MITRE is one of the few companies that I have worked for that you have to find your own work. The type of work you find is dependent upon your network. If you work in a closed area, this network is difficult to cultivate. Just to obtain coverage, you may end up working a task that is not technically challenging or interesting. Don't expect any help from your department manager to find work. My manager made it very clear that finding coverage was my responsibility, not his. He stated that he was only there for my annual review and raise.
Promotions were a rarity. Just 4 people in my department of 40+ received a promotion in 10 years. Working hard, exceeding the sponsor's expectations generally is not sufficient to get you a promotion. There appears to be a bias that is strongly tied to upper managements pet projects and the people working these were part of a "good old boys network".
I worked on Hanscom and this was one of the worst experiences of my life. The military looks for "butts in chairs" and you needed to be in your chair before 7:45 AM. You had no flexible work arrangements. Going to a doctor's appointment or taking your kid to daycare was a major deal. The Air Force was cutting costs on base so they had the cleaning of the rest rooms performed only once a week. I had to bring my own toilet paper and paper towers because the supplies ran out by mid-week. We had to empty our trash at the end of the day and bring it to a dumpster behind the building which was often visited by animals looking for food.
When we complained about working conditions at the base through MITRE's "Closing the Loop", the Vice-president came out to address us. He made it clear that he was not happy that we had complained many times. Basically he said, shut up and color. If you don't like it, leave. So I finally did.
