What is the best Gov. Agency/Contractor to work for in IT? (contractors)

[KnowGood]

Hello all,

I apologize if this seems like a Newbie question, but I'm considering a move to DC, and I wanted to know if there are some gov. agencies or contractors that are better to work for than others (especially in IT)? Some people have told me that it all depends on the type of supervisor you get (like every other company), but I'm curious if any agencies/contractors have a good (or bad) reputation around town?

[Beach-rat]

In today's economy..

Who ever will hire you....

[smakawhat]

When you find the best one, let me know... they are all small versions of hell if you ask me...

[clarksonknight]

Originally Posted by Beach-rat

In today's economy..

Who ever will hire you....

That's a rather drab thing to say. The gov't contracting arena is fairly unaffected by the economic crisis and IT is the most booming discipline within the gov't/contracting sector.

Agencies typically don't normally pay particularly well, but if you can get in as a contractor with a clearance you'll see a much better rate. If you don't have a clearance, you'll need to 1) be clearable and 2) find a company that will hire you contingent on your clearance going through or have temp work to do while you process. Many of the bigger contractors (Lockheed, Northrop, GD, etc.) do this, and although it may be slightly more difficult to find a position that allows this in this economy it's definitely still done if you have an in-demand skill set.

As for which one is best? Heh, they're all cutting back on benefits (at least the larger ones for sure) and treating employees like crap. If I had it my way, I'd stick with a mid-size company but every time I get hired by one, they get bought up by a big dog and all the perks go away.

[cybergoogle]

If you don't have a clearance, you'll need to 1) be clearable

how to get the clearance? i am a US citizen

[PenguinSix]

Clearance is a very very desirable thing to have in the government contracting world. To get it, you have to need it. To need it, you have to have a job that requires clearance. Of course that is kind of the catch-22. To get that job you need clearance, to get the clearance you need the job, etc.

If you don't have military service or an active clearance, you can look at jobs that will sponsor you for the clearance process. The best are ones that can give you some work while the clearance process is underway (it can vary in how long it takes to get, up to many months depending on your past and the level you are seeking).

As for the original question, there are so many contractors and so many sub-sub contractors and divisions it's hard to say which is good / bad 'overall'. One firm might have a great group working with the Department of the Interior but the same firm's employees at the Department of Agriculture are ready to declare war on each other. While it did seem a bit flippant, my advice would be to aim for whatever job you can get, complete your relocation and then shop around if things are unbearable.