USIS Employer Reviews

Good Benefits/Salary
Flexible Hours
Northern VA
Government Contractor

I cant really say anything bad about this company except the commute. Other than that its a great company, good pay and ok insurance. my day is never really hard, when i think my day will be a drag the managers and project managers lift you up even if theres a bad report coming. management is the best!

If you have a clearance granted by the DOD or your last contracting job, this place offers you a way to serve the US in a critical mission. I cannot disclose anything more, but if you are interested apply.

Never a dull moment

No matter how hard you worked, not appreciative enough.

Improvement in management would have been helpful in understanding the chaos in assigned positions.

Co-workers some nice, and some not so nice.

Hardest part of the job was pretending you liked your job when people made it so difficult.

Most enjoyable part of the job, was – more...  time to go to lunch or depart for the day to go home. – less

I would perform various projects for the case to which we were contracted on. I would have to meet specific deadlines in order for the task to be completed in time. I worked in numerous DOJ divisions where my knowledge was enhanced and my skills were utilized.

The company has issues with management and understanding of contracting.with US government. All of the personnel working the current contract are completely unhappy with the dealings with management.

I worked daily in managing and working with my inside and outside sales representatives to sell our products. I spent a lot of time in front of customers with my sales representatives, and started building an understanding of customer product needs. I also took it upon myself to start educating my sales team in complex selling.

I learned that some – more...  holes in product portfolio can really limit growth. I also learned that selling products that required constant legal documentation adjustment, utilizing law/legal professionals, can be time consuming, can limit productivity, and tend to bring great frustration in your sales team. Things need to be fully baked before they are consumed.

Management can't be sweepingly changed without bringing in a mass of professionals with experience with the products they are going to manage and produce.

My co-workers here were new outside sales representatives, and limited experience inside sales representatives. Good people, with potential, and they needed a structure that could hold their enthusiasm.

The hardest part of the job was dealing with a big hole in the portfolio, and the long and constant legal negociations necessary to secure sales.

The most enjoyable part of the job was helping my outside sales team present the products, and helping them to grow an understand complex selling. – less

Their starting salaries are terrible and they do not promote or give raises. They expect you to complete unfair amounts of work and will not provide overtime unless it helps them make money. I know of at least three investigators in my area that have left for another company due to pay and workloads that are a lot better. If you are interested in this – more...  type of position, look at KeyPoint first. USIS is poorly run and the company does not care about it's employees. – less

Not a usual Monday through Friday work week. Plan on working holidays, Saturdays & Sundays. Not convenient work schedules. Above average pay, the management team is always focused on other things such as meetings and not putting the more seniority folks first. The insurance is not good. Vacation time is comparible with other companies.

Its is a great place to work if your still in school or retired if you like to walk or escort people... but its a great way to get your clearance if you dont have one

