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MIT Lincoln Laboratory

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Division 4 Intern - Great Experience - Engineering Co-Op MIT Lincoln Laboratory Employee Review

5.0
Jun 3, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- In terms of resources there are very few places that can compare to Lincoln. No one batted an eye when I requested higher resolution/dual monitors, or when I requested access to their parallel computing grid. As an intern I even got to go on an all expenses paid business trip. - People treat each other as equals and coworkers, what I mean by that is that even though I was just an intern (and the tech staff/associate staff were giving me tasks) it was always a two way street. They always valued my input and asked for my help on several occasions. - I was given real work, that mattered, and that was going into the final product. This was huge for me, at past internships I was given dead end tasks that were clearly going nowhere. My code is still being used by the team at lincoln! - Work life balance, there was no baby sitting. People had a reasonable amount of work and got there work done and were responsible. Most people in my team came in at 830 and left by 5. - Experts everywhere, there are experts in every field at lincoln. This was especially cool as an intern. If you were unsure about what you wanted to do, you could just walk in to other divisions/groups and talk to them about what they do. - This one might sound silly but the office layout was really cool compared to other places. You're usually placed in an office with 2-3 others and if you ever have questions for each other your sitting right there. I though this was way better than the cubicle format a lot of other places used.

Cons

The few things I can think of: - HR didn't really do a great job bringing interns in, we didn't meet any of them until our second week. It would have been great if we got a list way before hand so we could've gotten housing together. (We ended up making friends anyway) - Intense security, theres nothing anyone can do about it because of the nature of the work. A lot of people don't like this but I thought it emphasized how important the work we were doing was. - I should note that experiences are going to vary drastically based on what group/division you're in, not all interns had the same experience I had.

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MIT Lincoln Laboratory Response
9y
It is great that your internship was such a positive experience. We have worked on a couple of ways to enable connections between interns prior to them starting and will continue to try to improve. Balancing contacts and privacy can be a challenge but we will figure it out. Thanks for your comments. Hopefully we will be able to hire you.

Explore other reviews about MIT Lincoln Laboratory

5.0
Jun 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It can vary a lot from group to group, but in general, wonderful place with wonderful people and lots of interesting work going on. Excellent benefits and lots of flexibility to explore different projects.

Cons

Little opportunity for advancement in terms of rank and compensation once you reach technical staff. Additionally (again varies from group to group) expectations of what a staff member does can be unclear and there can be a light sink-or-swim nature to the work, again depending on the group you're in.

4.0
Jun 17, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Worked with some of the smartest people I’ve ever known. Great opportunities to learn from your coworkers and an atmosphere that encourages learning, including a well-run technical education program. Fabulous support staff and technicians that can get seemingly impossible things done quickly. Great resources and lab spaces (if a bit dated). The nature of the work encourages good work/life balance. Fantastic benefits (though the pay is low).

Cons

No/limited opportunities for advancement makes this a hard place to work mid-career. Good engineers are promoted to be mediocre managers. Every program is under-funded, under-staffed, and over schedule. Bad managers are shuffled around but rarely fired.

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