Pros
Westat is a great place to work. The company is conservative in its business practices, but is quite laid back in its corporate culture (i.e., employee dress, management practices, office ethos.) Because most of its revenue comes from government contracts, as long as the Government is in business, Westat will be too. The company is protective of its employees and it takes a lot to get fired. In the 8+ years I have worked there, I have seen only a handful of employees fired for incompetence, and it is took forever to get them out the door. Management works hard to find a place for under-used employees and it seems to me if you get laid off from Westat, you haven't tried hard enough to be useful.
Cons
The work flow is unpredictable and it's very hard to plan vacations and such. For the kind of work I do (project work), it is not uncommon to have to scuttle plans I have made because the work suddenly tsunami'd on me. I have never really gotten used to this part of the job and it's the one thing I dislike about working at Westat.
The other thing about Westat that doesn't affect me but has affected others I have worked with is that if you do not have a graduate degree (especially a Ph.D.), your growth opportunities at Westat will be limited.
