very different military & civilian sides - Anonymous employee RAND Employee Review

4.0
Oct 10, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

RAND has nice offices a block from the beach in beautiful Santa Monica. On the civilian side, you have very smart researchers working on important problems. On the military side, the research is relatively easy and job security is possible. You can try working on different types of problems and are not tied to any one "boss". Benefits are good and improve the higher in the organization you go (retirement benefits actually increase, in % terms, as your salary increases). There are even some "RAND internal" research funds available. There are smart and fun graduate students and new hires constantly arriving.

Cons

The internal job market means constantly interviewing internally for projects. On the civilian side, you have to cover 100% of your time with grant/contract money, which is a tall order. This might explain why turnover is a little high on this side of the house. The military side is run by several gangs (e.g., the Project Air Force FMEP gang) each of which has a few decision makers that determine the fate of new hires (what projects they work on, when they are allowed to brief a client or lead a project, etc.). These decision makers take care of each other first and play favorites with new hires. (Don't expect to have an important role on a project just because you know the topic better than anyone else at RAND.) The military side doesn't do very interesting or technical research (think resolving the same Army logistics problem several years in a row using a giant spreadsheet). Santa Monica and the surrounding area are very expensive and traffic is bad. The freedom to work from home and the nature of the researchers working here means there is little socializing or community spirit at work

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5.0
May 12, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Really flexible hours, amazing project team members, engaging projects.

Cons

You will need to network and find your own projects, sometimes finding ~3-5 projects at one time to ensure full utilization.

5.0
May 1, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great camraderie and culture (some office locations are friendlier than others!), interesting and varied work (doing project vs program work will largely influence this - ask about which one you'll be doing if you're applying for a general AA posting), excellent benefits (good healthcare coverage/prices, commuter benefits, great PTO accrual and sick time, etc.), pretty good pay. I also have fantastic work-life balance (I rarely think of my job after 5 pm) and the flexible work schedule is nice. I'll stick around here as long as I can!

Cons

Your experience will largely depend on which researchers you work with. Some researchers I've worked with have been the most fantastic leaders I've ever met, and have made my job here a genuine pleasure. Others have been less great. Expect to do lots of "managing up." Again, some will appreciate this, others will hate it, even though it's part of your job. This is minor, but AAs are some of the only hybrid staff who are required to be in the office a minimum number of days each week (currently 2 days). The people I support are rarely in the office or are located elsewhere, so commuting just to sit in virtual meetings feels kind of silly, BUT the offices are newer and comfortable and well-located. Our paid holidays are on the lower end of what's common in DC with your federal employee peers, which is kind of a bummer.

3
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