At the time I was hired, ConforMIS would only accept candidates with a B.S. or higher in Engineering; however, the starting salary is approximately $12,000 below the industry standard. Raises are capped at 3%, and are reduced if your review happened partway through your first year. Furthermore, the low salary is even lower when looked at on the hourly scale, as the average CAD engineer works beyond 40 hours per week. It is not uncommon for management to ask the CAD department to stay late and/or work weekends.
In addition to the low pay, the work is simply not stimulating to the average engineer. The "design" work is repetitive and uninteresting. About half of the work as a CAD Engineer is reviewing the designs of your peers. Those who are dedicated and produce work quickly are "rewarded" with petty side projects.
Although all training is clearly laid out in work instructions, it is never properly communicated to trainees. Ultimately, CAD engineers are trained to whatever method produces product the fastest. Furthermore, CAD engineers were prohibited from seeking any consultation from the Design Engineers who actually worked on the product design.
A casual environment with young fellow engineers sounds fun; however, more often than not the office at ConforMIS was simply unprofessional.
