Harris Corp. Software Engineer

[Lazy8s]

So I had an interview with Harris just recently and I have been doing a lot more looking at their company since a few of the things the interviewer said confused me. The first time I talked with him he had a Hawaiian shirt on and was really casual. Then at the second, more formal interview he had a collared shirt and no tie. He also asked some really silly questions (like stuff you learn in Java 1) which I guess were a litmus test to see if I was actually a CS major or not. Now, I am getting a masters in CS so obviously I knew the answers and eventually we moved on to more meaningful discussions (like their CMMI level) but it caught me offguard.

Also, he kept raving about how casual the work environment is and that it's 8-5 with little overtime and travel but he used "performance-based" to describe all promotions, raises, job reviews, etc which generally does not go along with the idea of a casual working environment. Maybe he meant they are casual and you work 8-5 as long as you're getting your sh$% done while you're working?

Also, he talked about how competative their salaries are (though I never got any numbers from him) but I looked a few places online and in Melbourne, FL the average salary for a "Software Engineer I" is $50k with it bumping up to the MASSIVE ammoun of $50.5k with bonuses.... He did mention their company works on the "1-6" level system and said EVERYONE knows the level 6 and 5 people there so I assume the title Software Engineer 1-6 is probably pretty accurate and since Harris is about the only place in Melbourne it's rather obvious where the data comes from...

Now I understand that with a Masters I may not go in on the "ground floor" so to speak but I know I won't be lightyears ahead. I already got a job offer before grad school for $60k+. So I guess my questions are two-fold.

1) Is Harris a good place to work with a competative salary system and room for growth?
2) Any idea where a good place to look for a starting salary for someone with multiple years of internship experience, a master's degree and a security clearance would be?

If you aren't comfortable posting here PMs are welcome too. Thanks in advance. Sorry if it's a dumb question or asked recently, I did search for "Harris", "Harris Job", and "Harris Employer".

EDIT: Poll

 

[Reel]

Hawaiian shirt means that it was your career fair. Second time probably means your on-campus interview. I am assuming that all implies you have not been to Melbourne for the on-site interview or offered a job yet.

Let's get the basics out of the way: while you may think the interviewer asked you silly questions, think about it from an employer's perspective. If you stumbled on these silly questions, they had a quick way to weed you out from their job pool. While looking for a job, I urge you to tuck your ego in your pocket and refrain from allowing your opinion on the sillyness of questions affect your attitude or performance of an interview for this position or any others. Many questions that are asked at interviews are asked of all interviewees and consistency is needed to protect the company against discrimination suits.

I will address some of your points in public. Some I could address in private if you wish to continue this conversation out of a public forum. Some I cannot address at all.

Harris is a really casual workplace. Rarely does anybody expect you to work overtime without getting paid. The "mean" attire is jeans and polos. Some people dress up more, some less. It all depends on the individual. I have not heard of anyone being disciplined for their attire. People are not very cutthroat or overly competitive however there still are ambitious type A people. The company is very performance based. When deciding your raise, they rank you among your peers and that is how the money is handed out. When the promotions come, they consider if your performance indicates you are ready to move up.

The salaries are competitive for the area. I cannot tell you absolute numbers as that information is confidential but your assumption about Harris being the only place in Melbourne is incorrect. There are a good number of engineering companies in Melbourne - many with software engineers. From my inside knowledge, I would say that I would not place much faith in the numbers your research obtained. Additionally, if you are finishing your masters and you are deemed competent through the interview, odds are good you will be offered a level 2 position.

Answering your questions:
1) Harris does appear to have a competitive salary for the area. I make more in Melbourne than I did in Atlanta and for many things Atlanta is more expensive. I live well and can afford many luxuries. I feel that there is room for growth in my career and I also feel that I have a lot of control over the pace of that growth. I have realistic expectations. I worry from your comments that you might have expectations of walking in and being handed the keys to the executive office. With any job at a reasonable sized company, you should expect to have to earn that recognition.

2) Your best bet would be to ask your campus career center and former students that you still keep in touch with. Those resources would best be able to give you realistic answers for your situation.

