software engineer

engineer

system engineer

senior software engineer

senior system engineer

Leidos

Big Leidos:
Working for Leidos has really good potential, IF you can get in. The Leidos corporation offers methods and opportunities for career advancement, education, and getting recognized for your work.  The problem is that Leidos is a company that doesn't believe in responding to applications, if you're not best qualified (including internal ones!).  So you'll just be sitting there wondering what happened or if you were even qualified or not, without the opportunity for an interview, so make sure your resume is TOP notch!

Compensation and benefits are pretty generous with Leidos for contract work; not many contracting companies offer such a good deal.  Leidos definitely needs more oversight in their contracts.  If they did, I'm sure several people would no longer be working.  But big Leidos doesn't seem to be anywhere to be found, even after company surveys revealed poor management and low employee satisfaction.

Contract Leidos:
Work/life balance is great, with great flexibility when you need time off, but again, not sure if that's Leidos in general or just the contract I'm on.
Although Leidos offers ways to get recognized through bonuses and such, you have to first have a manager that actually "manages" and cares about his people and their reputation and careers.  Instead you get more and more responsibility, without any advancement; so you'll just sit at the same level you were hired, with twice the responsibility.

Unfortunately the good ole boys network supersedes all here because we are so far removed and hidden from the company.  If you're one of the good ole boys, then you can easily get advanced and get away with what would normally be an offense that results in instant termination with most companies; time card fraud, workplace violence, lying, abuse of company vehicles, and sleeping on the job, are some blatant examples I've seen people get away with and keep their job. However, if you’re not “one of the boys”, then management will reprimand you for something, then turn around and do exactly the same thing themselves.  The hypocrisy in this regard is unbelievable; 'do as I say, not as I do' concept.  Job Security is great though!  Unless you were to kill, or intentionally injure someone, you will still have a job tomorrow.  However, whether you do good or bad, you will start and end your career in the exact same place, doing the exact same thing.  If it weren't for the lack of advancement opportunity, poor management, and the refusal to recognize poor work and get rid of bad employees, this would be a great company to work for!  Maybe other contracts are different, I don't know, but this one is terrible if you're a dedicated worker who cares about their reputation and quality of work.

Transitioned into the IT Specialist role as a subcontractor working with Leidos directly after 11 years enlisted military. Right from the start, the lead from the prime contract established that we were going to have a bad relationship. This called on me to really rely on myself for so many things, because from day one good feedback and approval were not going to be possible. To me, that’s not a normal way to do work. This person is generally good natured and has a good sense of humor and does have ways to show he cares for the team, but he was also excessively, inexcusably rude almost daily. I have never seen this accepted in the workplace since basic training. This job was on a military base, supporting the military, so I got the feeling that somebody said something to someone to make sure some problems I had while in the service would follow me there, I barely had the chance to mess anything up before getting negative feedback.

Anyway, there was a significant amount of attrition. People would stay less than a year a lot, and some times much less. There were some days with a high work load and a lot of days where there was time to focus on training and planning, which was nice. Feeling free after leaving work was also great as compared to the military.

In this job, the systems they use to organize workflow are really good systems, and I liked what we did. Usually the people are what I like most about my job, but in this one, the only person I actually liked was the lead who was pretty harsh with me. Other people weren’t too bad, but I expected them to leave quickly and my five year plan is to maximize my GI bill, I wanted to move into something administrative or business side, so relations with coworkers in this role weren’t most important to me.

I don’t know if I would say I learned a lot because I had prior IT experience, a decade, but all in one environment. I did do a different aspect of IT this time, hardware repair and part ordering. So I learned that but a lot of successful IT pros don’t have to spend 3 years getting it down so I don’t know how to really frame my time as a step forward.

The overall theme is that there was a lot of problems, complaining, unprofessionalism, and people trying to make my life a living “heck”.

I got terminated for losing the key to the building, one of the only buildings that uses keys instead of smart cards. But it was probably time for any reasonable person to move on anyway, I stayed almost 3 years. 

Great company to get some experience, higher level roles should be much better work. My ratings are based on my time there and reflect on myself as much as Leidos.

