geologist

management consultant

environmental technician

project manager

construction project manager

Arcadis

(This is my experience from someone who has had multiple years of field work with ARCADIS)

Typical engineering company. Nothing very special about the way it treats its employees. Promotes a culture of self promotion and not actual hard work to move up the chain. 

Good way to start a career but I would not recommend staying with this company once you have experience. Some people get lucky and find a nice niche but they can get eliminated after a few years depending on how bad the company is doing.

Horrible communication between office staff and field staff. Never got to a job site where the ARCADIS office staff came up with an efficient and common sense plan. There is no emphasis on field-office staff communication. Probably would save millions of dollars for ARCADIS-US if they did. That is no exaggeration I personally have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars of waste because of this lack of communication. 

The communication problem is also exacerbated by the current policy of ARCADIS to hire the youngest and cheapest  employees to do the field work.

There is some positives though. Can work with some experienced people that have stayed with the company and actually learn a few things. Currently ARCADIS is on a rampage to get rid of experienced people though. 

There is no guarantee of having a job from year to year and it will try and use you for every dollar that it gives you. I would view ARCADIS as a good place to get training and that's it.

Like I said earlier get experience and then get out.

Some offices are not good. Some people do not treat other people well. Some managers show favoritism to some employees. As a manager, they cover the mistakes made by some employees whom they “like” but highlight mistakes of other employees. Too much politics in some offices. Your raise and promotion depends on how well you can play politics. You don’t have to be good at your work. You don’t have to be technically good. Just be good at politics and always comply with what important people in the company say/do.
If you’re an Engineer 1 or Engineer 2, you’re a CADD Drafter in reality. Job description is the same throughout the country. 
Pay is way below average and it’s not feasible to live in a city like New York with the salary they provide. The salary is pretty standard no matter where you’re located.
If you ask for more salary while negotiating the offer, they will trap you by offering a very high signing bonus and lower than average base pay. This signing bonus has to be returned if you leave before a year from the date you join.
Working from home is subject to supervisor approval and some supervisors do not let you work from home even if there’s few feet of snow outside. You’ll be asked to sacrifice 1 day of paid time off.
Overtime pay is subject to supervisor approval. Some supervisors do not let you get overtime despite working more than 40 hours.
Most projects have no budget. You’ll be working overtime without being paid for it.

I had my first taste of consulting with Arcadis, working with them for over two years and a promotion. I’m sure it varies from office to office, project manager to project manager, but my experience could be likened to a famine or feast scenario. 

When field work came, I would have to accept, as the office was a realm of solitude without much prospect of finding hours to fill up a whole week. Billability is obviously emphasized, and new hires will have to face the prospect of panhandling for hours their first few months until trust is built (my supervisor was too hands-off and would never have constant work). There is little to no mentorship or guidance; I was thrust out there and had to learn as I went. Expect to be taken to all sorts of places, for days to weeks at a time. Great for the unattached, but your personal life will suffer otherwise. 

Compensation is alright, especially with per diems and the prospect of bonuses that I received from time to time. However, benefits are limited and irritating to use (say goodbye to kaiser). My advice to management would be to be more communicative with junior staff (offer them assignments/meetings to grow), use an officewide CALENDAR to track field schedules, and stop focusing on bloated office redesigns/internal corporate programs that could be better spent marketing for a new client or paying their field staff better.

ARCADIS is run out of HQ in Highlands Ranch, CO.  Upper and most senior management seem to run the company with an old style mentality.  Too much emphasis on billability and not enough emphasis on client satisfaction.  Company has been and is being cut to the bone with massive layoffs and furloughs.  Those left are having hours cut.  Morale is diving deeper to an all time low.  Management seems to think that anyone below a Grade 9 or 10 is expendable.  Merit increases and raises were deferred for those Grade 9 and below for 6 months while upper and senior management received incentive bonuses, raises, merit increases,.  Company and senior management do NOT lead by example and is very self-serving - creating an "us vs. them" attitude among employees.  Left hand does not know what the right is doing most of the time.  Company pushes lowering of overhead costs cutting overhead travel, attendance at workshops, conferences, seminars for most staff  - yet send administrative managers (some of whom strangely enough have NO billability goals) to meetings, events, seminars on the company dime when the personal attendance of these employees is not necessary - web conferencing would work just fine.  I cannot recommend working at ARCADIS when job security is non-existent.

For those seeking a successful career, growth, tons of training and mentoring from the best in the industry - don't stop here, keep going. Arcadis grows on acquisition - nothing is organic. In order to please stakeholders, Arcadis buys other companies in hopes of staying profitable - err, afloat. Ask any of the acquired companies, if given the opportunity to partner with Arcadis, if they would do it again? The answer is no. Instead of seamlessly transitioning these other firms, its nothing but chaos. Communication is horrible and accessing the appropriate information you need to effectively complete your job or simply communicate is nothing less of a migraine. The truth is Arcadis, is desperately trying to change its model and streamline markets; the real truth is that it won't solve the obvious issue, in that there is a mass exodus of young talented professionals kicking the walls down to leave. 

