National Security Agency
National Security Agency Employee Reviews
Found 162 reviews matching the search See all 166 reviews
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Secure, challenging, dedicated workplace
Manager (Current Employee) – TX – July 11, 2018
Workforce is largely senior, technical personnel, or managers promoted from within those communities. Atmosphere is generally good, committed, dedicated, but can be intense. Work-life balance fluxes according to real-world events.
National Security Agency
Business Operations Manager (Former Employee) – Fort Meade, MD – July 10, 2018
Great working experience and learned a lot. Plenty of learning opportunities to pursue several other careers within the agency. The salary and promotions procedures needs help!
a changelling place to work
Utility Worker (Former Employee) – Fort Meade, MD – July 1, 2018
I felt that NSA was a great place to work but there was no room for advancement. I was a very secure place and that was something that I like. I made many friends and the people in the catering department were a delight to work with
Pros
got a discount on your lunch
Cons
not enough time to eat your lunch (30 minutes)
Great Place to work
Head Network Administrator (Former Employee) – Fort Meade, MD – June 25, 2018
I only l.eft for family reasons, other than that, I would have continued working there. Great people to work for, and great place to learn new skills.
Pros
great benefits
Cons
no phones in workplace
Success is unpredictable
ELECTRONICS ENGINEER (Former Employee) – Fort Meade, MD – June 13, 2018
The culture of NSA varies based on your work location. Staff assigned to work at offsite locations have a different culture then those working closer to the main HQ location
Pros
Federal government agency
Cons
payscale is typically less than DoD
Productive and rewarding
Manager/Collector/Language Analyst/Reporter (Former Employee) – MD – June 10, 2018
I worked over 35 years at NSA and had a great career. When I started working, I was not looking for a career. Luckily for me, my managers saw potential in me and kept giving me more responsibilities. When I took my language class, that was the up-turn in my career; I did really well in my class. I was actually touted a "success story" among my managers and peers. Although I had about two years of college, when I started working, NSA offered classes that taught me all I needed to know in order to have a successful career. My management was very supportive and gave me responsibilities beyond what I had imagined. I was always very busy and enjoyed the variety of responsibilities that I had, even managing some above my grade level. Once the opportunity was presented to me to work OCONUS, I was thrilled and did not look back.I enjoyed a rewarding and productive career.
Pros
given opportunities to excel
Subcontracted
Data Acquisition Assistant Chief of Staff (Former Employee) – Colorado – June 8, 2018
I was actually active duty military working for the NSA. They didn't have a lot of say over what I did, however, I loved working for them. My government bosses were always accepting & understanding of what the military required of me.
Great place to gain incredible experience
Senior Developer (Former Employee) – Washington, DC – June 4, 2018
I got to experience things I would never have been able to see in nearly any other place.
The purpose I felt and love for my mission was something I hadn't experienced at a professional level before. It drove me to get up in the morning and do my best every day.
It's run basically like a normal large enterprise. There's an HR and potlucks and timesheets and dumb meetings. I had great managers and I had terrible ones. Overall, I wouldn't trade my time there for anywhere else.
The purpose I felt and love for my mission was something I hadn't experienced at a professional level before. It drove me to get up in the morning and do my best every day.
It's run basically like a normal large enterprise. There's an HR and potlucks and timesheets and dumb meetings. I had great managers and I had terrible ones. Overall, I wouldn't trade my time there for anywhere else.
Pros
Experience, exposure, diverse teams, mission
Cons
Politics, large enterprise issues, can feel like cog-in-machine
great team environment
HR Benefits Specialist (Former Employee) – Fort Meade, MD – May 30, 2018
Mission work was more recognized than enable support. Funding was more favorable to mission work than enable support. Mission work received more recognition and awards. The most enjoyable part of the job was the people you work with.
stagnate and non flexable
Classification Authority Officer (Current Employee) – Fort George G Meade, MD – May 29, 2018
The work is good but supervision needs work on how to use the personnel to the best ability. They need to promote by ability not by degree. People are introverts.
Pros
job security
Cons
easy to get in trouble
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Ask a questionProductive and Hardworking
Office Assistant (Current Employee) – Fort Meade, MD – May 29, 2018
Working for the National Security Agency is very much different than a normal job. It involved being able to multitask with critical information while still focusing on other aspects of the job.
Cyber Analyst
Digital Network Exploitation Analysts Lead (Current Employee) – Fort Meade, MD – May 14, 2018
My day to day job is to maintain confidentially Integrity and availability of government network.With the growing change in technology, cyber actors have made it difficult develop full awareness of tools techniques and procedures used by these actors. While this challenge can be very demanding on management, my team continues to strive hard for these requirements. I feel that the most difficult part of my job is preparing for the unexpected. The most enjoyable is the training and learning from other members from my team.
Pros
flex time, training, Health care
Good place to learn impressive skills.
Applied Research Mathematician (Current Employee) – Fort Meade, MD – May 12, 2018
Good place to learn impressive skills that are in high demand right now. You'll be well equipped for most technical jobs in the country. Great benefits and work life balance.
Great Place to Work, But Security is Populated by A-Holes
Intelligence Analyst (Former Employee) – Fort Meade, MD – April 27, 2018
If you do well in a structured environment, you will like NSA. The number of fields that you can work in is immense, and I was only in one (analysis), but that was terrific. Meaningful work, good compensation, interesting people.
The only blemish is that one has to deal with Security. Keep out of their way; they are unprofessional.
The only blemish is that one has to deal with Security. Keep out of their way; they are unprofessional.
Pros
The Work, the Compensation, the Colleagues
Cons
The Security Organization
Stable Work, Need Improvement on Job Culture
Program/Director & Contract Specialist (Current Employee) – Fort Meade, MD – April 27, 2018
This was a great agency for entry level employees looking for experience in the federal sector especially if coming in as an intern. However, the agency has a lot of favoritism and the job culture is not always fair. Help is needed to improve the promotion process.
Pros
Pay and Stability
Cons
Management and Favoritism
Depends upon mid level management
Technical leader (Former Employee) – Fort Meade, MD – April 10, 2018
I spent a long time at NSA. Over the years I had good managers and some awful managers. The awful managers can make work life miserable. The good part is that there are ways to move out of the bad jobs and into better ones.
The culture can be cut throat, especially when dealing with outside management
The culture can be cut throat, especially when dealing with outside management
Pros
Good time off, great Government benefits
Cons
Cut throat management structure
A nice place.
Language Analyst (Former Employee) – Fort Gordon, GA – March 30, 2018
I would sit in front of a computer screen for ten hours a day and translate Arabic. I learned many things including how to operate multiple computer applications. The management was great. The workplace culture is very competitive but collaborative. The hardest part was maintaining my language skills. The most enjoyable aspect was leaving the building at the end of the work day.
Overall rating
Based on 166 reviews
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Ratings from women
1.8InHerSight Score
1.7Personal Development
1.7Career Opportunities
2.2Family Support
Women rate the female-friendliness of their workplaces on InHerSight
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