This was a major contributor to me resigning.