Like a pseudo-top corporation that is trying to stay on top, Arcadis exemplifies the blueprint, strategy and real life application of slavery in its prime. As much as people want to give this place 3+ stars, the fact of the matter is that there is absolutely NO work/life balance, your co-workers complain about wanting to leave, management is extremely top heavy, the company can barely 'win' work, and there is no opportunity to advance. 

My advice to anyone thinking about Arcadis is to think again and keep searching. You will definitely regret it.

Culture varies widely across offices, but it's a pretty typical consultancy. It is what you can make of it. People who confidently advocate for themselves do alright and your work life balance comes down to your ability to say no, even when people try to guilt you about it.

If you struggle to network and find new projects, you can be stuck in a rut for a while. It can be difficult for people who are 100% remote or introverted to make enough noise to get the advancements they're ready for (or have deserved for a long time). Switching projects often feels like switching companies. The people make or break it.  Training is very inconsistent and depends on which projects you land on when you start.

Pay tends to be juuust enough to get you to stay, but still passively look around. Supervisors don't have much incentive to invest time in you (they still have high billable goals and don't get much  training). Unless they're dedicated to mentoring you for one reason or another, you're better off finding career guidance elsewhere.

Many new graduates use Arcadis as a stepping stone to start their careers as it is a first FT job for most staff.  Generally young, hard working staff. 

PROS:

Safety training and first aid courses provided for staff

All company PPE and tools of trade supplied (boots, coats, gloves, hats, glasses, vehicles, etc.).

Lots of overtime available

Dogs allowed (select employees)

Regular company BBQs for staff appreciation

Non traditional work environment, laptops, large tables open space


CONS:

Training is subjective due to inconsistency in delivery from leaders (trainers not proficient in material they are delivering)

Too much required overtime & long hours leading to fatigue and mistakes (poor productivity results and accidents or near miss events)

Management creates competitive and confusing environment via poor communication

No performance reviews for everyone (select staff only)

Culture is non merit based:  Connections = opportunity (family/friends)

Distracted workers:  Staff focusing on personal tasks during work hours (social media, personal calls)

I worked at Arcadis for nearly 9 years. In that time worked my way up from a field tech (where all junior staff start, even engineers) to a mid-level project manager. I worked at two offices during my time there with my experience varying drastically between the two offices. Compensation is on the lower end of the spectrum in comparison to other firms but they offer a great benefit package, 401K, remote worker program and, as long as you do good work, it's very difficult to get let go (read as "stable"). Many of the senior folks have worked at Arcadis for their entire careers. Work-life balance is not so great with most staff eating lunch and sometimes dinner at their desks. Senior management advocates for a better balance but that is lost in middle management where they are held to tough annual financial and client development metrics. This is pretty standard throughout the industry. Overall a great place to work with great benefits. Though, it is truly up to the person to manage time/stress and to force your own work life balance.

My five-year tenure at Arcadis has been an immersive journey defined by intense workloads and a slightly below-average compensation. While the financial aspect was a challenge, the experience itself was immensely enriching. Throughout my time at the company, I've been actively involved in significant projects that align with Arcadis' mission.

The demanding workloads pushed me to my limits and tested my multitasking abilities. However, these challenges also provided me with valuable opportunities for growth and skill development. The technical skills I've acquired, coupled with my strengthened adaptability, have proven invaluable.

While the compensation didn't match the industry average, the knowledge I gained and the camaraderie among my colleagues have made it a meaningful journey. The supportive environment and the chance to contribute to impactful projects have been the driving factors behind my commitment.

In retrospect, despite the intensity and financial considerations, I look back on my time at Arcadis with a sense of accomplishment. The growth I've experienced and the accomplishments I've achieved underscore the significance of this chapter in my professional journey.

I'd recommend staying away from Arcadis (or ARCADIS as they insist it is spelled).  My office, the largest in one of the top 10 metro areas, has lost at least 25% of its personnel in the last six months.  Some have left on their own, others let go or 'furloughed'.  Specifically, the Environmental remediation and industrial hygiene divisions seem to be bleeding personnel.  Yet, they look for replacements for people who were let go because of slowing work.

Arcadis is the result of many mergers and the company is still not integrated.  In particular, there are overlapping, redundant databases.  Being a larger company, there is an extra 2 to 4 layers of management which add to client costs and makes it harder to put together a competitive bid.  

Arcadis does manage to hire a good percentage of women engineers and scientists, perhaps being the company that is closest to gender parity in this type of business.  That is not easy.   

In general, a job seeker should be very wary of Arcadis.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Geologist 6 salaries reported	$63,667 per year
Management consultant 4 salaries reported	$71,000 per year
Environmental technician 4 salaries reported	$24.38 per hour
Project manager 3 salaries reported	$115,500 per year
Construction project manager 1 salary reported	$140,000 per year

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