Pros
Took a pay cut coming from a private sector to MITRE with the hope for good work life balance, for a bit slower pace, and for good education. MITRE places my task lead be my roommate, and it is an instant micro-management all day. It is a very strange and unhealthy feeling.
I am very nervous to talk on personal phone call and go online for minor personal activities.
Stick with fix schedule, every time I have to step out, come a little late or leave early, I required to send out an email to the whole team. Allow 1-day work from home, the task lead will check in on me through Lync chatting system. Only allow 1-class or 1-conference training annually. I am not sure if this is excluding internal training. Internal training appears very academic and awesome. So far, no hand on training, except me going through books on Safari (internal library database) and technical documents on Sharepoint (intranet). Group meeting is 2-3 times a week to report progress, and a lot of tasks so far. It required 1-1 with team lead and 1-1 with task lead every week or bi-weekly?? You can go running or walking during lunch hour.
So far, I am pretty neutral about MITRE. There are still a lot of tasks, and required update every 2 days. The good thing is there is no deadline so far. For work life, I am not sure if it is better than my prior place though. Initially, I though I can just swing the hours within the two weeks, and just record it in the timecard. The fact that I have to send out email every time I short or extent my day even by 1-hour, it seems a bit ridiculous.
Cons
My health care cost is more expensive. People here are socially uncomfortable. Most people eat lunch in their office. I will let you know how my raise go ... My heart is still pumping fast, and progress update requirement is pretty rigorous. The pay is low, no bonus, and might not get a raise ...
