Sandia National Laboratories Employee Job Reviews in the United States

"There are many outstanding scientists and engineers at Sandia and the compensation is excellent for early-career professionals. However, the current funding uncertainty has made efficient work impossible for scientists and strategic planning intractable for management. Funding and hiring decisions are seemingly made at random in areas where 'soft money' is the primary funding source.On the other hand, scientists and engineers in areas with stable year-to-year funding are generally happy and at ease. The reality is that the environment and workplace culture are highly variable across Sandia. Some groups are poisonous, while others run like clockwork. It really just depends on who you work with and whether your area is supported by upper management."

"Sandia is an engineering culture, with a tradition of excellence, incredibly hard problems, and a surprisingly tight network of subject matter experts despite the security.Most of the work is directed to the nuclear weapon mission, which isn't for everyone. The 3.5 GPA requirement freezes out a lot of smart engineers despite experience.I have really enjoyed my time at Sandia, and I have grown tremendously as an engineer."

What do you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"Flexible time and sometimes a highly technical job assignment with technically oriented people."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Place emphasis on your technical abilities and accomplishments and an interest in technical work."

What don't you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"I did not like the boring safety manual work assignments."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"Give people more technically oriented jobs, and fewer paperwork assignments."

What do you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"The credit union lets you manage your branch without being micro managed. They empower you to make the right decisions for the good of the credit union."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Anyone interviewing with this credit union, you really just have to be yourself."

What don't you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"There really is no opportunities for advancement within the credit union other than going to other departments, and that is limited also."

What do you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"I work on very interesting and challenging projects. I have the necessary resources to complete my assigned tasks. I work with brilliant people that are respectful and hard working. I work on projects I would never be able to even have knowledge of otherwise."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Learn as much about the company you are interviewing with. Then learn as much from the interviewer as possible so that you can make an informed decision on if the position/company is the right fit. Don't take a job just because of salary... find a position you feel you will excel at and then you will enjoy it."

What don't you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"I don't feel engineering design competence and technical ability are very prized anymore. In the past SNL prided itself on technical achievement and engineering impossible tasks. Today it feels like a place that is stuck in the past designing systems that I hope will never get used."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"Reward excellence and promote a culture that is focused on being the best not bolstering average performance for average pay. Sandia hires very brilliant people and then gives them systems to design like you would have seen ten years ago."

What do you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"As a whole they spew out words like synergy and collaboration all the time. This usually just slows things down with meetings about nothing but seem to make the touchy feely brigade feel good about themselves. The thing with Sandia is that while corporately its all lip service, there are bunches of departments that strive together to a heave their goals and if you find one its awesome."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Sandia has a really stupid way managing promotions that is based on current salary and with the government pay freezes.... good luck. This might change with a new job structure being implimented now but I don't know yet."

What don't you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"In my group we are trusted with our tasks but are checked on by our manager. This is quite nice though because they are usually just seeing if they can provide help in some way."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"Cut a lot of the bureaucracy and overhead leachers that make us so expensive to use."

What do you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"they do pretty cool stuff here, usually with the latest technology"

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"you must have a 3.2+ GPA and a technical degree (CS, EE, etc.) to even be looked at, otherwise don't bother"

What don't you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"contractors have zero job security, and managers are not allowed to help you find a new job when your contract runs out or completes"

What suggestions do you have for management?

"move more contractors over to employee status, regardless of their degree or GPA, if they can do the job they're doing"

"Was brought in to work on the Re-Implemantion by GAITS"

What do you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"I was working at SNL by the company GAITS. I was SR Programmer as well as a team lead for a few projects"

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"not really since it was a contracting company but you still have to make sure you can get a clearance."

What don't you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"It's hard working there as a Staff Aug and there was a division between the 2 companies."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"Be more proactive in decisions that could make programming on a COT product harder."

What do you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"Hands-on work, programming, direct feedback of results, high pay"

What don't you like about working at Sandia National Laboratories?

"Albuquerque, bureaucratic procedures, lack of successful completion of projects"