Pros
The company is very flexible in allowing you to balance your work and family life. Management generally has a genuine concern for employee well-being. This is easily the best part about the company. Telecommuting is an option for qualified employees. Coworkers are very friendly and, in general, easy to work with. Free access to gym on location. Good location next to Fair Oaks Mall. Reasonable access from I-66, Dulles Toll Road, Rte 28, and Rte 50. Great company for technical new-comers to get started, especially new graduates. Salary can be very competitive, but you will have to fight for it. You really have to prove yourself reliable, competent, and indispensable to get more competitive rates. Decent vacation time, but it is also your sick leave. So, don't get sick if you like to go on vacation. You can carry over hours from the previous year, at least.
Cons
Not a lot of support in terms of technical training. The company would rather you learn on your own time. There hasn't been a lot of improvement here over the years. Career growth is limited. While it is possible to work your way up in the company, the opportunities for doing so are fairly slim, despite winning of new contracts. They seem to employ additional people from the outside for new contracts, rather than promote from within. This leads to getting stuck on the same contracts for long periods of time and getting bored. Company struggles to keep up with current technology. To be fair, this isn't always the company's fault. Part of it is due to the nature of government contracts. But for the most part, you won't be developing with the latest and greatest tech. This is slowly improving, however. Benefits have been getting cut as time goes on. The retirement package used to be the main selling point of ASM, but this has been reduced to a mere fraction of what it was since being acquired by AFS. Health coverage is expensive and lacks comprehensive options. Your vacation time is your sick leave.
