Anonymous
Post 06/26/2021 10:09     Subject: Re:MITRE vs. Fed
Why would you leave a stable job for contracting?
Anonymous
Post 06/26/2021 09:40     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
FFRDC like Mitre and IDA are pretty chill place. I have never seen anyone getting fired from there for work. It is like working for feds but not all the breurcracy and you could get paid better than feds. I have also seen them becoming rotating doors(from both sides) for good federal positions.
Anonymous
Post 06/24/2021 09:49     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
PP here, one thing I hated at Mitre from week 3 on the job was the lack of urgency. Pre-pandemic the office was 75% empty at all times and I had no idea what my colleagues were doing. I get it, some people spend lots of time at customer site but still, the culture just felt so slow and stale.

I left for more dynamic culture and career development.
Anonymous
Post 06/23/2021 09:26     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
Easy at will termination
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2021 16:17     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I left MITRE for Fed. Worked in their DOD group. I could not stand the slow work. Mitre is great but the work you do is dependent on the customer’s level of engagement. If you just want to chill it’s perfect but if you are trying to make a difference I would stay away.

Mitre level 6 makes more than 200-220k. Level 5 is slightly above government SES. Level 6 you have to be department head or tech center project lead. Most people are at senior level 4 or level 5.


Me too. MITRE -> Fed. MITRE is a big place. A lot of the work is really indistinguishable from work done by other staff augmentation contractors. There are exactly enough exceptions to this (and small pockets of really top notch technical expertise) to deny that and spin a great story about 'FFRDC difference'. Pay for GS-15/SES equivalent experience is a bit higher as PP says. Work life balance is pretty good, though it's definitely fewer holidays. I found that I needed to be constantly low-level hustling to line up whatever my next work was going to be ... my little fiefdom of MITRE had a lot of short term projects. I also got sick of the 'serving two masters' element of it. I was much more engaged with my customer than with my company management & leadership but as the PP notes, this really varies across the org and across the government space that engages with MITRE.


Thanks PP - what is your sense of stability at MITRE? My biggest is fear leaving government and worrying about Job security.


At Level 4/5, you don't really need to worry about being fired or laid off as long as you're a) not the bottom performer in your department (~50ish people) and b) have coverage a majority of the time. You might not love the work and at some point you might need to take some random project, but you'll stay employed. I left for career development, not any real concern about basic employment.

At the Level 6+ it is more corporate than it used to be -- there was a significant round of lay offs last summer and its the same leadership in place. The organization had gotten very bloated at that level and they did some much needed house cleaning, but it introduced more uncertainty.

In short, MITRE is less stable than the government ... but everything is less stable than the government. MITRE is pretty stable.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2021 11:38     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
Depends on the projects - for some of them it is easy money but for others you have to create business.
Anonymous
Post 06/22/2021 09:19     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I left MITRE for Fed. Worked in their DOD group. I could not stand the slow work. Mitre is great but the work you do is dependent on the customer’s level of engagement. If you just want to chill it’s perfect but if you are trying to make a difference I would stay away.

Mitre level 6 makes more than 200-220k. Level 5 is slightly above government SES. Level 6 you have to be department head or tech center project lead. Most people are at senior level 4 or level 5.


Me too. MITRE -> Fed. MITRE is a big place. A lot of the work is really indistinguishable from work done by other staff augmentation contractors. There are exactly enough exceptions to this (and small pockets of really top notch technical expertise) to deny that and spin a great story about 'FFRDC difference'. Pay for GS-15/SES equivalent experience is a bit higher as PP says. Work life balance is pretty good, though it's definitely fewer holidays. I found that I needed to be constantly low-level hustling to line up whatever my next work was going to be ... my little fiefdom of MITRE had a lot of short term projects. I also got sick of the 'serving two masters' element of it. I was much more engaged with my customer than with my company management & leadership but as the PP notes, this really varies across the org and across the government space that engages with MITRE.


Thanks PP - what is your sense of stability at MITRE? My biggest is fear leaving government and worrying about Job security.
Anonymous
Post 06/21/2021 07:10     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
Anonymous wrote:I left MITRE for Fed. Worked in their DOD group. I could not stand the slow work. Mitre is great but the work you do is dependent on the customer’s level of engagement. If you just want to chill it’s perfect but if you are trying to make a difference I would stay away.

Mitre level 6 makes more than 200-220k. Level 5 is slightly above government SES. Level 6 you have to be department head or tech center project lead. Most people are at senior level 4 or level 5.


Me too. MITRE -> Fed. MITRE is a big place. A lot of the work is really indistinguishable from work done by other staff augmentation contractors. There are exactly enough exceptions to this (and small pockets of really top notch technical expertise) to deny that and spin a great story about 'FFRDC difference'. Pay for GS-15/SES equivalent experience is a bit higher as PP says. Work life balance is pretty good, though it's definitely fewer holidays. I found that I needed to be constantly low-level hustling to line up whatever my next work was going to be ... my little fiefdom of MITRE had a lot of short term projects. I also got sick of the 'serving two masters' element of it. I was much more engaged with my customer than with my company management & leadership but as the PP notes, this really varies across the org and across the government space that engages with MITRE.
Anonymous
Post 06/21/2021 07:02     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
I know someone who works for MITRE who hasn't had a raise in 10 years and hasn't been able to get promoted either. The benefits are also not as good as they used to be.
Anonymous
Post 06/20/2021 17:36     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
I work with Mitre contractors and they are some of the worst I have worked with. They have entrenched themselves at agencies and I would love it if they all got pushed out
Anonymous
Post 06/20/2021 10:25     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
Fed all the way unless you don't want to work on interesting projects while being employed at MITRE.
Anonymous
Post 06/19/2021 20:21     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
Depends on the work. I have worked with and for IDA that is also an FFRDC. Not exciting enough for me.
Anonymous
Post 06/19/2021 13:58     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
I left MITRE for Fed. Worked in their DOD group. I could not stand the slow work. Mitre is great but the work you do is dependent on the customer’s level of engagement. If you just want to chill it’s perfect but if you are trying to make a difference I would stay away.

Mitre level 6 makes more than 200-220k. Level 5 is slightly above government SES. Level 6 you have to be department head or tech center project lead. Most people are at senior level 4 or level 5.
Anonymous
Post 06/17/2021 10:32     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
Great move but you should be getting at least a $50k pay bump
Anonymous
Post 06/17/2021 10:31     Subject: MITRE vs. Fed
I am considering leaving my Fed agency for MITRE. Please share your perspective on stability, compensation, and work life balance. Thanks in advance.