Engineers are Support Staff to Construction - Structural Engineer IV Kiewit Corporation Employee Review

3.0
2 Feb 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There were good people there and a ton of resources. It would be a great place to start out of school and learn a ton. The benefits were good as well, especially 401k match (7% as I recall). Also there's a very high turnover rate so there's lots of opportunities for advancement because they'll just throw any junior engineer who drinks the kiewit cool-aid (follows protocol and doesn't ask questions) into a project engineer role to fill a spot, who a year later gets promoted to project manager, then department manager not long after that,

Cons

My experience was in the power generation group and I was only there for about 8 months before I got burnt out, so keep that in mind. They are a construction company first and engineering is a support staff to construction who leads the projects. Construction Schedule is king and I was brought onto a project team of a lot of young engineers where the project was behind schedule already. I had 10+ years of experience so the expectation was that I would be just thrown into the project and run. I was fine with that, but zero grace was given with regards to learning their processes and systems, which were very abundant and intense. In my opinion a tenured engineer doesn't need to have a peer panel design review at 30%, 60%, 90%, IFR and IFC... and then also have the EOR reviewing after the fact and making even more changes to the design. This is just a lot for someone learning a new analysis software, project management systems, benefits systems, scheduling systems, calculation package expectations (every little member, connection, etc... requires a calculation with every limit state checked, no engineering judgement allowed). For each of the deliverables I was given while I was there, I was allotted a very short window to complete the task. There is no way to get design completed and 5 review cycles along with coordinating with the drafter to get the drawing package for each review cycle completed in 3 weeks time. It's impossible to get everyone they require at each review meeting in a room at the same time, let alone 5 times in 3 weeks. Took me 6 weeks to complete my first deliverable (which was not some measly task, it was a full blown building design along with coordinating with pipe routing and designing for all process pipe supports, supporting equipment on the roof, and supporting safety analysis for construction safety tie off points. The next deliverable I as given was a building foundation for a PEM building, plus foundations for all process equipment. The PEM building was really like 3 buildings as it was 300 ft long and had 3 different roof heights. I was given 3 weeks to complete this, I told them from my experience 8 weeks was realistic but I thought I could do it in 6 weeks, and their response was the schedule is the schedule and the due date can't be changed... I worked like 80 hrs a week to get it done in 4 weeks then was chastised for working overtime when they apparently had someone else in some other department that was slow and could have helped... at that point I was fed up and moved on. Oh, and they do pay straight time for overtime, but only after 45 hours, so your first 5 hrs of overtime are just donated for free

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5.0
27 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Always work so job always secure

Cons

Willing to work long hours

1.0
17 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Able to work on cool projects and potential to make a lot of money with cola

Cons

If you're ambitious at all, I probably wouldn't recommend working here. The pay is decent and if you're willing to stick around for 20+ years, you'll likely do just fine. But for me, the pace was too slow, the work was boring, and I never felt like I was doing anything meaningful or driving real business impact. The company is very stable, but that stability comes with tradeoffs. Career progression felt like a slow grind, and there was always the possibility of being forced to relocate depending on business needs. Personally, if you're young, motivated, and want to accelerate your career, I'd look for a role where you're directly contributing to growth, revenue, or strategic decision-making. If you're set on finance/FP&A, Kiewit can be a good place to spend a year and build experience, but I'd use it as a stepping stone rather than a long-term destination. Just my experience. —it just wasn't for me. - stayed 2 years - too long.

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