You get poached from a job where you have all the experience in the world, you are comfortable there, and you are an expert. They promise you big things and job security and better pay than your current workplace. Wow! Hard to pass up! You decline because you are currently happy at you job but they are vultures and persistently contact you about them wanting you. You finally cave and go to work for them on contract to hire for 6 months. You go through a drug screening, finger printing, background check, etc. You get hired on then they give you little to no training. They expect you to learn their processes and software on your own. No big deal because you have some knowledge in the field but learning exactly what another company wants and expects without guidance is a bit of a pain. They say you're an expert on this new software which you've had several years experience on whereas they have none. They claim that the work you do in that software is stellar and that you do the job much more quickly than any of them. You ask for feedback or criticism to improve, but they say you're doing perfect. At this point you are a little worried because no feedback is generally not the best because all companies should do this to help employees to grow and improve so they can generate more work as well as quality work. Their logging software states you are over the expected alloted hours for a job so you ask if this is OK and they say, "Oh sure! We know you are an expert in that new software and that it is slow and bugged." You get a gut feeling that you are being lied to but move forward regardless. You complete said job and are asked to do another with little to no feedback again. You state you feel like they are going to terminate your contract early and they say, "Oh no! Definitely not! We love you and will do everything in our power to keep you!" You are given another workers work to complete because they refuse to use the new software. Seems suspicious as the difficult part is already complete, but you move ahead regardless. You complete several jobs in one week and are running out of work. You ask if there is work for you tomorrow and they say, "Absolutely! No worries!" Only a few hours later, a staffing agent calls and says you are terminated due to being too slow at pushing work out despite no feedback from the supervisor which you asked for several times and also the fact they stated you are working much more quickly than any of them could in the new software. They then dodge you and the staffing agent when you want to ask for clarification. They are not only Jekyll and Hyde, they are liars and cowards as well.

A typical day at work was generally structured around assigned tasks with shifting priorities. While the core responsibilities were manageable, the workflow often felt reactive rather than planned, with changes coming frequently throughout the day. This made it important to stay adaptable, but it sometimes disrupted focus and longer-term progress.

What I believe I learned most was how to operate in an environment where expectations and requirements can evolve quickly. I gained experience navigating ambiguity, working across teams, and maintaining productivity despite inconsistent direction. It also reinforced the importance of documenting work clearly to show task completion and priority alignment during tumultuous changing requirements and expectations that are never clear.

Management varied, but overall I felt it was inadequate in consistency and communication, and incompetent . Expectations were not always clearly defined or aligned with the documentation being used for evaluations. Feedback and performance reviews will be positive, then in informal settings be the complete opposite which did not make sense, was functionally useless and uninformed. 

It did not always reflect the actual changes in scope or evolving project needs, which made it difficult to fully align on goals and express those. Management was unaware of work being done, criteria for work being done, and process by which that work was completed. 

The workplace culture leaned toward professional and task-oriented, but fragmented due to shifting priorities and differing expectations across teams. Collaboration existed, but consistency in direction from leadership was the baseline that was never met.

The hardest part of the job was dealing with constantly changing requirements and limited alignment between documentation, management expectations, and evaluation criteria.  As well as complete disregard for personal challenges involving health concerns. This made it challenging to prioritize effectively and feel confident that performance assessments accurately reflected day-to-day work. 

Overall this was a negative experience and I do not recommend working for this company under their current leadership. They do not advocate for employees, they have pseudo-caring platitudes and benefits offered for said health concerns that were ultimately not fulfilled. Causing further health complications and financial stress.

Job Security. This company deals with government contracts for certain positions. If you are looking to work for them in this capacity (as an FTE), don't bother. If your position is eventually descoped, they will only compensate with two weeks of Overhead pay (used to be 4 weeks) while other contractors will compensate much much more and will actively try to place you in other parts of the company, unlike Leidos. If your position is not descoped but others are, your positions is still not safe.

The benefits. They are a joke and that is a sad fact because they have employees who depend on those benefits. Employees used to have excellent benefits, Cadillac healthcare benefits, but they have been reduced to worse than Wal-mart benefits. A single person working for this company will pay in the neighborhood of 100-150/month for insurance. The insurance doesn't cover very much and the deductible is several thousand dollars just for an individual. If you have a family or a chronic illness, this is not the place to work. No bonuses are paid to employees anymore. To be fully vested in the 401K, you have to be there 5 years... most contractors have full vesting to start. They recently cut the matching of the 401K back drastically.

