This review refers to the contract they have at the customer site in Crystal City.
AINS has had this contract for a long time, with many employees who have been there for most or all of the contract, including managers. These long-term employees look upon new employees with distrust, and it is immediately apparent that you are an outsider from the moment you arrive. There is a palpable undercurrent of hostility from the long-term employees and others from the “in crowd,” lead by the so-called management team. They put on a nice face, but don’t buy it – it is all fake and you are one mis-step away from them unleashing their neurotic punishments on you. The concept of teamwork does not exist, and you are pretty much on your own in a free-for-all type of environment. You might get lucky if there is someone who takes it upon themselves to help you out, but it is fundamentally sink-or-swim.
Because the management has been there so long, there is no sense of progression, just a stale, regressive commitment to the status quo. The management has no concept of contemporary methodologies or technologies, but they try to use the lingo. Don’t buy it – they are just using words but have no idea what they are talking about. Nobody really knows what the PM does, and the PM Deputy just runs around like a fireman doing nothing but reacting – this is their concept of management. These people have no business being in management and lack any kind of vision – they are glorified babysitters and it is amazing that they haven’t been found out yet.
I have found if I keep my head down and stay in my lane, I can get the job done, but there will be no future for me here. The good news is to be successful here, you don’t even have to know how to do your job. I have watched people who have no clue be awarded and celebrated, while others who know their jobs and work so hard day-in and out, are taken for granted. But if you talk the game and dress in a suit every day, they will reward you regardless of your ability to execute.
If you need a paycheck until a real job comes along, this can work for you, but make no mistake – this place is scraping the bottom of the barrel. There are way too many opportunities out there that can offer you more than this.
