Pros
Been here through multiple administrations, so my feedback is indicative of the organization itself regardless of who is "at the top." Slow, steady, and consistent wins the race here.....also the mission. Don't expect to be impactful if your manager has a friend / mentee they want to bring up through the ranks at the expense of everyone else's careers and opportunity. Have seen this with multiple different managers. I suspect most of those in the reviews who enjoy "work / life" balance have long since given up on the mirage of the altruism of public service and are settling into the pragmatism of playing the long game. They are "existing" - simply going through the tedious transactional motions of grinding away on daily taskers and fire drills on the things they are asked to do that will elevate their managers careers or win that manager their next award. In fact, I had a co-worker who once said that GSA is where you go to "lose faith in public service." What's great about GSA, however, is the "mission" that it is supposed to have. That's what keeps me motivated; not the daily ins and outs of the self-serving career leadership (revolving door at that) that I've worked for over the years.
Cons
I'd be challenged to count, in less than 2 hands, the instances of career sabotage on the part of leadership resulting from this F&F (Friends and Family) approach. The irony of that sabotage is you must then watch as programs either fall on their face or in some ways even worse, take months and literal years to advance at a snails pace due to placement of unqualified friends and family.
