05/10/2010

Category
Pay	5
Respect	5
Benefits	4
Job Security	5
Work/Life Balance	5
Career Growth	5
Location	5
Co-Workers	4
Work Environment	5

I love working at SAIC. What prompted me to join SAIC several years ago was it's diversified business. SAIC's unique business structure has allowed me to increase the depth and breadth of my experience. SAIC has been very good to me and I plan to stay for many years to come.

04/02/2010 - Arlington, VA

04/02/2010

Category
Pay	3
Respect	4
Benefits	4
Job Security	5
Work/Life Balance	4
Career Growth	3
Location	4
Co-Workers	4
Work Environment	5

Solid Company to work for - not a lot of growth opportunity though.

You have security, limited opportunity for professional development, and great home office staff to help you with things, but it's really hard to move up or get pay raises.

Overall, not a bad company to work for - but advancement opportunity stinks.

08/10/2009 - leavenworth, Kansas

08/10/2009

Category
Pay	5
Respect	5
Benefits	5
Job Security	5
Work/Life Balance	5
Career Growth	5
Location	5
Co-Workers	5
Work Environment	5

SAIC has provided me incredible flexibility, opportunities to work on different and interesting projects, and feel like part of a team. My direct supervisors and other leaders have been exceptional in their competence, devotion to helping me meet my career goals, and mentorship. The pay and benefits are competitive with other major contracting corporations.

03/26/2009 - Maryland

03/26/2009

Category
Pay	4
Respect	4
Benefits	2
Job Security	5
Work/Life Balance	3
Career Growth	1
Location	4
Co-Workers	4
Work Environment	3

SAIC was ok. I worked there for about 10 years. Lots of infighting, benefits totally and completely sucked. I was there when it was even worse. My pay was in the toilet for a long time, but by the time I left I was making decent money. I got along with the customers so I always had a job. Career growth and potential was a joke. For years they talked about career tracks for non-managerial people - I heard the conversation when I first arrived about 12 years ago and again when I left a few years ago. There was no movement on it.

However, the location worked for me, I felt respected, I thought my co-workers were pretty good. And the work environment was average. Overall is was a decent experience.

02/24/2009 - San Diego, CA

02/24/2009

Category
Pay	4
Respect	4
Benefits	4
Job Security	3
Work/Life Balance	3
Career Growth	4
Location	3
Co-Workers	4
Work Environment	4

SAIC is a relationship company. If you have very good relationship skills, and get along with co-workers, managers, and clients, you can do well. If you whine, or cause ANY trouble with the client, you will not work there long. I spent 3.5 years at SAIC, and they treated me well. having said that, I stressed out when a job ended, but was always able to find work. I quit for a much better paying opportunity, hired largely because the company knew about SAIC, and respected them. The training opportunities were great. And, the bosses would tell you what you had to do to get the big increases and bonuses. I made lots of money on stock and bonuses there - enough to pay off my house with cash. The work life balance was bad, and that is one reason I ultimately left. Some co-workers were marginal, but, the brilliant ones more than made up for the poor performers. If I were not self employed, I would go back there in a heartbeat.

07/02/2008 - Red Bank, NJ

07/02/2008

Category
Pay	3
Respect	4
Benefits	2
Job Security	4
Work/Life Balance	3
Career Growth	2
Location	3
Co-Workers	4
Work Environment	5

Pay is pretty much right at market, but if you accept a lowball salary to start, you're screwed for life. Raises are usually near inflation, so buying power doesn't change much, and bonuses are nonexistent unless you bring major business into the company.

Respect is a double-edged sword--if you're respected, you're also vulnerable if you fail, even if your failures would be successes by anyone else's measure. Expectations of your performance go up slightly faster than your performance does. OTOH, when you've earned respect, it keeps the micromanagers away. Benefits are pretty sucky; what others have said is pretty accurate. In particular, Aetna's mail-order pharmacy sucks like a Dyson; I long for Merck Medco. PTO (vacation+sick) is 19 days to start which is nice, but it only goes up by five days at ten years of service, and then never again.

Job security is highly dependent on the contract you're on; I'm lucky enough to be on a big one, so my own security is as high as its ever been. Others I know seem to be constantly looking for coverage. Work/life is love/hate--I can telecommute, and I pick my hours, but I always catch hell for what goes on when I'm on vacation, even though I'm usually answering emails and such. Career potential is nil if you don't want to be a project or program manager. I'm a techie lifer, and there might be one promotion left for me before retirement.

Can't blame anyone for location problems; I knew the commute would be bad when I took the job. But the occasional commute to my home office is nice! My coworkers vary, but most have a lot of experience and are pretty sharp. I'd say my group is a bit above average in talent compared to the other groups I've worked in over the years. In other group, I've seen drooling incompetence, though. We inherited a building from an acquired company, so we're in offices, not cubes. Plus, we have an excess of space, so most people have private offices. Our organization was created from nothing about five years ago, so we're not saddled with old crappy equipment, either. It's the work environment that keeps me there when other things get ugly.

Bottom line is I have a great job, but I think I'm one of the lucky ones.

11/01/2007 - Elizabeth, NJ

11/01/2007

Category
Pay	3
Respect	5
Benefits	5
Job Security	5
Work/Life Balance	5
Career Growth	2
Location	4
Co-Workers	4
Work Environment	4

I have been working for SAIC for almost 4 years. For me, that is a record for a company. I usually stay for a year and then leave for a higher paying job; what I like to call self promotion. Anyway, I like working for SAIC. I make good, but not great money. The company respects me. I ocassionally have to travel, and when I do, the company puts me in a posh hotel, luxury rent-a-car and gives me per-diem for food. My first year they spent $7500 so that I could get certified in Unix. And I got paid for going to school! My first year, I only got an $1800 bonus and no raise. The next year I got a $2000 bonus. Last year I got a $2000 cash bonus and $2000 in vesting stock. However, I only received a 1% raise. So basically in 4 years, I am only making 1% more per hour, than when I started, which is a gripe. However, my boss encouraged me to go for my master's degree and the company would pay for it. I submitted the forms and got approved for the tuition reimbursement. I have not started school yet, because I am not sure if a masters in engineering is of any benefit to me monetarily. It is kind of hard to convince me a degree of any kind is necessary. Out of a team of 15 engineers, only three of us had degrees!

So why bother? My coworkers are cool and the work environment is nice, but sometimes we have to get dirty. Overall, I give SAIC a good review.