Vantaggi
I have been working for CDM Smith for 3 years now and I really like it here. I have had a steady stream of work that both challenges me and interests me. Occasionally I get frustrated due to "moving targets" with projects, but that is usually out of the hands of our PMs. I feel like any job is what you make of it and CDM Smith in no exception. Reading some of the other reviews about micromanagement and no work-life balance... nobody can force you to work over-time, so if you don't want to, then don't. CDM Smith does not hold you back if you want to work over-time though, if you want more hours/pay they won't bat an eye. As for the PTO, you don't get any right when you get hired but accumulation seems pretty good, and your benefits start immediately, which saved my life. Three months into me working here I became extremely ill and racked up a hefty ER bill. Because my benefits were already activated, I only had to pay $150 out of pocket, which is amazing. I also am currently undergoing immunotherapy, which can be extremely expensive if not covered well or at all, and I haven't had to pay anything but 2 copays. They allow us all to work remotely if we want/need to, all we have to do is give our managers a little heads up. I've never had issues with just a day or even day-of notice of needing to go work from home. As someone previously mentioned they have access to a plethora of training, including training on ESRI software, which is what I use everyday, and at no cost. Overall, I've had a positive experience here so far.
Svantaggi
Sometimes the annual raises can be a bit slim. I worked immensely hard my first year and was juggling three very large and long-term projects when I was originally hired to only handle one type of project for two years, and I only saw a 2% raise that year due to HR rules. That was a bit disheartening at first because I felt all my hardwork was not paying off, but the following year's raise made up for the discrepancy, mainly because my manager put his foot down with HR to give me something better than 2%.
