Vantaggi
Management really cares about the people. The work-life balance is very good. As a researcher, you have a lot of autonomy, which is great. Most important, I get to studying the coolest topics I can imagine and if I imagine something even more exciting tomorrow, I’m generally free to pursue that too.
Svantaggi
The bureaucracy is intense. I’d say 50% or more of my time is spent dealing with tasks that have very little to do with the job duties I signed up for. These include numerous trainings, meetings, panel discussions, and committees that pop up. The distractions do serve a purpose for the agency, but are not what I would choose to do with my time. All companies suffer this issue to some degree, of course, but it’s a bigger issue at NASA than any private company I’ve worked at.