software engineer

staff software engineer

senior software engineer

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data entry clerk

Applied Research Associates, Inc

As On-Site QA Inspector for the VDOT CCS Installation and Repair Program for the past four years, Mr. Hawkes has performed hundreds of QA inspections, ensuring that the VDOT receives the highest quality deliverables possible. Through his QA Inspection work, he has gained valuable experience in the procedures and equipment being inspected, conducting the inspection of all installation operations. Mr. Hawkes demonstrates a proactive approach to ensuring that safety procedures are followed, installations are performed to approved procedures, materials, and specifications, and the work process is documented. He has demonstrated strong comprehension of the VDOT Work Area Protection Manual, MUTCD and other applicable standards. 
As QA Inspector, Mr. Hawkes duties include the review installation designs and manufacturer’s installation specifications prior to the installation, ensures conformance with site design and standard specifications, verifies grout and sealant information, conducts sensor spacing measurements, ensures completion of work zone safety checklists, collects photos and video, and tracks chemical and material quantities. 
Mr. Hawkes excels at working together with the Crew Leader and his crew to ensure that crews work safely, that approved installation procedures are followed, and the work process is documented properly. He has demonstrated a willingness to provide on-site training new DTS employees. He has contributed a number of ideas to improve the QA inspection process and deliverables. He understands his authority to halt work and seek additional guidance at the management level, or from VDOT, if unexpected or unusual site conditions are encountered, a safety procedure is violated, and/or if a procedure is not understood or is not being followed.

Each day at Applied Research Associates was different. Being a consulting/contracting firm (dealing mostly with government and military) presented various challenges and projects. A typical day would usually consist of reviewing lab write ups/white papers, preforming a variety of tests, generating lab reports, and finally submitting lab reports.

I learned a variety of tasks including (but not limited to) preforming various tests, generating test protocols, generating lab write ups, designing and manufacturing test jigs/fixtures.

The management at Applied Research Associates was relatively strict, but still very knowledgeable. They were very strict on meeting deadlines and being under budget, which is completely understandable when dealing with contracts. But it can however make for a very stressful work environment.

My co-workers were very knowledgeable and came from a variety of backgrounds and schools/degrees. It was not unheard of for an engineer to work with a physics major. It made for very interesting group dynamics, but also made it easier to generating new concepts by having people from different backgrounds.

The hardest part of the job was generating the white papers and lab reports while still meeting the, usually, tight deadlines.

The most enjoyable part of the job was the challenge. Every day you worked on something different, it was great for keeping you stimulated and interested in the work you were doing. Each day was a great learning opportunity.

I have seen this company grow a lot in the past 15 years. Most teams now have an appreciation for the benefit of QA, which is a nice. I've worked on many different projects with many different teams, but I also work with people who have been on a single project for many years. There is flexibility to move around and learn new programs and methods if you choose it. There's also a place for stability and devoted expertise. Government contracting can occasionally be unstable, but ARA works hard to provide tasking and keep people employed, even when there are gaps in funding. There is a desire to keep quality and experienced employees and prevent layoffs. 

ARA is making an effort to increase diversity. Most visible is the women's initiative that has developed in the Raleigh office. The company is not perfect, but it's trying to learn and improve. Based on the improvements I've seen in the last 15 years, I think we're headed in the right direction. 

ARA is a Department of Defense contract firm so I had direct client interfacing while planning military exercises for United States Strategic Command. A typical day included collaboration with other working groups, developing training and exercise objectives and identifying requirements to meet those objectives.  Coordination with trusted agents and other planners to build story lines and integrate those vignettes with the master scenario.
Co-workers were other DoD contractors, government civilians and military members with varying skill sets.
The hardest part of the job was working with the exercise scripters to integrate smaller story lines.
The most enjoyable part of the job was during exercise execution when we got to see the flow of the exercise and how the training audience reacted and worked together to develop solutions to the problem set created.

ARA is, first and foremost, a marketing organization. Every manager is where he/she is because or their marketing. This makes for a good marketing organization but misses in other areas of performance from a technical, leadership, and administrative perspective. The culture is management-by-numbers and sometimes this causes a lack of teamwork and camaraderie.

ARA does some interesting work and if you can be part of that, it can be worth putting up with the negatives.

If you have established an expertise and relationships with your sponsors, and you want marketing to be a large percentage of your working hours, then ARA is worth a look.  Otherwise you will find it difficult to establish relationships with sponsors with the thin resources you will get.

Can't complain much, its a very good company to work with.  If you are creative and bring work, you will be just fine.  There are a lots of opportunities you can take and for the most part, as any company, there are ups and downs, but the benefits are great and if you are good they try to keep you employed.  You just have to work the way up form the manager and his bosses.  Sometimes is a struggle to find the job you are an expert and if you are an engineer, forget about someone finding work for you, you will be actively looking for your own jobs or if its a large job that requires group assignments, expect a lot of collaborating in proposals often.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I’m not sure. I was lied to about working location/conditions and then I even got a huge project for our team but, even with that, then the position was terminated unexpectedly while others were instructed to burn leave time during the extremely long “government shutdown”. But I hadn’t been there long enough to accrue enough leave to use. Some of the people were decent and genuine but some were nasty deceptive people.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
A bad supervisor and a colleague with a bad attitude. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The environment and culture was ‘fake’ and not pleasant.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I’d work on various video projects as needed.

There are many good people at ARA. However, the current and former Division Manager (DM) and Associate DM lack effective management and leadership skills. They observe the organization's challenges but openly admit they don't know how to address them. Additionally, their practices related to project charging warrant a thorough audit to ensure compliance and ethics.

ARA is an average company overall. While their ESOP program might appeal to some, the benefits package leaves much to be desired. The leave policies are particularly disappointing—there is no maternity or paternity leave, and employees are required to use personal leave during natural disasters or emergencies.

This may be a reasonable place to start your career and gain experience, but I strongly recommend considering a move to another company once you’ve built your skills and expertise.

Travel is a large part of this job. The willingness to learn from experienced workers is a must due to the nature of the job. Know-it-alls will not fit in. Over 15 people came and went in the 8 years I was employed. As for the engineers, some were able to make decision and stick to the schedule others so flighty that the plans could change 4 times in a single day. Some loved to micro-manage and still did not understand why the project went over budget. My motto was ahead of schedule and under budget, every time. Some engineers never made plans and wondered why client were surprised when we started the job without their knowledge.
Lack of proper care for equipment, vehicles and needed repairs caused many delays during the course of a project.

I began working at ARA directly out of college, as they are strong advocates for mentoring and allowing new hires to develop their skills while also allowing them to contribute in their own creative ways. Growth and Freedom are two of their four core values that this company demonstrates every day. 

They have very ethical business practices, great management, and a very relaxed yet challenging work environment. It's a great opportunity for anyone to gain experience working for ARA.

Working as a Software Engineer with no experience growing into a experienced modeling and simulation developer with experience in several technologies is something I can greatly attribute to ARA.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Software engineer 4 salaries reported	$61,750 per year
Staff software engineer 3 salaries reported	$87,000 per year
Senior software engineer 5 salaries reported	$117,800 per year
Junior software engineer 4 salaries reported	$75,750 per year
Data entry clerk 1 salary reported	$13.50 per hour

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