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Physical Sciences

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Physical Sciences reviews

3.7

68% would recommend to a friend

(39 total reviews)
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William J. Marinelli

31% approve of CEO

67% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.6

Work/Life balance

3.6

Compensation and benefits

3.3

Culture & values

3.3

Career opportunities

3.0

Diversity & inclusion

3.0

Senior management

Physical Sciences has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 39 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Physical Sciences employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Management & Consulting industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

39 reviews
4.0
Apr 10, 2013

Great company to work for to build a lot of skills in a short-time!

Principal scientist
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- You get to be the PI and program manager on government contracts. - You get to meet your sponsors and talk to them directly. - You get to craft your own little area of applied R&D. - If you don't want to work on a program, then don't. Period. - Flexible time. You get to work from home. - You get to work with the smartest people in the world. Your peers or managers do not feel insecure since they know that they are as good as you. - Great health care/dental benefits, 401K matching funds, stock options, discounted red sox tickets, discounted movie tickets, free drinks, free food sometimes, free aquarium and science center tickets, etc... - Pay is proportional to how much money you bring to the company (can be good or bad!) The first 4 bullet points is what distinguishes PSI from the rest of the world. In a large corporate or other companies, you need to be high up in the food chain to be able to do that. This is not the case at PSI. Even a fresh PhD holder can take a stab at writing proposals and get to do his/her own things.

Cons

- Not a lot of promotional opportunities. Unfortunately, if your group leader or area manager doesn't leave or retire, you can't be promoted! And because it's such a comfortable environment, the managers tend to stick around until they die. So prepare for the long haul. - If you don't win grants for a period of time, prepare yourself mentally and financially to get fired. This is not a joke. If you keep winning, then stay coz you'll be rewarded big time (big raise, CEO congratulating you, etc...). If you keep losing, consider other options fast before they let you go. You'll know when doom's day is coming. - Can be tiring. You are expected to do a lot of things on your own time.

2.0
Apr 1, 2021

Good for some but not for all

Principal scientist
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you have the education, you get a respected title pretty quick If you have a good idea that matches a hot topic in the DoD space and aligns well with a current research group, fairly easy trajectory to move up in the company Average pay for the industry, good medical, has semi-flexible work schedules even pre-pandemic Company is what you make it Company is an SBIR farm. It produces a lot of interesting research and development Company easily handled pandemic due to funding structure

Cons

Old boys club vibe is strong. If you have friends and make them easy, you'll have a much easier time. If not, prepare to fight twice as hard for things that you need to get your job done. Reliance on FMLA tells you all you need to know about the gender disparity/equity People without PhD have a harder time at advancement If you get in the wrong group for your expertise, it's hard to make any progress. Company is more internally competitive than it is internally collaborative. Some people are nice, but the ones who do well don't often play well with others. Company is an SBIR farm. This is part of where the harder than average culture comes from.

1.0
Nov 11, 2014

High-tech sweat shop for technical staff

Principal scientist
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Staff is generally courteous and helpful. Benefits are attractive for a small company. Staff longevity is good if you are either in upper management or the administrative staff.

Cons

Upper management, in general, decides who works on programs, how much they work on the program, and how fast you burn through your budget. You will be responsible for technical performance on programs but hey dictate how to spend the money through their "technical review" process (and, by the way, this dictates your technical approach). Overhead rates are extremely high (to support benefits and a superfluous admin staff) which cuts into program budgets significantly. Lots of admin. resources but very few provide any significant help to tech. staff. Lots of time spent after hours working to get things done. If you interview there then ask about employee retention. There are many employees there with 15 or more years with the company, however the ratio of tech. staff to admin. in this grouping is extremely low. In other words don't expect to be employed their very long if your on the tech. staff.

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Glassdoor has 50 Physical Sciences reviews submitted anonymously by Physical Sciences employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Physical Sciences is right for you.