Management. Not honest at all about job security. Will tell you one day your job is fine and call you into a meeting and tell you that you are being laid off the next day. Job performance is no guarantee of job security. Cronyism is a factor in the management ranks and if you don't play politics, sellout your co-workers, or keep quiet about the things that are going on, you will lose your job due to 'layoffs'. If you have a working manager, do not trust them to not take your position if their position is cut and not yours. 

Unethical Practices.  Takes awake employee benefits pre-company split with SAIC due to CityTime fraud committed by the company (search 'CityTime Payroll Scandal' to reach about the former company's ethics). Targets employee for layoff when their contracts haven't ended. Requires employee to use vacation time or Leave Without Pay when the government is closed for weather.

The current Program Manager (I will not name him) who's been stuck in the same position in LEIDOS since 2007 is incompetent, corrupt, and dangerous to the security of the the United States of America (I will explain below how).  Everyone in the company has gone up the corporate ladder and he is STILL stuck at the same position.  He will not defend his employees no matter how hard they work, how many languages they speak, and what kind of higher education degrees they hold.  In Jan 2019, LEIDOS won the current contract in Bethesda.  Because there was a friction between DLI students (unqualified military linguists, who FAILED to learn a language at Defensive Language Institutes, which our tax payers paid $150,000 a year per student).  Because of their failure to complete the jobs they were hired for (TRANSLATING), they are ALL (13+) have been AWARDED with promotion to non-linguist positions and managerial positions with HIGHER PAY! (If they were UNABLE to learn a language in 12 months at DLI, what makes you think they can MANAGE or complete other complex tasks)
And if qualified native linguists (multiple language skills, 10+ years of experience, higher education (B.S and Masters degrees)) have complained, the PM will NOT hire you or will be fired.  But those native linguists who DO NOT have a High School degrees, with minimum English language skills are hired and kept.  
The Bethesda contract is a FRAUD, CORRUPT and a DANGEROUS mission that CAN and WILL harm the security of the United States.  I have spoken, written to, informed, warned and complained to the client/government at the highest level, APPARENTLY they are ALL government career workers and they just want to complete their mission and move on to the next GS grade level.

I hope a high level LEIDOS employee and a Bethesda government official reads this and look into the CORRUPT culture that exist at Bethesda facility and the current LEIDOS Program Manager who is responsible in jeopardizing the mission and the security of the United States of America.

Nepotism, "Will not listen to change that will improve processes"  Not allowed to voice concern or improve processes. No Advancement and No Training available. No Access to systems for months.  Enjoyed the ease of no uniforms but did not enjoy the hateful atmosphere that both the ATAC Director and Top Leadership of LEIDOS possessed.  Neither would listen to other employees. Its their way or the highway. You are Targeted and Easily got rid of if you do not get along with anyone.  They play politics and use anything they can find to get rid of you.  They constantly compare you to others and do not pay you enough to put up with the amount of harrassment you get daily.  Extremely discriminatory and defamatory. Workplace culture fosters bullying and hate among the employee leadership.  The Hardest part of this Job is being told to shut up and know you have no voice. There is no Training available and there are no improvement to old programs that are used.  What I learned from this job, nothing that was good for me to take and use elsewhere.  LEIDOS and The Department of the NAVY NAVSUP should not come near one another and should separate as soon as possible as they are two very different companies with very different ideas on how to manage programs and they do not mirror nor foster cohesion among the department of the defense.  The TARP Program is frustrating due to leadership will not listen to improve processes so that the field can do better operations.  The NAVY Program do not listen and are highly disorganized due to top leadership at NAVSUP not knowing how to handle access to systems. The two entities are bad for one another. I highly recommend that noone work for this company nor this position.  If you do take with this the knowledge of knowing that its only a matter of time before you too become a victim of equal opportunity issues within that place.  It is widespread and very bad, I am not the only one there they do this to.

