Pros
Nearly impossible to get fired for incompetence.
Cons
-You will get only minimal raises, even when coupled with promotions unless you leave. After 10 years I was making 110k, left for more than double the salary. -Large numbers of ghost jobs due to interviewing requirements for internal moves, very difficult to tell if you are interviewing for a real job. -Huge amounts of nepotism in hiring. -Benefits aren't great, not terrible but nothing special either. Benefits administration is outsourced and is terrible. When my son was born I immediately sent the birth certificate and they simply didn't process it. I called and they asked me to send again, but refused to confirm receipt. This cycle repeated until the day before thanksgiving which was the deadline to get him signed up at all. They continued to refuse to confirm receipt, said I had to fax it. When I ran to a UPS store to send a fax they still refused to confirm receipt of the fax. He did eventually end up insured but after the deadline and after having a sick baby turned away from doctors for not having insurance. -It's spiritually draining to work on weapons systems that go to unaccountable agencies (domestic and foreign) for the purpose of killing people in conflicts you may oppose. -Foreign born or dual citizens frequently can't get a clearance easily, and without a clearance people treat you like a criminal. Conversely the criminal things people with clearances talk about having in their past boggles the mind. Ran a meth lab? -No problem. Credit score dropped because your wife took all your money in a divorce? - Straight to jail. The clearance process is something people outside of the industry don't generally realize is a huge pain that isn't compensated well.