Afghanistan analyst on a Defense Intelligence Agency Contract
Pros
Very exciting and engaging subject matter Competitive salary, and was able to get a promotion when I met the career milestones. Great overtime/danger pay for deployments overseas.
Cons
I more enjoyed the intelligence workshop I was contracted to, not so much BAE itself. A smaller or more specialized intel contract company would pay even better for exceptionally qualified analysts. BAE showed very little interest in employee performance on the contract, really only cared that the customer wasn't upset and that we were billing the right number of hours. Little recognition for actual performance for the client, and employees who did little except plug along were left to slack so long as the customer didn't get angry and they kept billing hours.