Pros
The company follows the Fed holiday calendar, that's about all I can think of for Pros of this company unfortunately.
Cons
- Work/Life balance here is BS. Difficult to move around to get exposure to other skills, projects, etc - BAH prefers to hire externally rather than allowing current employees the chance to move around - Be prepared to use your PTO/VAC time to cover bad weather days when the Fed offices are closed - Stuffy, uptight dress code. Dress shirts/pants mandatory, ties were mandatory depending on the management, however it didn't seem like the rules applied to everyone equally. - In the event of bad weather and the Fed offices were closed, BAH would penalize YOU for that by forcing you to use your VAC/PTO time to cover that day. I've worked at different Fed contractors prior to BAH and have never encountered this ridiculous tactic. Previous employers would code the day as a holiday, company overhead or a regular workday for the employee - Bait and switch. When I was hired, I was hired for a position that I applied for and interviewed for, at least that's what I thought. I was at the 2-day orientation seminar at the VA headquarters when a guy in the group (someone attending the orientation as well) approached me and introduced himself and stated where he will be working and the office (same office as me). He was hired for a completely different job function and area than I was, but the same office. The guy recognized my name (name tags we all were wearing) which is what prompted the introduction. He then said I'll be working with him as well in the same group. I corrected him and said "oh no, I was interviewed for and hired for (blank position). You must have me mixed up with someone else". He said he didn't have me mixed up and I'll be doing 'job ABC' instead of 'job XYZ' (the position I was hired for). It turned out he was correct. I learned about the initial deceptive practices regarding my position of this company from a stranger coming up to me at the VA employee orientation and informing me I'm not going to be working in the position I was hired for. That's HOW I found out. The manager I got was NOT the manager I interviewed with. I asked (different managers) why I was placed in 'job ABC' and not the job I was hired for. I do not think that's an unreasonable question. I never really got a clear answer, even after asking multiple times. I was told I would be phased into the position I was hired for down the road after an expected volume of work was cleared out (just 2-3 months max is what I was told). The manager I was assigned to did not want me there from the beginning. His dislike for me was evident from the first moment I met him. Why did this person have a problem with me? No idea. The other people in the group (including the guy from orientation) were treated differently than I was. After a period of about 7 months (the volume of work was lowered in 'job ABC' where I was 'helping out') and not being phased into the role I was hired for I was told the position I applied for no longer existed and 'job ABC' (which I didn't like anyway) was being phased out. I ended being 'benched' for a while. During that time I found another job AWAY from BAH, gave a standard notice and got the hell out of there! - They hire too many people it seems. Lots of lack of work notices are given after a while (less than a year in the offices I worked at). - Some of the people are nice to work with, but the vast majority have zero social/people skills. - They seem to hire a lot of younger, fresh out of school grads and work them to death. - Most of the employees at the office I worked at seemed uptight, highly stressed and agitated. I didn't get a chance to know many of them other than small talk in passing. - The work/life balance mantra BAH likes to emphasize is complete BS. - I began to notice LOTS of BAH faces I would normally see in hallways, elevators and cubicles disappearing before I left (the last 6 months working there). I asked someone there whom I trust what's happening with these people disappearing and she told me either they're finding other jobs, or contracts aren't being renewed by the Feds or they're getting lack of work notices. - You will be set up for failure. Tasks will not be explained to you effectively and when you do something wrong (due to lack of guidance from management) they try to make you look incompetent. I would not be surprised if this is done to people intentionally. The mentality is old school. Wear jeans for crying out loud. The majority of people at my location are sitting in cubicles most of the day (except to go to the bathroom, vending machine or lunch), what difference does the clothing make? Ridiculous. BAH lost a contract the week after I gave my notice which put a number of people on the bench with me. They were told the same thing as I was. We were told that 'WE' had to find ourselves other positions in the company to avoid a layoff. Management was zero help with this matter and they really could've cared less.