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National Security Agency

Engaged Employer

National Security Agency reviews

3.7

73% would recommend to a friend

(345 total reviews)
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Gen. Joshua M. Rudd, USA

Not enough data to show CEO approval

53% positive business outlook

National Security Agency has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 345 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The National Security Agency employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Government & Public Administration industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

345 reviews
3.0
Mar 24, 2014

Not what it used to be

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Pay is, or was, decent for new grads. Intern programs will get you plenty of training and experience in multiple offices quickly, so you don't have to worry about being stuck somewhere that's not a good fit. If you're in Maryland, reasonable access to internal training. The usual federal government advantages apply: reasonable vacation time (4 wks/yr after 3 yr service), extremely low expense ratio for retirement account, job security (barring furloughs). Oh, and doing SIGINT is fun.

Cons

Major caveat: if you don't get hired into an intern (development) program, do not accept the offer. You'll be on a two-year probationary period, during which you can't apply for internal vacancies, so development programs are the only way to make sure you aren't stuck in a bad office. NSA is extremely headquarters-centric; HR processes work on the assumption that you'll go back to Maryland in a few years. As a result, it's difficult to apply to the jobs you want if you're not at headquarters, because you'd have to curtail your tour and that takes lots of paperwork. (Staying in one place generally doesn't seem to be a problem if you really want to, however.) This may not be a problem if you like the DC area, but if you don't then it does limit your options. Sadly, the agency doesn't care about professional development like it used to. Between the fallout from the GSA affair and leadership's desire to do who-knows-what with the money, good luck getting to any external conferences. NSA seems to have a fetish for open-plan architecture to a disastrous degree.

3.0
Jul 21, 2013

Process driven, not goal driven

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Access to world-class technology. A lot of bright people (in the science and technology areas). Interesting problems. Reasonable IT support and very good work life balance.

Cons

Very low quality workforce overall. At times NSA employment feels like welfare for ex-military who couldn't get better jobs. Moreover, because there are too many employees, we cannot reward the highest performers with a reasonable salary. Additionally, there is a serious lack of quality leadership at the moment--problems tend to fester for months and years without resolution because people are afraid to make hard decisions. As a result, the workforce is very process driven, not goal driven. People just don't set goals; instead, they tend to want to do the same things day in and day out. Getting stuck in a career rut is desirable for a lot of employees. Definitely not the place a motivated, ambitious young person wants to find themselves.

2.0
Apr 4, 2016

Good place to start out, but get out when you can

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Lots of internal learning opportunities. - You will be surrounded by some of the smartest people in the world. - You can BS your way into almost any job and completely change your career trajectory. - Great work life balance, flexible schedule.

Cons

- Agency as a whole makes it hard for you to take advantage of learning opportunities if they are outside of your career field. - You will be surrounded by some of the dumbest people in the world. - Some of those people who BS their way into a job are some of the dumbest people (See above) and bring down the entire agency. - The office spaces are abysmal. Asbestos is still in many buildings. Mold in the basement. Parking is so bad if you get there after 8 am you have to take a 20 min shuttle from the outside parking lots. Generally the last three Directors treat the civilian population as second class citizens.

Viewing 7 - 9 of 345 Reviews

Glassdoor has 408 National Security Agency reviews submitted anonymously by National Security Agency employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if National Security Agency is right for you.