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Best Companies rank: 100
Number of job openings*: 266

Advice from Stan Sloane, president and CEO, and Mary Good, SVP of human resources

Is this a good time to bring on fresh talent that may have been displaced from other companies?
Sloane: Absolutely. We are growing so fast that we're always in search of fresh talent. We have already hired 275 people year-to-date [SRA has a July fiscal year], about 209 in this quarter alone.

What specific traits or aptitudes, beyond technical skills, do you look for?
Sloan: About half of our new hires are referrals from current employees. So we're already pretty sure they will fit in here. We want people who share our values of integrity and exceptional customer service, people who want to do something meaningful. Every one of our projects has a measurable impact on somebody.
Good: We're also on college campuses looking for future leaders. New grads now like the idea of having an effect on society; they're very purpose-driven.

How can you really tell in a job interview whether someone shares your values?
Sloan: There is no perfect process. One thing we don't do is standardized testing. Everyone is different, so we try to draw you out and really get to know you. The interview is as much the candidate interviewing us as vice versa.
Good: We look at people as individuals. We're selling intellectual capacity and creativity, so one way to assess that is to have a lot of different people here talk to the candidate - prospective bosses, peers, internal customers. We would set up a whole day of meetings and an informal lunch.

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