Pros
Offices nation-wide, cool tech, nice people
Cons
Bad conditions in some places, paticulary Sunnyvale. There are still traces of asbestos that occasionally surface so be careful where you spend your time. They do not stock anything in their kitchens...no plates, bowls, etc, maybe this is their way of cutting costs and “going green” at the same time, but it leads to a primitive quality of life. Definitely no snacks. In some areas, they will not allow you to drink coffee after 12pm, so dedicated coffee drinkers can throw away their hope of getting anything mentally taxing done in the afternoon. This makes sense though because most of the non-engineering work is pretty dull anyway. Limited opportunities for business people unless you are at one of their HQs. Verrryyy slow career progression and growth. Very limited chance to quickly make decent money there. The leveling system rewards time at company and not work ethic, skill, or knowledge so no one is motivated to do anything other than sit on their butts and complete the bare minimum. Why would I go above and beyond to stay as an analyst for another 5 years? Make sure you are using your downtime to build transferable skills. They tend to hire from outside the company so much hope of getting promoted due to someone leaving can be thrown out the window. Pay is low, though commensurate with the little they ask of you. People have a clock in and get out as quickly as possible mentality so chances to socialize with coworkers are rare, few people eat lunch together and have any fun....no fun northrop. The average age is quite high so I guess that should be expected. The regulatory requirements are so high you worry that so much as a sneeze will get your project audited for trivial requirements, many of which do not create value...this is driven by the industy regulation and not exactly Northrop, yet it is the type of thing one can look forward to by working in the defense industry. Not a good place for big-picture thinkers, this is a good place for fussy people who relish agonizing over fine print in their cubes.
