Pros
Good pay with a 40 hour work week. There's some amount of stress in my job, but that's because I'm an above average employee and volunteer as things that come up. Most folks who work at the NRC have zero stress and enjoy a solid middle class salary with no fear of being laid off. Obviously, no one is getting rich working for the government (unless you're an independent contractor), but the pay isn't bad and at least the government isn't going to kick you to the street when the economy sours.
Cons
Management varies widely depending on which office you work in. Region II (Altanta, GA) is highly political, but other regions seem better. Management in Region II does not want to do their job and fire bad apples as this requires higher levels of approval and thus makes them look bad for hiring the person in the first place. Being a federal agency, they are required to give veterans preference for internal job postings. This means that 90-95% of upper management is ex-navy. Basically, if you are not ex-military and want to succeed and get promoted, there is little chance of becoming a division manager or higher. There are some female division level managers without navy experience, but this is needed to offset the mostly male ex-navy managers. It is possible to become a branch chief (in charge of 10-15 people), but it will take years longer versus being ex-navy. If you aren't ex-navy and want to move up as much as possible, it is very true what the other folks say about needing an engineering degree. I think there's a definite bias toward promoting engineers, as there should be since the work can be technical. There's no escaping the importance of being able to understand technical issues, as this is crucial in being a good regulator. There is truly no upside in working for the government once you've been there a few years and reach full performance grade. Sometimes I wish I'd have stayed in the private sector, but I would have been laid off in the last downturn. However, there I'd have to prove myself without being a veteran, and have the full potential to move up according to my work output, people/networking skills and intelligence. Lastly, the biggest drawback to federal employment is our dysfunctional elected government officials who are ultimately in-charge. It seems now days we are nothing but pawns to them. Value wise, it is easy to see my salary gives me less purchasing power than I had 6 years ago, but it seems our government will not give cost of living increases.
