Engineering Inc. - November/December 2007 - (Page 28) ou can’t bring in new hires that are making more than a person with two years of experience. JoHn Cook Y Now Hiring Simpson Gumpertz & Heger is a national consulting engineering firm that designs, investigates, and rehabilitates structures and building enclosures. We are always looking for highly qualified candidates interested in working on challenging and exciting projects in an environment that promotes employee growth and satisfaction. We have five offices: Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. H.W. Lochner, for example, hires one or two interns and co-ops for each of its offices, either for the summer or during the school year, says Cook, who adds that some interns stay on after their internships and work part time while finishing their degree. “We’ve been aggressive at it, and it helps give us a ready supply of new graduates,” he says. Nationwide, some 90 percent of firms hired interns last year—30 percent of whom stayed on as permanent, full-time employees after graduation, according to ZweigWhite’s 2007 Recruiting & Retention Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms. Today’s Environment H.W. LoCHner From left clockwise: Macallen Building, Boston, MA; MIT Simmons Hall, Cambridge, MA; John Hancock Tower, Boston, MA; John Adams Courthouse, Boston, MA We offer an excellent compensation and benefits package in a corporate culture based on learning and growth. To learn more about SGH and current job opportunities, visit our web site at www.sgh.com/ EmploymentOpportunities. Please send your resume to: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. Attn: Human Resources Dept. 41 Seyon Street, Bldg. 1, Suite 500 Waltham, MA 02453 Fax: 781-907-9009 Braley says today’s college graduates have three primary criteria when looking for a job in the engineering industry: awareness of or a relationship with the firm prior to graduation; the firm’s core values, such as its commitment to the community or to the environment; and last, the way it treats its employees, from salary compensation to benefits to in-house educational programs. When it comes to compensation, he says, recent graduates are looking for high base salaries, but also signing bonuses. Typical signing bonuses are between $5,000 to as much as 20 percent of the base salary, he says. To attract candidates, some firms are taking creative approaches, such as offering to advance students their first three months of pay so they can travel for the summer before starting their jobs, he says. But higher starting salaries have created a boomerang effect, forcing engineering firms to increase salaries for more experienced workers, too. H.W. Lochner has had to give raises to its employees with six years of experience or less. “You can’t bring in new hires that are making more than a person with two years of experience,” Cook explains. Engineering firms have a limit as to how much they can offer, particularly if a large percentage of their clients are federal agencies. Firms try to sweeten the incentives. Psomas, for example, offers 40 to 50 classes to interns and new engineering graduates. Classes range from project management to preparing young hires to take their licensing exams. Because the younger generation is interested in volunteer work and sustainable practices, Psomas also supports employees if they want to pursue volunteer work with organizations such as Engineers Without Borders and Water for People, says Dreyer-Hadley. Salary is just one way to entice recent graduates to work for engineering firms, agrees Cook. “It’s all about loyalty, how you treat employees and what opportunities you give them—interesting work, recognition and opportunities to advance in the company.” n Wylie Wong is a business writer based in Phoenix. 28 eNGINeerING INc. November / December 2007 http://www.sgh.com/EmploymentOpportunities http://www.sgh.com/EmploymentOpportunities http://www.sgh.com/EmploymentOpportunities
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