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Applied Information Sciences

Engaged employer

Buzzwords trump a quality solution. - Software Engineer Applied Information Sciences Employee Review

2.0
9 Oct 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Free snacks and drinks, occasional outings to baseball games. The salary was decent, but the raises are not much even with a good review. Parking expenses are paid for. Really good work, life balance. The location is very nice, right near Reston Town Center and the W&OD Trail by the Metro. Office is nice if you like to live in a cube.

Cons

The organizational structure is not clearly defined or articulated, and management will always have some sort of justification for any concerns. It is very difficult to raise any concerns to management without being deemed a problem child. Everyone in the office keeps to themselves, you can walk past upper management folks for years without them actually knowing who you are. There is no guidance or room for growth, as management is constantly fixated on delivering a "minimum viable product" as quickly as possible despite having not defined what that is. Aside from the chosen couple software engineers, management ignores the input of the development team. Management encourages poor coding practices in order to deliver a minimum viable product in as little time as possible. You will largely be looked down upon by management as just a code monkey. Some in upper management are very snobby, one colleague was told directly that they do not earn enough for their concerns to be valid. Business Analysts frequently spend entire days in meetings, and probably spend most of the work week in meetings. Many Business Analysts claim to have been software developers in order that they can push more rigorous deadlines or squeeze more "stories" into a sprint. They have likely never written any decent software, but will insert themselves into technical meetings and pressure teams to follow their guidance. Working on that laptop is infuriating; I cannot count how many times any given developer was driven to rage because of it. Helpdesk consistently asserts there are driver issues, only to take the laptop and return it with the same exact issue. Ultimately you will stop bothering Helpdesk about it because they offer no solution and you'll end up spending the day trying to fix the garbage laptop. If you want a new laptop, you will have to spend your own money to get a new one. Any effort you put into a project will go unnoticed outside the couple engineers you work with. Management will only meet any input you may have about a project with resistance unless you get one of their favorite engineers to back you up. Best-practice frequently is thrown out the window. You may end up working on the same technologies for a very long time. When the time comes to upgrade, management will likely not want to put the effort into properly updating a solution forcing the team to piecemeal it into a new environment. Because management pushes poorly engineered minimum viable products, a lot of time is spent fixing it. Management either does not understand it takes more effort to fix a poor solution than to put one together right from the start and maintain it, or they like the idea because customers are then stuck paying to have it fixed. Either way it is very discouraging, but any concerns are shrugged off and you will be silenced.

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Applied Information Sciences Response
7y
Thanks so much for the insight. As the company evolves, we're looking to better define/articulate how we structure the organization, how to better provide/receive communication to/from our workforce and ensuring employee morale and our upbeat company culture remains intact. We're in the process of rolling out competencies to provide standardized guidance for career paths and are making strides to ensure we increase communication across the board and throughout all levels within the firm. We pride ourselves in being a people-oriented environment and we're sorry you did not have a good experience.

Explore other reviews about Applied Information Sciences

5.0
18 Jan 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

They are open to individuals wanting to learn. They give opportunities to their employees to have a voice and express their opinions.

Cons

Not many company team building activities.

4.0
14 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Good enough pay - great work/life balance - nice coworkers

Cons

- might end up in a project that doesn't allow for a lot of growth as an early career SWE

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