Vantaggi
Work-life balance (you don't take your work home with you), Salary increases each year, Federal holidays.
Svantaggi
My co-workers at this agency are practically unemployable. I don't know how they even passed the screening phase. Or SSA must have been super duper desperate to fill some seats. You name it, we've got it. We have people who sleep, play on the internet, have dirtier mouths than a sailor, attendance problems etc. But they all manage to keep a job. Why you ask? Nepotism. They either have family working for the agency or they were in some stupid fraternity/sorority with someone in a higher up position. So management will play lip service but never really do anything about problematic employees. My advice to anyone is to treat this job as a "starter". Come here to get your Federal experience and take that to another agency with a better reputation. Unless it's headquarters, SSA is a ghetto mess. You'd be wasting your time because promotions are slim pickings here anyways. This is why you'll meet someone who has been with the agency for 10+ years but is only a GS-10. That's pathetic. You can start out at certain agencies at a GS-11 with the right background. But as I said, these people would not last in the private sector. So I'm sure they're just grateful to have a job. There is also so much government waste at this agency it's enough to be make you want to go alt-right. If the public only knew. Cities would be burning to the ground.