This is where careers go to die - Anonymous employee NIC Employee Review

1.0
Jan 19, 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you have little to no experience and want to get your foot in the door in IT, you can get a start here.

Cons

If you have competence and a career, and especially if you have any ambition whatsoever, this is a company that will set you back. The corporate product suite is run by a very small group of unpleasant people whose competence appears to be getting and keeping the CEO's ear. They micro-manage everything, jealously guard access to upper management, and consider any new products, initiatives, or ideas to be a challenge to their authority. They will stonewall or outright shoot down anything you say or do, and the more competence you have the higher the threat to their tin-pot office empire. The notion of helping to make government more efficient seems noble until you actually get to work there and realize what they're running is, for all practical purposes, a fee-extraction machine. What really happens is corporate is running full speed ahead using any duct-tape and chicken-wire solution necessary to satisfy any whim from government customers, because the real incentive is to get in as many offices as possible to collect fees from taxpayers. It's plumbing -- the intake goes in a government office, taxpayers put money in it, and the dough comes out the spigot at NIC. The board appears oblivious, the CEO likes to dress up as Batman, and the small group of people with a chokehold on the product suite keep a tight lid on what gets communicated to the top. The CEO will make a theatrical show of greeting you, but you will not have access to him since, nor will your opinion be heard. There is a definite "upstairs, downstairs" mentality, where the few with the CEOs ear lord it over the peons doing the work, dribbling out inexpensive trinkets like free snacks and a gaming table to make you think you're valued. Unless you are comfortable phoning it in and doing as you're told, you will quickly become frustrated, and your frustration will turn to rage unless you get yourself out. When you do, your career will have taken a backward turn in direct proportion to how long you stayed there.

avatar
NIC Response
8y
Thank you for taking the time to offer feedback. We regret to hear that your experience with our Company was anything but professional. Our goal is to continuously improve our work environment. Feedback like yours is helpful to this process.

Explore other reviews about NIC

5.0
Sep 3, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Friendly/Helpful employees. Schedule and salary.

Cons

I do not believe there are any cons.

4.0
Oct 22, 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Overall, NIC is a company that cares about and supports its employees. I have a great work/life balance with a flexible schedule and ability to work remotely when needed. They are willing to send (relatively) junior resources to conferences that other companies would normally send high-level executives. The federal group is a pretty small and very collaborative team that enables everyone to both lead and support opportunities. Also, health insurance is covered by the company which is amazing.

Cons

Overall, I think NIC is behind in technology trends. They primarily focus on custom builds for each agency/project, which, considering their customer base of over 25 states and several federal agencies, is a costly strategy. By creating a different solution for each customer, NIC is investing more time and effort than would be necessary if they adapted a shared services model or used SaaS platforms that most agencies and companies are shifting towards. Because each state and federal agency is treated separately, NIC also uses different management approaches for each customer. This could work if there was an overarching approach that was adapted on a per customer basis, but instead there is no single set of governing principles resulting in a disjointed management approach. They are also pretty niche in capabilities in that they focus purely on using their no-cost model for citizen-facing services. This works for many cases - but not all - and they struggle to adapt/to be open to using other basic contract types like FFP and T&M. As a result, opportunities are fairly limited because they must meet very specific criteria.

4
avatar
NIC Response
7y
Thank you for the taking the time to share your perspective. We are glad to hear your experience at NIC has been positive. As you know, our employees are our most important asset and we strive to ensure we are the best place they have ever worked. Throughout our history, we have evolved as technology has evolved. We have advanced from dial-up technology, to the first mobile app for government, to delivering the first Alexa skills for government. Today this includes a balance between custom development, platforms, and standalone technology products – all designed to deliver innovative solutions that create efficiencies for government and the people they serve.
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All