pipefitter

laborer

cleaning technician

truck driver

welder

McDermott

As an employee with McDermott, I was able to learn quite a bit and I truly enjoyed my job there.  I began there as an Electronic Technician Officer and in a few years was promoted to the Asst Chief Electronic Technician for the vessel.  Our company is a Marine Construction company and our vessel is a Derrick Barge with a 4500 ton lift crane used to build oil rig platforms or salvage them. It is also used to build deep water systems (rig peripheral equipment) as deep as 11,500 feet.  Our job in the Electrical division was to maintain anything with an electron running through it from 6.6KV down to low voltage systems and I mean anything.  The job was never ending and each day we learned something new.  I learned that no matter how long you are on a ship like the vessel I was on, you do not have enough time to learn it all because there are so many large systems and 10 times as many small systems that can have issues.  The management team was a great group of guys working for two goals; safety always for everyone first, and complete our jobs to the best of our ability.  The co-workers were mostly military veterans in our division and we had some very sharp guys in our engineering department as well.  The hardest part of the job was having to maintain a vessel of sometimes 300 people and accomodating the everyday needs from crane operations, the needs of our engineering department and engine room, our deep water lowering system and operation requirements, dynamic positioning systems, LAN network and television satellites, radar systems, navigation equipment, Fire Alarm systems, HVAC systems, telephone and computer problems, and any other little thing with an electron in it.  The most enjoyable part of the job is the same thing listed for the hardest part of the job and everyday was something new or different to learn.  It was challenging at times but our team managed those challenges well and we kept each other safe at all times.  The overall experience was a great one.

In late 2000, CB&I embarked on a series of acquisitions that have expanded its services to encompass the entire hydrocarbon industry, from conceptual design through technology licensing, engineering and construction, to final commissioning and technical services. CB&I acquired Lummus Global from ABB on November 19, 2007, adding approximately 3,000 employees to the CB&I payroll.[12][13] CB&I announced the acquisition of The Shaw Group in 2012, which added pipe, steel and module fabrication solutions as well as engineering and construction capabilities in the power generation industry that included fossil and nuclear construction. The transaction was completed on February 13, 2013.[citation needed] In 2015, CB&I announced that they are selling their Nuclear Construction division to Westinghouse Electric Company, a subsidiary of Toshiba, for $229 million.[14]

As of this date,[when?] CB&I's global business groups are:

Technology, which offers licensed process technologies, catalysts, specialized equipment and engineered products for use in petrochemical facilities, oil refineries and gas processing plants;[citation needed]
Engineering, Construction, which provides engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction of major energy infrastructure facilities;[citation needed]
Fabrication Services, which offers fabrication capabilities for piping, structural steel, module prefabrication and assembly, as well as storage tanks and vessels for the oil and gas, water and wastewater, mining and power generation industries;[citation needed]
Capital Services, offers comprehensive services for government and private sector customers which include:[citation needed]
* power and industrial maintenance;
* turnarounds and outages;
* engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction;
* decommissioning and decontamination;
* environmental engineering and consulting;
* energy efficiency and sustainability; and
* program management.

Since CB&I took over they have wasted millions of dollars on a company that was supposed to streamline and realign the functions of the plant. However after spending all that money, they virtually ignore the recommendations that were offered. Every company should have a viable safety plan, but CB&I has taken safety to the extreme, so much so that employees are more concerned about what they may be doing wrong, that they can't focus on their job...which is a safety hazard in itself. Since they wasted all that money and with a excessive number of supervisors and managers (too many chiefs), they are still unable to fabricate enough pipe to keep all the employees working thus they are laying off large numbers of employees and falsely assuring them it will only be 10 days, maybe two weeks and they will bring them back....I have been laid off for a month now and haven't heard a word. The lay off came from the most senior management. They still have no comprehensive training program, which again is a "safety" concern in my humble opinion. There are many qualified and talented individuals who have worked at this facility for years and they have become disillusioned with the path CB&I is taking, causing them to re-evaluate their position and they are giving serious consideration to finding more stable employment.

I have to give CB&I credit for a few things....one of being which, they are better than Westinghouse, as a manger of a nuclear plant, since Westinghouse purchased the nuclear division, it is apparent they are even more clueless than CB&I was, at least in my department.

Even though Westinghouse kept many of the clueless CB&I managers, the Westinghouse management seems to be worse.

Now for CB&I.  In my department, they ran on intimidation, even though we were responsible for quality....bad idea guys.

After numerous complaints and case filings with external and internal dept.'s including external law suits, the manager (who was clueless on what we did for a living) was replaced.  Wow!  what a breath of fresh air, you would think....not here!  The next manager came in, kept the same drones put in place by the previous manager, who also had no clue what we did for a living but, was buddy buddy with them and I guess he felt he could form them to his ideology (how pathetic).  Anyway, the next manager arrives and is so disconnected with what is going on, he puts his faith in the two drones hired to manage the people, even though they are clueless on what the people do for a living and are technically incapable of connecting with the guys in the field (how sad).  Then the manager or director as he is called, being so disconnected allows the drones to start to run the entire department, even though they have no experience in departmental business.  The drones then start driving things that make no sense.....did I say this was for building nuclear plants?  Now Westinghouse has assumed the management and seem to be OK with it.....even though most folks think it is way out of hand.

