Westat reviews

I watched good hardworking people get pushed out by poor management. I noticed that you can do nothing all day in your lonely office, but if you are see as wasting time by occasionally talking to co-workers that is frowned upon. It was like solitary confinement for 8 hrs a day. There is way too much entrenchment in management, so there is no pathway to move forward. The organization has a really odd reporting structure too, a person can have 2 or 4 or more people who you report up to, but for a company in the thousands the HR department is extremely small.

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.