If you would like to discuss this further in private, please send me a PM and I can provide you with my contact information. Good luck with your career decision.

 

[woodie1]

I left Harris in 199X and would never return. I suspect there may be some departments that are enjoyable to work in but the Harris people are so full of BS about so many things I would be wary.

My $0.02.

 

[Lazy8s]

Thanks alot for the reply. I guess I assumed as a grad student I would bypass the overly simple (to me anyways) questions but I do understand needing to ask everyone. I just didn't expect 20/30min of the interview to be spent on them. I do agree with you about my expectations from the interview but don't think they were ego. I answered the questions correctly and didn't act too good for them or anything. I have not been down to Harris yet. The recruiter said I would definately hear something soon about a visit but since my graduation date is over a year away he was uncertain of when the trip would be.

I guess I just expected Harris to be extremely high pressure since every sentence that involved pay, performance reviews, promotions or anything involved. I am actually happy to hear it's that low-pressure. It sounds like you took my post wrong. I was very impressed with the guy and the company sounds great, in fact a little too good to be true, which is why I figured I would ask here.

Did you vote no or was that someone else because your answer sounded more like a yes...

 

[Reel]

Originally posted by: Lazy8s
Thanks alot for the reply. I guess I assumed as a grad student I would bypass the overly simple (to me anyways) questions but I do understand needing to ask everyone. I just didn't expect 20/30min of the interview to be spent on them. I do agree with you about my expectations from the interview but don't think they were ego. I answered the questions correctly and didn't act too good for them or anything. I have not been down to Harris yet. The recruiter said I would definately hear something soon about a visit but since my graduation date is over a year away he was uncertain of when the trip would be.

I guess I just expected Harris to be extremely high pressure since every sentence that involved pay, performance reviews, promotions or anything involved. I am actually happy to hear it's that low-pressure. It sounds like you took my post wrong. I was very impressed with the guy and the company sounds great, in fact a little too good to be true, which is why I figured I would ask here.

Did you vote no or was that someone else because your answer sounded more like a yes...

I did not vote. I rarely vote in polls. I wasn't sure how to take some parts your post and I am not rendering judgment on you one way or another on behalf of the company. I was just giving you cautious advice in case the worst was true so don't worry I will still try to answer questions honestly. I felt the same way while interviewing and I think in many cases I have let my ego show and that has caused me to receive some negative reactions.

Having been involved in the process, they treat the on campus interview as the first round. They try to gauge your technical ability above a threshold and use that to judge if you are worth bringing on site. On-site, they will ask you detailed technical questions about your work experience and knowledge. They will also take that time to evaluate your personality and decide if you are someone they would want working with them.

I know of another guy that comes around ATOT that started at Harris the same day I did actually. If he chose to reveal himself to you, I would expect he could provide you a very different perspective on Harris because he is in a different software department.

After looking at some of your posts, I did see that you are at Auburn. One of my friends and my manager went to Auburn for the career fair recruiting. My friend actually brought the system that I am working on with him as a demo. I am not sure how or where he presented it but perhaps you saw it.

 

[Codewiz]

My roommate out of college went to work there. If i had to guess how much he started at with a BS in CompE, he started around 62K. Good money for the area. This was back in 2002.

 

[Supermercado]

Originally posted by: Reel
I know of another guy that comes around ATOT that started at Harris the same day I did actually. If he chose to reveal himself to you, I would expect he could provide you a very different perspective on Harris because he is in a different software department.

That would be me. If you've got any specific questions or just want to get another perspective, feel free to shoot me a PM.

 

[Lazy8s]

Actually he mentioned the demo but they had demoed it while I was teaching lab so I couldn't go. It's not like it's all about salary it just seemed like the job sounded way too good to be true and on top of that the online salary things seemed pretty low so I was looking more for clarification since this is my first real job search. It's difficult to tell what you're worth honestly because most of the people I talked to were focusing on hiring undergrads into starter positions and seemed rather unprepared for grad applicants. I mean I got taken to dinner and they had plenty to say but they didn't have job description sheets or anything like for the undergrad spots. I got alot of "We could use someone like you, here's my e-mail and you will definately be hearing from us." responses.