Westat reviews

I have a Bachelor's degree and I believe that it will be very difficult to work my way up at Westat even though I have proven myself and had very positive reviews from my supervisors. Recently hired Research Assistants with Master's degrees are receiving work that is far more rewarding and challenging and they have not had to 'pay their dues' like I have. Westat may be a good stepping stone for bigger and better things, but I have not seen much evidence that people can work their way up here.

I had little room to negotiate my salary, and it is sub-par for DC metro cost of living with a masters and couple of years of work/research experience. It's not the place to make a career at if you plan on doing any kind of advancement as a junior/mid-level staff member. I've seen some staff members stay in positions for several years without a promotion which makes me think that they're complacent or not career-focused enough. In addition, the company's marketing department has not listened to many of the younger and senior research staff to start promoting our projects and work via social media channels because they are adverse to change. If Westat doesn't change the way they market their people and projects, they will lose out on valuable contracts. Paid holidays are also stingy - Westat only recognizes 6 national holidays a year. This is pretty bad in comparison to some of our competitors who give their staff 8-10 paid national holidays a year.