Pros
- Great recognition, it's got cache and mystery, everyone always gets interested - GREAT hours: I work a 9/80 schedule, work 9hrs a day (7AM to 4:30PM) and get every other Fri off - Nice people: co-workers are very friendly, on the average pretty competent - Nice atmosphere: LAAFB is super new, kind of like a futuristic office park, cafeterias, gym, etc - Very liberal time-off: 2 weeks of vacation, 2 weeks of medical (no questions asked) - Good perks: huge option of health plans, dental, vision, retirement, discounts (federal employee discounts for everything under the sun)
Cons
Management generally takes a hands-off approach to interns on base. I didnt do a lick of work for my first 2-3 months, maybe a few hours of work a week, but i did participate in lots of bs training that I dont remember anything about and has had zero relevance in my everyday work. It also took about 2-3 months from being hired to get access to my computer, and u cant do anything without computer access. This is not an isolated case, the MAJORITY of interns i speak with encountered very similar experiences, many to this day dont do any work. You think this would be great, but it gets really tedious after a while, the day drags on and on and on. There are many incompetent people that work on base, not really their fault, more management's fault for just letting them sit there. There are GS-12s and above who do NOTHING...its not uncommon to hear people snoring behind thier cubicle doors or in the bathroom stalls. Its actually kind of sad. However, some people (chiefs, deputy chiefs, GS13s and above) work super long hours and seem perpetually stressed out. Its VERY common to hear people talking to themselves, all the interns remark on it. haha. I guess the govt makes people crazy. Make no mistake there are plenty of bright people, but they are bright on the technical side and NOT the management side. I guess the biggest problem I have with SMC (space and missile systems center) is that its boring. The work is generally kind of blah, as an intern they give you data entry and other repetitive tasks (such a waste of the degrees many interns possess...masters, law, top tier universities), its basically work that the supervisors are too busy to do or dont want to do. You can ask for more work and responsibilities (I did) but in general it just gets you stuck with crap work (the long timers snickered when I volunteered for a big project, afterward they told me to just keep my head down and not make waves (wonderful attitude)). The pay isnt great, but its not bad either. As an intern you often start out at about GS-7, 42K range. Getting to a GS-12 isnt hard, just a matter of sticking around, 3-4yrs. However, making it to GS-13 or above can take forever or never happen. I know people who worked over 2 decades and they barely earn 100K, maybe my perspective is skewed but I dont like knowing that there is a cap on how high i can go and how much i can earn (SES or civilian executive tops out at around 130K...good luck making it that high, equivalent to a general). Basically its a great job it you want to coast and make a decent wage.