High stress environment, big segregation (analysis - lateral members, design - gravity members, management, concrete, steel), no opportunity to become well-rounded engineer, analysis is mostly limited to input into Etabs software, design is mostly limited to column rundown, slab and footing design.
When negotiating your salary take into account that the work you will be required to finish will take much more time than 40 hours per week. End year bonuses were a big disappointment.
Four of the Senior Vice Presidents left the company in 2014. Resent promotions of people without PE license and little knowledge about design proved that there are no rules in regards to promotions. Company would hire new people into higher management positions; however they are not offering their loyal long-term employees opportunity to grow professionally. Company prefers to hire engineers with any kind of experience and gives only from time to time opportunity to graduates.
Do not show you are capable to design quickly and efficiently, you will get stuck in the Design Engineer position and your peers that cannot design will become more appreciated Project Managers. You are going to get easier promoted if you show to the upper management that you can be pushy. Amount of work completed by you does not matter, what matters is that you make other people work really hard and make them work longer hours. Crazy deadlines: you are working on your project deadline or you are helping somebody else with a deadline.
Drafting department is understaffed.
