ERDC

[Guest111]

Hey guys. Any experience with ERDC in Vicksburg? Thoughts, tips?

[Happy]

I work there. 2 years 1 month into 3 year Phase 2 commitment. I am happy and all the other SMART scholars I know there (there are a lot) are very happy. Good pay, fun work.

[Happy]

I work there. 2 years 1 month into 3 year Phase 2 commitment. I am happy and all the other SMART scholars I know there (there are a lot) are very happy. Good pay, fun work.

Also, I plan to stay after Phase 2.

[Guest111]

Excellent to hear! I'll be seeing you soon then. Thanks for the intel.

[Guest]

I also work at ERDC. It might be a fine place if you're ready for the location. Personally, I detest it. I think that the organization is run poorly and caters only to favorites. I also know several other SMART scholars at ERDC and in contrast to some of the other comments in this thread, they commiserate with my feelings toward it. Each individual likely has his or her own personal experience, but I would advise you to thoroughly evaluate ERDC, especially if you are not from the area originally.

[Guest111]

I'm from a similar town to Vicksburg originally, so I'm thinking the location may be quite suitable for me. However, is there any advice you can give as far as giving the place an objective evaluation?

FWIW, I'd be under the ITL facility / systems engineering.

[Guest]

I am also a SMART scholar at ERDC-Vicksburg, almost 1 year into my phase II commitment. I can concur with parts of the other comments posted here. I personally have very much enjoyed the work, and feel like I have a good opportunity to expand my interests and do work that is interesting to me.

I also have had a hard time adjusting to the area-small town, isolated, etc. I came from grad school in a big city, so it was an adjustment to be sure. You have to look for things to do, and there are a lot fewer options than most places.

I can also attest to the politics that sometimes are at play. I would imagine that is true just about anywhere, but there can be issues with it here. There is some favoritism and advantages given to the golden folks, but if you work hard and are good at what you do, you can generally get yourself noticed.

The hiring process was brutal-no leverage whatsoever and no incentive for them to offer you anything above bare minimum. However, bare minimum goes pretty far in a place like Vicksburg...and I have heard that ITL has deeper pockets than some of the other labs, so maybe you will have a better experience.

If you are used to a small, Southern town and are interested in the work being done in the group you are joining, I would say you are absolutely coming to a good place. I think if the facility here were transplanted to a nicer geographic setting, most of us would have a lot less to complain about...but there are always pros and cons to every situation, so do your due diligence to be sure.

[First replier]

I'm from a similar town to Vicksburg originally, so I'm thinking the location may be quite suitable for me. However, is there any advice you can give as far as giving the place an objective evaluation?

FWIW, I'd be under the ITL facility / systems engineering.

The ISER (systems eng) is a "favorite" now. So, you'll be just fine.

[First replier]

I also work at ERDC. It might be a fine place if you're ready for the location. Personally, I detest it. I think that the organization is run poorly and caters only to favorites. I also know several other SMART scholars at ERDC and in contrast to some of the other comments in this thread, they commiserate with my feelings toward it. Each individual likely has his or her own personal experience, but I would advise you to thoroughly evaluate ERDC, especially if you are not from the area originally.

ERDC seems run poorly at times because it's not a government production R&D machine. We are not funded by congress directly and all funds coming into ERDC have to be for something from someone who IS funded by congress. USACE gives us money, DoD or DoA gives money, other labs may give money. Because of this, we have a tremendous amount of freedom for our research activities. The freedom causes difficulties in management. Over the last several years, ERDC has made tremendous improvement to become a unified organization and now they are continuing to work to improve corporate communications and business processes. If you want a perfect organizational place to work, you will have to sacrifice the freedoms of being able to research whatever you want by going to a different R&D facility which has a strategic and narrow mission. If you can self govern and feel comfortable learning who-is-who and how money gets around, then you can really thrive at ERDC.

[Guest111]

I'm from a similar town to Vicksburg originally, so I'm thinking the location may be quite suitable for me. However, is there any advice you can give as far as giving the place an objective evaluation?

FWIW, I'd be under the ITL facility / systems engineering.

The ISER (systems eng) is a "favorite" now. So, you'll be just fine.

Favorite for employees work in? Can you clarify?

[Guest]

Favorite for employees work in? Can you clarify?

It's a new program with lots of money and is a major focus of the lab right now in terms of hiring and publicity. ITL has staffed up for ISER over the last year with like 30 or 40 new people. You'll be well funded and have low stress. Life will be good.