civil engineer

senior civil engineer

engineering project manager

staff engineer

project engineer

Bl-Companies-Inc

Be ready to be thrown under the bus, while being told you're doing a good job. Be ready to be fired without justification, discussion nor explanation - everyone, like most jobs now are at-will, though this company takes that to the extreme. Be ready to receive positive criticism up front, while negative criticism is dished out behind your back.  Staff are told to get projects done in an expedited manner - in a matter of weeks for 300k-700k sq ft projects, though staffing is limited to one, maybe two people per project. Schedules and projects are constantly changing or sites are shifted to other locations.  Expecting your staff to assume knowledge of multitudes of requirements while giving minimal clear and concise direction is just plain wrong. Their major client feeds changes to design guidance documents multiple times throughout the life of each project therefore expect constant last-minute changes to project construction documents. The work is Extremely fast paced for the size of their projects - on site to construction completion in approx 3-5 months. Expect to work on 4-8 projects at any one time, all with changing deadlines and design direction. Expect to work 10-14hrs days. The most stressful job I've ever had in my life and I've been in the industry for quite some time. Be ready to attend 4-6 mtgs EACH day while also being required to get projects completed on time. Compensation is good, though your personal life will be sacrificed.

When the “bleep” hits the fan, be ready to be thrown under the bus.  Top owners are safe from being fired because they are busy making up new spreadsheets each week to make make themselves look busy and throw more work on middle management.  Advice, help, and confidence of Senior staff to be there when they promise, is futile.  They’ll make nice in front of client, then ignore your requests, while planning their retirement party.  Some clients are in bed with upper bosses, so be ready to be facing some heavy weight meatballs in your spaghetti who, if you are a young female, you better let the absentee senior architect play the role of client masseuse, to appease “the family.” Keep eyes open for a staff where integrity & professionalism actually exists from top management in the Arch. department.  Their main priority is to win contracts with low budgets, and get work done by production team in an unreasonable amount of time.  And then the soon to be retirees wonder why the company is losing money on Arch. projects.  Be aware of who the clientele is when applying for a job, as well as who the top bosses will bat for, their employees - or a mafioso.  Smoke & mirrors. 

BL Companies prides itself on culture, and this has been apparent throughout my employment, with everyone willing to lend a hand and answer questions.  BL is an employee owned company, with everyone sharing in the success of the organization, through our stock ownership program, and the periodic events and outstanding benefits.  As a consultant, there is no denying the schedules can be demanding, at times, however that is nothing new for anyone in this industry, and those willing to put in the effort are rewarded and appreciated.  One area that has improved significantly over the past few years, and is still a focus area as we grow as a company, is the level of communication between departments and from management down.  Employees can choose if they want to work in office, remotely, or hybrid, with full computer set-ups provided for home workers.  
Overall I have been very pleased with my time at BL, and look forward to many years ahead.

You have no clue where you will be for the day, until that morning. So to balance life outside of work, impossible. If you have a family or children, this is not going to work for you. Nepotism runs like a government job here. The only difference is one is in charge of the other. That makes for some interesting and uncomfortable situations. Favoritism is an issue for sure. 
Aside from that, you get to travel the eastern portion of the country. If you are blessed with a vehicle and not riding Fido in the passenger seat, you can site see on off hours. The hours are long and usually jobs are sight unseen. Meaning you have no idea what you're getting into. Boss desk jockeys his research from a dated satellite photo (Google Earth), so you have no idea what the terrain is. The information provided is not complete and you have to fit your research in somewhere while traveling. Training for the how to is nonexistent. You have to learn on your own. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
ESOP company and good co-workers 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
In my experience they didn't tell me when I needed to speed up on a project. Expectations varied week to week. Never knew where I stood even when my manager agreed to verbalize if I needed to make a change in my work. I was told a week before I was let go that I was doing very well. If a project is mismanaged the ax has to fall on somebody. Easily can be you. Get things in writing.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Pretty good most of the time and then terrible a small percentage of the time. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
If your manager is on top of things and keeps the workload coming then it's great. On the other hand, if you hit stopping points on projects with no other backlog then you have to figure out how to bill for the full 40 hours.

Say goodbye to your personal life & family and be ready to work 10+ hours per day, even on weekends. They expect you to work so many hours a day; at least 10 hours a day. The deadlines for each project are very short and you are expected to finish it no matter what it takes. Some managers could be very rude, specially in the architecture department. If you are not willing to put at least 55+ hours a week, be ready to get fired without any justification. Before you consider working at BL ask during the interview how many hours you’re expected to work during a week. 

Depending on the team you are on will help or destroy you. Extremely cut throat at times and bosses willing to throw you under the bus and terminate your position before taking the blame for not budgeting jobs correctly. The pay isn’t great by any means and if you aren’t high up don’t expect to advance in the company or get a raise. They say they are family oriented, however they only care about you unless you are putting $$ in the companies pocket. If you like fast pace work and not having enough hours to complete a job this is the place for you! 

As an intern, I was still given a great deal of responsibility of work. There is a great deal of expectation of what is to be done and little time for the steep learning curve. BL Companies does excellent work, but that comes with a great deal of effort from its employees. I do believe that the firm takes on more work than it can truly handle, but BL does indeed handle it, once again due to the time and effort of its staff.

My experience with BL Companies, Inc. is second to none. the company provides a lot of learning opportunities, since each project is very unique and comes with its own challenges. Colleagues and management is very respectful. Foundations program and ESOP benefits are few of the big perks working here. Benefits surpass expectations and the company offers excellent work-lift balance. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Working for a company that prioritizes their employees family life first

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The clients can be challenging at times 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Friendly and employee first mentality 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Drive to the work site. Observe the work and make my notes. Then file my DWR

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Civil engineer 9 salaries reported	$95,556 per year
Senior civil engineer 6 salaries reported	$105,833 per year
Engineering project manager 8 salaries reported	$115,000 per year
Staff engineer 4 salaries reported	$61,000 per year
Project engineer 3 salaries reported	$88,500 per year

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