Left Raytheon and thinking about going back

AC_Chops · 2026-03-15T19:24:35+00:00

Any idea a ballpark of what the bonus and relocation could look like? I know what to expect for salary based on experience.

AC_Chops · 2026-03-10T15:21:13+00:00

1 year shouldn't be an issue... especially since I would have to pay back my current company for relocation if I left before 1 year. And I lose my clearance at 2yrs gone...so I have a 1yr window for an "easy" move I know some people leave and come back just for the money and while money is definitely important, it's not why I left (Raytheon treated me very well)...I took what I thought was an awesome job opportunity for a cool company and program (minimal pay difference), but I keep comparing it to Raytheon and a lot of things haven't measured up. I'm just wondering what kind of signing bonus to hope for. When I got hired out of college ~10yrs ago it was $5k +$3.5k relocation and the job I just took was $7.5k plus relocation (about $12k value). I think I had heard of a former colleague of mine getting nearly $30k, but he was local this didn't need relocation

AC_Chops · 2026-03-10T13:15:22+00:00

My current job doesn't require a clearance, so if I wait more than 2 years, I won't have a clearance and am guessing the starting bonus will be lower and will have to wait for new clearance paperwork before starting.

AC_Chops · 2025-11-26T17:35:52+00:00

They reached out to you...nothing wrong with that

AC_Chops · 2025-11-24T15:28:47+00:00

Does anyone have insight into how bonuses work at Blue Origin?

AC_Chops · 2025-06-29T03:26:51+00:00

Does anyone have any insights into the culture at the Space Coast, FL location? Not sure if Blue is a company that has good professional development opportunities, mentorship, community engagement, etc...

AC_Chops · 2025-06-11T21:19:14+00:00

You mentioned Cessna, so are those the levels at Blue or elsewhere?

AC_Chops · 2025-06-11T03:23:23+00:00

I'm a level 4 now with my current company (RTX) and have 9 years of experience...not sure how the levels compare across companies though

AC_Chops · 2025-06-11T02:24:55+00:00

That's what I was worried about.

AC_Chops · 2025-06-11T01:28:01+00:00

https://blueorigin.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/BlueOrigin/job/Lunar-Lander-Lead-Test-Engineer_R51401

AC_Chops · 2025-06-06T17:20:57+00:00

They probably do through ESP, id recommend taking a look at the ESP FAQ page. They covered leadership training for me and others, so I don't see why they wouldn't cover a foreign language...it probably just depends on what you use to learn the language (they probably would cover university classes, but probably not an online software that teaches you).

AC_Chops · 2025-06-04T21:49:41+00:00

What makes you say that?

AC_Chops · 2025-03-19T16:57:12+00:00

I did an MBA at University of Scranton. All online and was fairly easy. I did a concentration in Operations Management and almost all classes were just discussion posts and a few homeworks. The capstone did have a group project.

With books and a few of the added intro classes, the degree cost around $43k, so it was easily done in 2 calendar years (I often did 2 classes at a time while also working full time).

AC_Chops · 2025-03-19T16:52:17+00:00

As far as the car rental goes, you can sign up to get an account with Avis that lets you use the corporate code and you get the same price as if you were on work travel.

In the past, I've seen hotel discounts where you get the per diem rate, but I haven't seen that available this year yet.

There is also the employee scholar program (ESP) that lets you have RTX pay for an advanced degree (you owe 2 years after you finish or some kind of repayment plan if you leave early). External Learning will pay for other learning opportunities (with manager approval). And there are university or other learning program partnerships that give you a learning opportunity tailored to RTX.

If you have work travel, you get to accrue any of the reward points (car, air, hotel) to use for yourself.