Background, Culture: USIS is a small to medium private company. The company began in the mid 1990s under the Clinton-Gore administration after a decision was made to privatize security clearance investigations, in part. In part, because the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) maintains a federal workforce that includes investigators known as "Special – more...  Agents" and support staff. This federal workforce is minuscule compared to the number of contract companies/contract workforce that has evolved over the years. USIS performs security clearance investigations under contract with OPM. USIS is by far the largest contract company. But it should be, USIS evolved directly out of the government’s privatization. Other major contract companies include Keypoint Goverment Solutions (formerly Kroll), CACI, and Omniplex. As an employee of USIS (or any of the other contractors), you are known as a "Contractor Investigator". Contract Investigators carry credentials with a silver badge and Contractor Investigator label, while Special Agents carry credentials with a gold badge and Special Agent label. This is about the only difference between the two when it comes to work performed (although, there is one other small difference that pertains to swearing under oath versus unsworn declaration). There is a federal manual that dictates how investigations are to be performed, regardless of one being a Contract Investigator or Special Agent. USIS maintains some support services that require all contractors (regardless of the contract company that employs them) and Special Agents to call USIS for assistance. This is pretty unique. In contrast, employees of USIS are forbidden to have any contact with OPM, unless employed in some high level managerial capacity. USIS likes to think it has total control, because it is the largest contractor and has been able to perform functions of the contract better than OPM federal workforce, but ultimately OPM rules the day because it grants the contract. USIS depends totally upon OPM, make no mistake about it. If you keep reading, I’ll explain how this relationship has influenced the climate at USIS over the years.
Compensation/Benefits, Management, Job Security/Advancement: Keep the following in mind, USIS is a for profit entity. Basically here is how it works; OPM awards a contract to USIS. OPM assigns cases to USIS and it pays USIS for each case completed. Many years ago, employees reaped the benefits of USIS’s strong presence on the contract. Back then, the more cases an employee completed and the faster, the more bonuses the employee received throughout the year. Those days are long gone! Since USIS greatly influenced OPM’s ability to rid a backlog of cases and become current, the atmosphere of the company has changed. Unfortunately, I began my employment in the midst of this change and missed the era of quarterly bonuses in addition to one’s base salary. I’ve been told these were overall good times for employees.
Periodically, USIS and other contractors submit rebids to OPM to continue performing investigations. Over the years, OPM has tightened some facets of the contract. For instance, if USIS submits a case to OPM and OPM finds additional work is needed on the case, OPM will deduct a percentage of the amount typically paid on that particular case. This form of disincentive and an overall reduction in the amount of investigations performed has caused USIS to rebrand itself and look for other means of revenue. Due to a tight federal budget, many federal agencies are not hiring. Therefore, OPM has seen a reduction in the amount of requests for security clearance investigations. In the past, the OPM contract accounted for up to 50-75% of the company’s business. In an effort to become less dependent upon OPM, USIS has purchased other companies and now belongs to Altegrity, a group of companies. USIS has sought many other federal contracts and private sector services (for example, providing background investigation services to law enforcement agency applicants, truck drivers, etc.) in an effort to grow the business. These efforts have taken place while employees’ salaries have remained stagnant and promotion /advancement is nonexistent. It is my opinion that the company is seeking to do more with less.
Employees who previously worked only one contract, now work numerous contracts such as subcontract work for the USDA’s food stamp program, subcontract work involving pharmaceutical sales rep’s inventories, subcontract work for Medicaid/Medicare fraud initiatives, subcontract fingerprinting services, etc. These additional roles have been daunting on employees and strained the workforce. USIS has not disclosed the impact of these additional contracts on the company’s bottom line. This lack of communication is rampant within the organization. USIS also uses an unfair system to rate employees. USIS continues to only review employees’ performance based on the OPM contract. An employee could work four contracts, but only receive a review based on the OPM contract. This review determines an employee’s ability to receive a raise or obtain promotion. Additionally, the company is experiencing a huge change in management. Some managers are waiting to hear if they will continue as managers or receive a severance package (keep reading, this is discussed below). The company appears to be headed toward a philosophy of passing disincentives to employees. Currently, the rating system used to review employee performance determines an employee’s ability to receive a raise or be promoted. This is the case with most private companies. However, USIS is researching a rating system that will review employee performance to determine at what percentage an employee’s salary will be paid. An employee could receive anywhere from 80-85% to 110-115% of his/her base salary based on performance. In other words, if an Investigator turns in cases that OPM deems to require additional work, USIS will withhold money from the Investigator’s check!.
Current base salary ranges: Associate Investigators at 34,000. Investigators at 40-41,000. Senior Investigators at 50-55,000. Advancement is a joke. All will be hired at Associate Investigator and struggle to be promoted to Investigator. The only Senior Investigators in the company are those who were promoted to such several years ago. After these three levels of Investigator, the only option for advancement is to be promoted to the first level of management known as a Team Leader. Team Leaders report to a District Manager. Currently, a new Altegrity CEO and management changes will result in a restructure of Team Leaders/District Managers. Supposedly, some will no longer be employed after January 2012 (this is the management change I referred to above). The most secure job in the company is to work as an Investigator. Investigators perform the duties of the company’s various contracts and their function directly affects the company’s bottom line.
Work/Life Balance: Investigators work solely from home and set their own schedule. About 85% of the work is performed in the field through subject/source interviews and record reviews, while the remainder consists of written reports from home. Here is where things can be misleading. Often times Investigators work in the field late into the evening when many sources are available to provide reference testimonies. Too often, case assignments are heavy with short deadlines, ultimately necessitating 40+ hours to complete. USIS assigns cases to employees that are received from OPM based on the company’s monthly revenue projections. The company has frequently entered periods where overtime is prohibited, especially as of late. This has resulted in a culture where Investigators sometimes work long hours off the clock in an effort to get cases completed and appear more favorable during the rating process. Occasionally, and I do mean occasionally, OPM slows up on the amount of work released to USIS and therefore Investigators may have to take paid time off, work in some other capacity or detail (4 weeks) across the country to a location where the workload is heavy until OPM releases more work. This doesn’t happen too often, maybe 1-3 times per year. The company provides a laptop, smart phone, fax/printer/scanner and company car/gas card. The company car/gas card can be used for private use, although employees pay approximately $150.00 per month to offset the company’s lease of these vehicles and gas expenses. Employees have to be mindful though, because too much personal use will result in additional money being withheld by USIS due to IRS reporting guidelines regarding personal use. Medical benefits are slightly below average in my opinion as far as employee contributions per pay period. You have a normal 80/20 health plan or health savings plan option, medical, dental, short term/long term disability, etc and 401k savings option. The company 401k plan contributes 50% of an employee’s salary up to 8%.
I have found employees most pleased at USIS are those who retired from federal civilian or military service who work for USIS to supplement their retirement pay or stay busy. Most of them are only irritated by the oppressive work environment, constant emails and phone calls from management. Most frustrated employees appear to be mid career Investigators who struggle to balance work/family demands and the inability to receive a merit increase/promotion. Recent college graduates with little to no work experience are pleased to finally earn a check and carry credentials, but surely awaken to the reality of things when they figure out how hard they work, but how little they earn compared to their college schoolmates.
By the way, most of the other contractors pay a better salary (but do not provide a company car/gard card) and have a more relaxed work environment. – less

USIS has a lot of opportunity the job market was slow but very educational and challenging.I loved the work environment and the access in growth with the company.

Experience has shown that management did not take care of the belligerence of employees to employees, bad behavior ( the "F" word was ramped,of young people that worked there at the time i was employed. I would Never work in those surroundings again. This was only one department,and so i cannot speak for the whole company. I am sure there are better – more...  areas. – less