toxic - Design Intern Myefski Architects Employee Review

I have been with this firm for 10 years and I can honestly say that I dont think I would’ve have learned and grown as much as I have here. The fact that this is a small/mid-size firm provides any staff member with the opportunity to take on responsibilities/tasks they may normally would not get at larger firms. That being said though, it requires the right individual who is up for such challenge(s). I also think the firm does a good job during the interview process. The first interview round is conducted with (senior) members of the team; when possible also including staff who would be a peer to the interviewee. This helps giving the interviewee a better idea of the team they’d be working with, and vice versa the team would get an idea whether or not the interview would be a good fit personality wise. I believe this is part of the reason we’ve always been lucky to have a really solid team of people who get along very well. The office is located in The Wrigley Building with a great view of the river and Michigan Ave. Super convenient for anyone taking public transportation, and a million options for lunch or happy hour spots after work. The office space has an open floor plan which is great for staff to engage with one another which wouldn’t be the case if everyone had cubicles and/or separate offices. I also think it makes new hires feel more included and get to know their coworkers faster that way. The firm also has monthly in-office happy hours, bi-monthly in-office lunches, as well as the annual holiday party which is always a lot of fun. During the summer, the team gets split into two groups and everyone gets a half-day Friday every other week which is super nice.

As mentioned above, it takes the right individual to truly thrive here so a shy/timid person may not be a good fit.

A good blend of work, mixed project types, opportunities for responsibility and leadership (to a point), company growth in size (at least at the present), environment can be fun at times based on the staff chemistry.

There is just one principal/owner and this is unlikely to ever change, meaning individual growth has a ceiling. Dynamics of the firm, including how it operates and the nuances of the project management, are at the mercy of that one principal. Thus, if you have a different philosophy for how to interact with clients, how to run projects, and the culture/values of the firm? Then you might as well move on .... the principal is not always open minded and comes across as highly ego-driven. Weirdest job interview I ever had. I barely got to say 3 words, as though his mind was already made up on whether he wanted to hire me, and the rest was his sales pitch. Should have listened to my gut at the time, which was screaming 'this is not an empathetic person.' Personality of the principal has led to some very high turnover at times, although improved stability more recently.