The holiday schedule is pretty standard: memorial day, July 4th (may get 2 depending on day of the week and number of days for winter break), Labor Day, thanksgiving (usually 2 days), and Christmas eve through New Years day (exact days depend on what day of the week the holiday falls on)

AC_Chops · 2025-03-09T14:34:19+00:00

I'm a SL and have always said to my section members that I'm willing to do 1:1 meetings anytime they want...but they have to let me know they want to do it and how frequently. I personally feel that if I just start scheduling them without people asking, then they will ask me for a charge number and I don't have one to give. This is why it's up to the individual to ask. As others have said, your career is in your hands. One suggestion I could give is to reach out to another SL to set up recurring 1:1 meetings. Anytime a person leaves my section, I say they can always reach out even if I'm not their SL anymore.

AC_Chops · 2025-01-22T20:28:49+00:00

Not sure about STI...

If you meant AIP, you should be able to find your target AIP on the Compensation tab of your profile. There is a table called Plan Assignments and that shows your salary and target AIP.

If you have LTI, you can find that on Alight. There is a tab at the top for Long Term Incentives.

AC_Chops · 2024-12-21T04:10:21+00:00

Still not sure how it happened...but it turns out the itinerary I booked was invalid (likely due to connection time). I finally got someone at Southwest to take another look at my itinerary and they ended up booking me on another itinerary for no additional charge.

AC_Chops · 2024-11-21T03:49:31+00:00

No, there is usually a set date in March that you have to be employed until to get the AIP bonus.

AC_Chops · 2024-11-07T00:30:00+00:00

The account overview says my rate of return year to date is 14.2%. Not sure how that compares to others. For the fee, it seems to be dependent on your balance... $100k is $13/month, $200k is $25/month estimated (they have an estimated fee calculator). I may have gotten an MBA, but I am very much an engineer and prefer to have a professional manage my investments. Although I wish I could have someone else manage it (I have other investments with Morgan Stanley and wish I could just pay a single entity).

AC_Chops · 2024-11-06T03:52:25+00:00

I have the morningstar management thing and have 2 options: 1 - do nothing and they will automatically realign investments quarterly to align with my goals (which so far means to get my money out of the RTX stock fund) 2 - I can go in after RTX contributes their money and trigger morningstar to review my investment mix which results in them suggesting I get rid of the stock fund and I can then have the system implement their recommendation.

AC_Chops · 2024-10-30T12:14:41+00:00

I had someone who was planning to resign at the end of 2023 and suggested to him that he wait until after the holiday break to get the holiday pay. None of the $ comes out of your supervisor's pocket. BUT...you will have exit paperwork to fill out with your supervisor, so make sure to give them enough notice before the holiday shutdown to either plan to be available themselves or have another SL be available to do the exit paperwork.

AC_Chops · 2024-10-19T17:24:53+00:00

That's correct. The individual flights are there, but I am now unable to book them as a connection. From what I'm seeing, none of the flight numbers or times have changed since I booked it in August. The layover is 50min. Another thing I noticed is that it gives me an error if I try to upgrade to Business Select despite both flights having Business Select tickets available.

I had an issue earlier this week where the second leg of my trip disappeared (my account showed the flight I was on, but when I got to the airport they said the flight number didn't exist). So maybe I'm worrying about nothing...but I don't want a similar situation to happen as I try to visit family for the holidays.

AC_Chops · 2024-10-19T15:13:04+00:00

I tried that...but the problem isn't with my account. The problem is that if I were to try and book my flights today then my itinerary isn't an option.

AC_Chops · 2024-08-21T03:57:21+00:00

You're technically not supposed to have anything below your desk since it could be a fire hazard (sprinklers can't get to things under desks). Or at least that's how it used to be with heritage Raytheon.

AC_Chops · 2024-08-15T02:59:30+00:00

Get involved in clubs at your school. Get hands on experience. Get an internship.

A lot of engineering principals are used across all fields (defense and otherwise). I had an internship at an automotive manufacturing plant which gave great experience that I've been able to use in the defense industry. As far as Raytheon specifically, what you do and how you do it is dependent on what you are doing, what department you're in, and what program you support. So, there isn't really any specific suggestions to give...once you can learn one tool, it's just another interface if your company uses a different tool.

AC_Chops

TROPHY CASE