Vault’s Verdict

Smartronix continues its massive push into cloud services—computing, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance—that present exciting new challenges and opportunities for the firm as a whole. As the firm expands its offerings, it maintains its established reputation as a government contractor while also expanding into the private sector. Leadership continuously looks for voids in the market, positioning Smartronix to meet those needs and diversifying the firm’s portfolio accordingly. This is an exciting growth period for the firm that many insiders are meeting with optimism.

As a major player on the bleeding edge of cloud technology, Smartronix presents its consultants with opportunities to work on some of the most challenging, exciting, and ambitious projects. Nonetheless, the firm retains a culture that insiders describe as family-oriented. Leadership cares about the firm’s people and makes them feel valued—both personally through meaningful human gestures, and professionally, through active encouragement of professional development. This firm is for passionate, creative individuals who want to make a difference for their clients in an environment that cares about their success.

Firm Culture

• “As a mid-sized firm, we're small enough to treat employees as more than just a number, yet large enough to be competitive alongside other prestigious firms many times our size and established much longer than us.”

• “I believe the company acts in the best interest of both the customer and the employee. They seek to give the customer a good, strong result in whatever service they need. The company is equally willing to use that same devotion to stick up for their employees when the customer is in the wrong.”

• “I've worked for larger firms and felt like I was only a number; now I feel I am valued contributing member of the company.”

• “Smartronix cares about its employees and makes it a point to let them know they're valued and appreciated with little things like monthly birthday celebrations, team building/socials, and sponsored events in the community.”

• “Smartronix feels like a family and treats you as a family member. Accountability and rewards are both high. Integrity and trust are number one.”

• “Senior leadership makes it clear that they care about employee welfare, which is why Smartronix has such a great work/life balance and high morale. I think all companies are ultimately trying to stay competitive, but it doesn't feel like Smartronix is doing it at the expense of employees. Employees still feel valued and appreciated.”

Quality of Life

• “I have the ability to flex my time as necessary to support a strong work/life balance. I am not required to travel. The company has recently implemented a new travel service that has made travel coordination much easier. Smartronix provides me with plenty of time off (four weeks’ vacation, one week of sick time and 10 paid federal holidays).”

• “I think the hours are great, the firm is very flexible and they allow us to ‘bank’ hours to use in the future for vacation. The firm is focused on ensuring a good quality of life. I do not have anything negative to comment on regarding the quality of life with this organization. I sincerely appreciate the flexible work schedule and leave policy.”

• “Of all the companies I've worked for, Smartronix has the best work/life balance. This seems to be a priority for everyone from senior management down the line, which really helps to limit workplace stress and keep morale high.”

• “Smartronix is a great company to work for. They do have a great culture, and work/life balance is important. They are very understanding about the need to take time off and are generous about letting me do so when I need it.”

• "Smartronix management truly does stress the importance of work/life balance to all employees. Sometimes there are proposals and work deadlines that cause for flexibility and longer workweek hours, and possibly a few hours on the weekend. However, this is a temporary dilemma that usually only lasts a few weeks or less. Travel can also vary, but most non-managerial employees aren't required to travel too much. As far as taking time off, most employees feel free to take time off for vacations, etc. With enough notice, we are almost always approved to use our accrued hours of vacation. "

• “The ability to take time off is very easy. I appreciate that they don't want things planned out months in advance, or have extensive paperwork to fill out. Just send an email, add it to a calendar, and that's about it. Very straightforward, which is what I prefer.”

Career Development

• “Two policies, formal education for continuing college education advancements in the amount of $2,500 a year, and an uncapped amount for professional development for certifications and training.”

• “As a primarily government contractor, our promotion opportunities rely heavily on positions available on a contract.”

• “Our company regularly recognizes those up for a promotion or service award. I think they do an excellent job overall. They also regularly send employees to all-day trainings to be certified in areas relevant to their jobs, while covering all of the course expenses.”

• “Plenty of opportunities are available, but it depends on the individual to pursue. There is little ‘push’, but plenty is available if someone ‘pulls.’”

