Pros
Extremely casual environment, from the staff up to senior management. Low stress overall and can sit on a contract and go through the motions indefinitely. Decent exposure to federal financial management.
Cons
Sadly, despite the casual environment my time spent at AOC was a time-sink. No advancement opportunities and you have to get lucky to get moved to a different contract/project. Beware, once you ask to get moved, especially to a contract under a different VP, prepare to burn plenty of relationships. Upper management ethics and professionalism...meager at best. Compensation is a material discount to market - don't be fooled into trading base salary for "unlimited vacation" or "significant bonus." The unlimited vacation is misleading - you will be given 3 weeks and anything outside of that will be watched like a hawk and questioned. The bonuses are "tied to corporate performance" and you will not be given any sort of explanation of how your bonus was computed. Your performance is not evaluated nor considered; bonuses, pay increases and promotions are determined prior to performance evaluation! Not sure how that's possible. Lack of opportunities + no training + below market compensation + ambiguous policies + lack of any clear vision = best to look elsewhere.