ORAU reviews

Being able to gain experience at the CDC was invaluable, and I appreciate the opportunity offered through ORAU

ORAU provides their contractors with general support in terms of time-keeping, benefits, and contracting questions. But other than that, they are pretty hands-off. The mentor working with the program provides the day-to-day guidance, tasks, and resources to the contractor. You usually work in teams, so you spend most of your time with them, and little time with ORAU. This is how it should be and from what I can tell how it is usually run so you can get first-hand experience with your area of study/interest on a real-world project. This isn't some internship - this is a full time job and you will be assigned tasks. My team is amazing - they work hard and are understanding and easy-going. We all work well together on something that really matters and will eventually be used by the public. It is pretty fulfilling. Not quite what I want to do for the rest of my life, but it gives me the space to build new skills and refine current skills that will prepare me very well for my next job. This is where to program does excellently - prepping its contractors for the next job with real-world job experience, growth in skills and working on a project with a team.