Work Only 8 Months As A Senior Structural Engineer And Get Laid Off For No Legitimate Reason
Pros
You will work on projects like the border wall. They have somewhat good benefits, but you will not get to use them because you will be working all the time. You will get to experience what it is like to work for someone with no coaching to get better. You will get to experience backstabbing bosses in ways you may have never experienced before. You will get to see what a bad civil/structural engineering firm is run.
Cons
Management treats employees as disposable. Even those with significant experience are treated as disposable. They have no California Licensed Structural Engineers in the firm. I was the only one there. Their big projects do not exist. All you will be doing are small 2 to 3-day projects. You will get constantly yelled at even if you take a break. I had so much work and so many competing deadlines that I was late on a few projects. Management loves throwing their employees under the bus - and they do not even know how to design buildings per code. Managers continually do not meet deadlines or stick to budgets, but pass the blame on to you for their lack of planning. The huge amount of turnover in the firm causes many of these issues. This happens in the form of placing people on PIPs to get rid of employees for no legitimate reason whatsoever. This firm does not value experienced employees at all. They have no large projects whatsoever because many of their clients are leaving them due to turnover in the firm. In my time there, I asked for specific evidence behind the PIP and was denied by management. When I provided email evidence to the contrary, I was told to shut my mouth. I was told I was not taking responsibility for my job despite providing evidence to the contrary. My bosses were completely useless and non-existent. They were also unprofessional. I felt like it was worse than being in front of my probation officer and/or high school principal. As for performance evaluations, I was told I had no right to a written one at all. Bonuses are really small as in << $300 for the year! They provide no continuing education relevant to your career paths. These career paths are non-existent. The company breaks federal and state laws at will. I was asked to approve substandard work - which I refused to do. They were telling employees to convince other companies to join Horrocks. How does that work when there is a constant turnover in the firm? In short, it does not! This firm has grown too fast too quickly. All they care about is money and not signed contracts for their projects. Several staff members will use any excuse not to work on your projects. For example, I was denied drafting for a set of plans because the firm had no budget to create a CAD version of my engineering seal. Drafters at this firm are so bad you will have to send the redline markups back multiple times. And drafting gets done by the engineers so they can charge more money on your job. On the day of my termination, I asked for specific evidence of the reason for it. I was told I had no right to it, I was talked over, and I was told to shut my mouth. Right after the termination meeting, they make your computer a heavy boat anchor. You will have no time to get your contacts out of your email. They give no severance, no money, and no insurance on the day you get laid off. So if you are under any medical treatment, expect it to get interrupted.