On site Contract Executive Assistant: Calendar management including the conference room for classified briefings, meetings and teleconferencing. Management of the classified suite along with the civilian security officers; scheduling travel for team both within the US and International; processing re-imbursements in a timely manner; making sure security clearances were forwarded to meetings outside of the Department of Health and Human Services i.e. congressional hearings, Department of Homeland Security; Centers For Disease Control, etc.; review correspondence for signature by senior leadership; prepare all aspects for conferences US/International. Prepare weekly agenda, send invitations via MS Outlook to participants an manage responses for special projects i.e. Zika, Ebola conferences and meetings. Ensure audio/visual equipment is serviced on schedule; liaison with IT Department regarding the service and upkeep of department computers classified and unclassified. Projects: forward invitations, prepare materials, and take notes for approval and distribution. 
  My learning curve - surrounded what parameters are required to provide an educated best projection regarding disasters; there are mathematicians that have expertise in various disciplines; how analytics of a given subject is processed, managed, and executed.
  My co-workers were wonderful PhD Mathematicians, PhD Epidemiologist, and Policy Consultants - I loved them because they would answer questions I had and never belittled me totally professional and we began to think of ourselves as family.  
  Keeping busy is always an issue for me - because I get the work done; I am mission oriented. 
  The most important and enjoyable part of my job is that I am able to gain the trust of my co-workers which leads to inclusion. I love providing professional input and my team depended on me to take care of the administrative task.

A great employer given their tough business. Serving the intel community has gotten way harder and that is hard on all employers and employees in that space. The post sequestration world includes "low cost technically acceptable" awards versus "best value", and buying manpower on multi-prime IDIQ contracts that were designed for buying printer paper. Rates have gone way down and you now see people abandoning their clearance to go commercial - you never used to see that. The post Snowden world includes security folks who are paranoid, badly overworked and having more than their share of dim bulbs. All in all very worrisome for national defense. For Leidos, the drop in rates has caused them to drop their contribution to benefits, and salaries are OK but small companies can offer better. The problem with small companies is that they have few contracts and if you are bumped off one you will likely be gone very, very quickly. That happened to me when I worked for MasterPeace Solutions. After two months the owner had lunch and said he wanted me in a leadership spot with up to 8 people under me. That was Wednesday. On Friday sequestration hit, the contract I was on lost 11 people, I was the second newest on the contract and I was one of them. On Monday I was told best of luck. From " we want you in management" to "don't let the door hit you on the way out" in three business days. Small companies just don't have the overhead budget to keep people very long. At Leidos I lost my spot on a contract and they tried very hard to find me spots on their many other contracts, and kept me on overhead for two months until I found a spot elsewhere. Very few companies would do that nowadays. They also spend more than most companies on morale building, which peeves some employees but if you put it in salaries it would be small potatoes and I like that they show they care. In general it's a company where you would want to spend a long part of your career, not just a short term gig.

When the company was Vitalize the recruiters, practice managers and mangers were all great. They communicated with you regularly and were available whenever you needed them. They offered great jobs, pay, work advancement opportunities with additional certification, etc. I was put on a contract right away and promised I would have a chance to get additional certification for every year I was working. Once my contract ended after 4 months I was on the bench for 3 weeks before a friend of mine who was on a contract told me about an opportunity available. They wanted to interview so I notified Vitalize and we made it happen and I ended up getting the contract. I was able to keep my hourly rate and was told I would still have opportunities for additional certification and future rate increases. Shortly after I started that contract the company merged with MaxIT and then a short while later (with several changes in staff and policies) they became Leidos. Over the 2 1/2 yrs I was on this contract I was never given the opportunity to receive additional certification and I never once had a review of my work (although I was continually told it would happen) to get an increase in pay. My billable rate during my contract was $134/hr  and I worked a lot of hours with little to no vacations. I figured I made Leidos over $180,000 in my 2 1/2 yrs. Thats a lot of money to make off of one individual over a period of time, especially when all they did was use a system I input my exopeses into to get reimbursement, cut me a check and give me dental and vision insurance. Once my contract ended at the end of May 2014 I was not submitted for any new projects, as I was told my hourly rate was too high and I couldnt be submitted for a project unless the billable rate was in the $150/hr range. I was terminated from Leidos on July 11, 2014 via an email notification. Needless to say I was never impressed once the company moved from Vitalize and I was never given anything I was originally promised.

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