MITRE System Engineer reviews

I have been told that come people move up the company quickly because of their potential while some others need to demonstrate sold performance. It is a bit confusing about what MITRE value more since this is really not a technical shop. It seems to be a management consulting company. The raise and reward this year was uneven among my friends and their reward does not correlate to my assessment of their performance or skills, but I think office politics is common at many places. I think talking with people and being similar to the higher level managers might be a reason but it is difficult to find the real measurement for performance. At times it feels kind of like back at high school. I have been told it is more important to act knowledgeable in a subject in order to help my team. I don’t think that is very honest to do without real knowledge. I am also concerned that my customers can always find expert knowledge on-line...

It's a bit old school (could be a pro for some I suppose ) and it sometimes feels limiting to be in a company that exclusively deals with government contracts. Also, as someone working on a government site rather than at a MITRE office, I sometimes felt out of touch.