• “Smartronix has helped me many times through the course of my service with them to qualify for, accept and be successful in opportunities that have advanced my career. Smartronix reimbursed 100% of the cost for my continuing education and have also reimbursed for exam fees and education related to attaining and retaining professional certifications.”

• “The firm is very good at career development, and they provide a generous education stipend to pursue your advanced degree and also to join professional organizations. The most challenging issue is that since they are relatively small, I do not think the promotion potential is there like in a larger organization.”

Compensation

• “Compensation is very fair. The company has always done the 401(k) match even during tough times.  Medical insurance is always a challenge, but company has absorbed some premium increases 100% and self-insures part of the deductible.”

• “I have found Smartronix to be very generous with respect to salary progression. They are also very focused on pay equality regardless of race/gender. The 401(k) with company matching has made retirement a real possibility for my family and me. When many organizations were stopping and/or scaling back 401(k) contributions, Smartronix has maintained their program through the years.”

• “The company culture and compensation are perks for me.  Although it is not the company's fault, the health insurance is very costly. The 401(k) matching is not as robust as I would like, but I am happy that they do a match at all. The extra benefits offered are good, too (such as legal service, accident insurance, additional disability).”

• “The education and certification reimbursement is a huge positive aspect of our compensation package and a major selling point for our benefits.”

• “The firm pays a fair wage, has a generous referral bonus plan and I think the medical benefits are pretty good. I think they could offer some kind of yearend bonus or perhaps a slight increase to the 401(k) plan.”

• “The overall benefits package is pretty impressive. Everything from a concierge service to legal help on top of 401(k) and health benefits. The health benefits aren't the best in terms of cost for coverage, but they work to help balance it out with the health reimbursement accounts and free tele appointments for doctor's visits.”

Outlook

• “Competition is growing for the unique services we provide.  A large part of the business still depends on defense and government work, which seems unpredictable and still mired in low price technical acceptable contracting approaches.”

• "Good long term contracts as a prime. Diversified into government and commercial work. Many quality certifications such as ISO 9000, CMMI Level III, and government approved purchasing system.  For cloud technology, we were recognized as a Gartner Magic Quadrant provider. Morale is up as we have tripled our revenue in the last four years.”

• “I have never seen a brighter future than what I see at this current time. Smartronix has expanded its offerings to encompass cloud computing and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance which offers challenging work assignments and upward mobility. Smartronix has invested and focused on contract vehicles that provide good opportunity and innovation in the acquisition space for our DoD and federal customers.”

• “Business-wise, I think Smartronix is innovative and is prepared to move into new ventures in technology.”

• "Our managers are always seeking new markets and where there are voids in industries that need filling.  We seem to be on the cutting edge when it comes to cloud storage and medical IT. These are both very interesting fields and have huge potential for growth.  Currently, we are busting at the seams and things are on an uphill swing.  The owners' presence is more pronounced and they are more confident and happy than in the past few years when we were struggling a bit. Morale waxes and wanes and sometimes we have growing pains.”

• “Smartronix has seen a lot of growth in the past year and doesn't show any signs of slowing down. Given our commercial cloud and DoD, customers I think we have a lot of stability.”

Hiring Process

• “Smartronix is always seeking competent candidates in related technology and support areas.”

• “Smartronix is looking to find and retain top talent and works hard to keep applicants updated on the status of their applications/interviews throughout the hiring process.”

• “Smartronix is seeking candidates with a strong work ethic that want to be a part of a solution that brings a consistent advantage to our customer's mission. We are looking for the industry's top talent.”

• “The recruiting process worked well for me because they constantly stayed in touch and listened to my ideas about what should or could be in the compensation package.”

Interview Tips & Questions

• “Give us the biggest challenge you’ve encountered in your current role and your approach to handling it.”

• “We are encouraged to refer people and we have a lot of specialty positions and newly formed industries positions that are often open.”

• “Interview questions vary greatly depending on the role that you're interviewing for. Technical questions relating to the work for our IT and engineering positions can be expected.”

• “We use a mix of open-ended questions, closed-ended questions to encourage the applicant to demonstrate communication skills and prove skill, and proficiency for various technical domains.”