Salried Employees are Really Contractors - Research Engineer V RAND Employee Review

3.0
Sep 30, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Good work/life balance - Work on new projects every few months - Nice location - Everyone gets their own office - No micromanagement

Cons

- Stress or starve work load - Constant stress of finding "coverage" (aka work). Even if you're salaried, you're expected to be constantly looking for work in the "internal labor market". You end up feeling like a contractor not a salaried employee. - As usually the sole engineer on the team, your tech skills will atrophy. - Very little social interaction between employees. - Very cliquey - Zero mentoring, coaching, or learning opportunities.

Explore other reviews about RAND

5.0
May 12, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Really flexible hours, amazing project team members, engaging projects.

Cons

You will need to network and find your own projects, sometimes finding ~3-5 projects at one time to ensure full utilization.

4.0
Jul 19, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Interesting work, some brilliant colleagues, access to senior decision makers throughout government.

Cons

Stressful trying to stay fully staffed on projects (i.e., internal market within RAND)

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