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Applied Research Associates

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Not the Job I Thought it Would Be - Anonymous employee Applied Research Associates Employee Review

1.0
Jun 25, 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The ESOP is a good perk, but it comes at a cost because they can’t afford to pay us market rate off the street. If you are a project manager and bring money into the company, you will get obscene raises, but will need to cover yourself with work going forward. The company as a whole seems to be an okay company, but the Littleton location has a bad reputation amongst employees of the other divisions due to poor leadership.

Cons

Communication is non-existent. The management “team” (for a lack of a better word) talks trash about each other, and behind other employees’ backs. Management is afraid to have tough conversations with employees and address concerns. A lot of people (including myself) would say “this happens everywhere” but this place is the worst I’ve seen. You’ve been warned. There are a few people in the office that we all know we need to “please” and if you get on their bad side you may as well start looking for a new job as they will find a way to exit you from the organization or make your life miserable until you quit. Unfortunately, the office isn’t big enough to avoid them all together. Eventually you will run out of work. They expect us to market and write proposals, however, there is no training on the subject. We all just write proposals blindly and hope for a contract. While this practice works sometimes, it is simply not sustainable. Every person in a leadership position was advanced purely out of attrition or being “next in line”. Through no fault of their own, no leader has been advanced due to any kind of leadership potential or training.

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Dec 4, 2025
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Pros

Work life balance Flexibility Benefits

Cons

Pay could be better but for starting salary is good enough

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1.0
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Pros

The pay (after negotiation) is comparable to some other offers that I got from other companies

Cons

- If you want work life balance, this is NOT the place for you. You’re expected to bring in externally contracts to cover your salary. While they do allocate hours for contract proposal writing, most of the time, it’s never enough. You’ll end up working overtime and during weekends most of the time. - If you enjoy doing research, this is NOT the place for you. During my interviews, I asked how long a typical project would be, they all said it’s usually a few years. But the fact is, it all depends on the clients. If the clients say stop working on a project, you have to stop. Within the last year, a lot of their contracts got terminated, so people has to stop working and no pay. - If you enjoy doing rigorous research, this is NOT the place for you. People here tend to oversell their skills and knowledge to sell themselves to the clients or government agencies, so they could get the contracts. If they sell successfully and get the contracts, but then there is no time to really learn the necessary skills. Sloppy work has to be rushed because of the clients’ demands. - If you want sick leaves or maternity leaves, this is NOT the place for you. They do have PTO, but it’s not enough. Most people took unpaid time off for months when they had kids.

3
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