Pros
Chicao area only - Good reputation, high profile projects. If you make the right connections, you can learn from some of the best around. Great collection of data and reports on past projects. These can be used as a study tool, help for an estimate and useful in the future for work planning. Financially strong.
Cons
They pay salary. No OT. If you work on a project, it is possible you may get 10% extra pay to cover the extra time and "stress". Inevitably, you will end up working 60 hours a week and find yourself on a project that has weekend work as well and you will work a couple 16 hour shifts saturday and sunday. The company utilizes yearly reviews for employees. I am fairly certain the upper management (at least area manager, sponsor level up to district manager) have a get together in a cottage in Cape Cod and discuss everyone. They believe in the 20-70-10. During reviews, they often just pencil whip their review of the employee to have them fall in a preconceived pecking order. Concerns and goals for your own career are listened to, but not acted upon. Currently, they are not winning many estimates in the Chicago area. 2 in the last 4 years? They will put the postage stamp on your back and send you off to a different place to work no matter if you recently purchased a house, got married etc. If you choose not to go, you will most likely be fired. Personnel issues are very secretive and let known at the last moment. You will get called into an office and they say "we have an opportunity for you". When does that opportunity start? "I think there is a plane at O'Hare in 2 hours." Basically, they will tell you they need you 1500 miles away to start tomorrow. You have limited time to say goodbye to your GF/wife, pack a bag or organize whatever life you have. They try to be so innovative it limits productivity. Paperwork to purchase materials for a job - you have to go to the purchasing system online, create a purchase order, get it signed, create a purchase req, get it signed, then you can purchase it. Emergency spending to get things accomplished will get you reamed out. At one point they tried to devise a way to predict future accidents. Not only do they have accident reports, but they have near miss reports, which are fairly common. Above and beyond that was the leading indicators program, which I think they tried to analyze near misses to predict future accidents. Not very productive, but I guess proactive. I know of a superintendent who got reamed for buying pizza for a crew of 20 as a lunch time reward for good work. Approx $130 in pizza because the men exceeded production, while that day's profits were literally several hundred thousand dollars, got the sup't reamed.