Pros
This is an incredible company to work for, despite what you might read from former employees. In the Construction and Estimating Departments you will be asked to do more than at other construction companies. You will be asked, regardless of position to take place in a great deal of training, which the company pays for, to help accelerate your development. The company measures salaries against national and local compensation to make sure they are always paying above the industry average, because they ask more than most companies and care about keeping top talent. A huge portion of the company's annual net income is given back to the employees for 401(k) contributions and cash bonuses. These are generally large bonuses above industry average because the company is routinely in the top 1% of General Contractors for profitability. Don't believe the negative hype. Employees don't leave, in fact retention is excellent here and it's not uncommon for there to be a 6 to 12 month stretch where not a single employee quits. As of right now not a single employee has left the Toledo Office in over a year, and there have been over a dozen new people hired in. Check your facts: The Douglas Company has been on the Inc. 5000 list for fastest growing companies 5 times (you can look this and their revenue up online on the Inc. website). They have been around for over 40 years. Things are going right at this company, and working along side people who get that (and not the people who didn't make it) is exciting and energizing.
Cons
This is not the place to work for you if you don't like responsibility and leadership. You're going to be asked to step up, participate in training, and work hard to become strong in your position. In Construction and Estimating, you will be on the road a lot. You will have to understand new technology and learn how to use it well, because there is new software adopted often to keep up. Everyone here is laser-focused, intense, and genuinely loves construction. Construction is not just a hobby or a day job here, and the culture is not a fit for everyone. If you want to fade into the background and keep their head down from any accountability, you won't like working here. If you want to argue about the time-tested way things are done here, say "This is how my old company did things", instead of learning the Douglas Way and focusing on results, you won't make it. Be honest about what you're looking for before you come here for a career, be open in your interview about what you're looking for, and come here for the right reasons. If you do that and decide you are the right personality to work here, as I said in my Pros, you'll find there's no better company in the industry for you.
