Pros
▪ Generous PTO which is great: 15 PTO + 12 off days + 7 Holidays = 34 work days/yr = nearly 7 weeks. ▪ Flexible work schedule to accommodate those avoiding traffic. ▪ Fair compensation and reasonable work hours. They understand work/life balance and generally avoid asking for overtime. ▪ Principals are good, kind, fair people. Sometimes things get heated, but it is within reason, especially when problems arise and the project manager leaves town. ▪ Growth potential in climbing the corporate albeit small ladder. It's a small company, so there not a lot of people "ahead" of you. Good work is genuinely appreciated, although not necessarily monetarily awarded. As opposed to more established larger firms, where you have to fight to get recognition. Think of yourself at dsk as a big fish in a small pond. ▪ Staff are exposed to the full gamut of architectural services from SD to CA. Junior staff are exposed to architect/client relations early on and are encouraged to attend client meetings. ▪ Principals are open minded and do take suggestions to heart and try to implement the requests that are reasonable. ▪ Lots of projects coming down the pipe.
Cons
▪ Management tends to switch staff around project deadlines, rather than keeping consistent team members, which creates difficulty for project managers to track tasks among junior staff, and inability to hold anyone accountable due to the constant flux. ▪ The partners tend to underestimate the time required to complete tasks, especially those in new territory, and over estimate the power of BIM/Revit. ▪ Office is located in an up and coming area of SOMA, however space is tight and feels small. ▪ Some of the consultants hired are great, some are not proactive enough, some are just not responsive. Not sure why the inconsistency and it does get frustrating when you have to start doing the work for them. ▪ Bonuses are small and only once per year. A bit demotivating when you are working hard all year.