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Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

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Good company with lots of opportunities - Anonymous employee Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Employee Review

4.0
Dec 4, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Working at Schweitzer has beeen the best job I've had. There's a real effort company wide to share information. It's not always perfect at the group or division level, but there's even a pretty good effort there as well. I can ask my supervisor questions not just about our group but about SEL in general, and he take the same to give real answers. I've found the work to be challenging, that's the way I like it. This year I was part of the budget process. That gave me some additional insight into how the company works and I liked what I saw. There are some reviews on this site about the Schweitzer family that I don't really get. I've worked with several of them and found them as hard working and smart as the other people I work with. They've also been here a long time, so comments that seem shocked that Ed has family working at the company he started are weird to me. If you're not okay with that, don't take a job here. It's not like it's a secret. (The kids are also in their 30s and 40s so it makes me laugh to see associate level people and interns complain that they've been beaten by promotion by Schweitzers!) I recommend SEL to my friends and family.

Cons

I've had a few different managers here. Some have been better than others and sometimes it takes a while for the higher ups to move bad managers out. That does seem to be changing over time though. There are field offices all over the country but not all jobs can work from all offices. I understand why but do wish my role could move around more.

Explore other reviews about Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

5.0
Jul 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Plenty of friendly faces to work with.

Cons

Reluctant to hire certain places sometimes.

4.0
Apr 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Right job for some people. If you buy into the koolaid and are passionate about the power industry this can be an incredible job for you. The benefits are pretty great. I really enjoyed my coworkers, all of them feel human and are earnest. You can live quite cheaply in Pullman. There is an incredible amount of job security. SEL boasts they've never done a layoff. Additionally their ESOP distribution is generous - though it takes 6 years to fully vest. There is a lot of things I really admire about the company and the culture.

Cons

Comp is lower side. A lot of people are hired out of college and have only ever worked at SEL so sometimes I feel like there is a bit of an echo chamber. Small town. I really struggled with the initial allocation of 12 days PTO. 17 after 2 years is much easier. As a SWE, the company feels very catered to their power engineers. Company is very traditional in its values, people wear suits to work. Seems like the timeline for promotion is quite slow for SWE compared to other companies. I see a lot of friction when lower level engineers trying to advocate for changes; though I do think that the conversations with leadership happen in good faith.

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