Vantaggi
SAIC was my introduction to the professional work world, and for four and a half good years, I worked with very smart people on some very challenging projects. I gained a lot of experience, and they supported me financially in getting a license required for my career.
Svantaggi
Last year, SAIC announced Project Gemini, which would split the IT services off from, well, basically everything else SAIC does. We were told it was to help SAIC remain competitive, but I have my suspicions that it was done to limit liability from a few well-publicized mistakes. Now, the company never really treated my division and office fairly (i.e.- no holiday parties since 2008 for our division, didn't invite us or even inform us of the existence of a company picnic, small contracts prohibition), but that's when things started to go downhill. I worked in a division slated for BlueCo. Support for proposals and new ventures dried up, and it became harder and harder to maintain billable hours. Our perks, from decent health insurance and performance raises down to tissues in the supply room, evaporated one by one. My project and line manager tried to help out as much as they could, and I still worked with some pretty great people. But when the upper management actively sabotages your side of the company, it's only a matter of time before you can't stand it anymore and leave or get kicked out. And if you get kicked out, well, between the crummy insurance, low job security, nonexistent raises, and a career ladder where you advance by dead mens' shoes... it's probably a blessing. If you're interviewing with SAIC, be sure you ask which company you're working for. I've never worked for any divisions in WhiteCo, so I can't speak to that. But if you learn that you're working for a division that will be in BlueCo, I would think very carefully about the offer, and the company you'll be keeping.