Pros
Organizational mission is a very good, noble purpose. Very smart people though most aren't arrogant about it. Quasi-academic atmosphere. Main campus is beautiful and lots of perks like cafeteria, gym, yoga classes, etc. Flexible hours and WFH, almost unlimited as long as you get your time in. Can make up time within the month if you take time off early in the month, or can take essentially "comp" time late in the month if you work overtime--but it all has to be done within the month. New Diversity & Inclusion program instituted, trying to at least give lip service to diversity of all kinds. Lots of informative and educational seminars, brown bags, etc. 20 days PTO although this has to count sick time as well as vacation, or running errands.
Cons
Charge code atmosphere means you are supposed to be counting "billable hours" literally every minute. Some projects put a limit on how many hours you can use, meaning you can't charge more than the limit and sometimes have to use PTO to fill out your time, through no fault of your own, or if you are waiting to get data from someone for your next step, you are stuck with nothing to bill. Using overhead is allowed but must be approved and is very whimsical depending on your manager and working group. Needs much more consistency in that regard. Even attending work-related educational seminars and Brown Bags is not chargeable. The only time they help with learning classes is if you are in an actual degree program. For many jobs, you get no say in what project you are put on, and it may be a bad match for your talents or interests, but you happen to be the one who had time in your schedule, so you're put on this project for the next 5 years even if you are not a good fit. Trying to get off a project is virtually impossible because then they need to find you something for your time as well as find someone with time to take your place. It all goes back to the "every minute must be billable" atmosphere that really drags down morale. Upper management seems to have a good vision and empathy for workers, but that doesn't do a bit of good if middle managers, the ones who actually oversee workers, aren't on board with it which they often are not. Space restrictions mean many have to share offices and people are always on phone calls, making it difficult if you have a job (which most of us do) requiring intensity or quiet. A new building is going up, but they have fallen prey to the "open workspace" hype so there will be even less privacy/quiet there and more open cubicles. I am not looking forward to that! Only 7 holidays, though you get two more floating ones--but 9 is still subpar compared to most places, especially since we don't get sick time. Changing positions within RTI is very, very difficult because the job descriptions are written in so much detail tailored to a VERY specific experience level. RTI experience itself should count for something even if we don't have the precise degrees and years of exact experience in the listing. Projects can get VERY intense sometimes, and reliance on coworkers for what you need to proceed can be very stressful when a deadline is looming and they drag their feet getting it to you. Federal Govt is our Cash Cow and right now, everything is up in the air.