Very similar to its competitors. However, CB&I can work on its retention methods for employees - compensation, training, mentoring - and its management - shared vision that was trickled down to every employee.

On an individual level, biggest issue was not feeling that the company was proactively training its employees to do well and align with organizational strategies.

On a team level, many project teams executed projects inconsistently with different levels of adherence to effective company policies. The reason for differing methods of project execution was not simply due to tailoring of project framework to the project, but because there appeared to be a serious lack of buy-in, awareness, or adherence to basic company policies. Two examples of this inconsistency were in proper change and risk management, which may have cost projects severely.

As far as maturity in project management, CB&I has all the tools required for excellent project management, document control, lessons learned, project controls, etc. However, it is the lack of adherence to these tools and a lack of shared vision up and down the organization that prevent any further improvement here in both employee retention and management.

This is a great company to work for, if you are in the in crowd. Pay is average. Job descriptions are usually hit or miss. Company usually doesn't give you the full description that they are really hiring for. Hours flip flop literally almost every week. Management is a hit or miss. I worked for this company for 5 years and there have been 1 or 2 managers that gave an attempt at being decent people. Other than that, it's hard to even have management know you exists, unless they need your help with something they don't know how to do. Compensation isn't great with this company at all. They can tell you to do multiple peoples job with no type of compensation or even a slight thank you. If you need a job that has decent pay and benefits as far as health care, then sure, work here temporarily. But if you are looking for a company for a long lasting career where you will be respected and have room for advancement, stay away and look elsewhere. Most of the time you are just a work horse or a replaceable body for this company. Needless to say, this is more of a "good ole boy" company. Have to know someone or be related to someone to do well and exceed here.

Started each day with updating the TMI Daily Online Schedule using P3, updating the "Plan Of the Day" & sending it to CB&I corporate, attending daily "T" meetings to organize then schedule work for upcoming work weeks, inputting daily schedule progress and changes,  attend the Daily Schedule Meeting with Work Week Manager to give the latest schedule work status.   

When not working on the Daily Online Schedule, I was responsible for the inputting, scheduling and levelizing all Refueling outage scaffolding and Containment shielding using P6 along with running special reports & graphs. 

CB&I's upper management at TMI was new to their perspective positions and struggled at times contradicting their directions several times. This made my job very difficult because they did not really know what they wanted from me which lead to re-work over and over.  CB&I was also responsible for cutting the contract support budget by almost 25%, so we had to cut everything to the bone.  The schedule was very, very tight and schedule adherence was almost impossible.  

The most enjoyable part of the job was the people I got to work with, they were great and always there to help.

It was a great learning experience from straight out of high school to adulthood and gave me the knowledge an skill that will carry over for the rest of my life. Far as being to work on time at 6:30 am and waking up a hour earlier just to beat traffic,  Presenting myself as a worker looking professional , and teaching me the art of competitiveness and bettering yourself. The hardest part of the job was the traffic honestly and those hard days of having to shovel to level the sand. Bushing the concrete use to be hard until you get better at it, they switched from air guns to electric guns so that really was a big difference and showed everyone they cared about their workers. The management is also great they make you a better person an is more like a mentor but also they still expect you to handle your business. The best part I loved about the job was teamwork an dedication. I had this understanding that if we finished early, and handled our business, and came to work every day it would just make life and work easier. I always lived by the term "Lead by example and the outcome of your actions will make them follow." I am not the type to make others life harder or tell them anything so i focused on surrounding myself with the right people or people who strive to do better while being positive.

I was previously employed as an Environmental Scientist with Chicago Bridge & Iron (formerly the Shaw Group) working with the Environmental & Infrastructure Group in Houston, Texas. I have over 18 years of environmental experience. I participated in numerous hazardous waste site investigations and remedial activities at industrial, commercial and government facilities in the Southern and Northeastern US and Guam. My responsibilities included the preparation of various environmental reports, remedial construction oversight and hazardous waste disposal, as well as the management of field activities during groundwater and soil investigations. I have supervised the operations associated with Mobile Disaster Recovery Centers in selected counties affected by Hurricane Rita in Texas and Hurricane Whilma in Florida.  I am proficient in using ArcGIS tools for GIS planning tasks on multiple residential and commercial sites as well. I previously provided support as the Quality Control Lead for several smelter sites in the Southwestern US.  This entailed the thorough review of all field-related documentation.

Start the day by getting to work an hour to two early everyday for free. Workplace Culture had the chance to be Great but unfortunately the American worker can only be kicked so many times before he will lay down or kick back. People would take their scheduled day off and 2 months later Senior Management would write them up, this happened constantly. No breaks were allowed except for the 30 min lunch that really was more like 13 min due to walking time. Pay Rates are not competitive. Literally have General Foreman and Foremans making less money than some of the workers under their direct supervision, this was due to bringing in subcontractors because of the poor Senior Management. One of the hardest thing to deal with on a daily basis was the constant blatant lies from Senior Management, they would literally change their stories to suit the narrative several times over the course of one meeting. Then expect you to go out and look another adult in the eyes and lie. But, the Absolute Best thing about this job was leaving it before my morale compass had broken. Way more to life than a paycheck.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Pipefitter 3 salaries reported	$36.33 per hour
Laborer 3 salaries reported	$19.67 per hour
Cleaning technician 1 salary reported	$16.00 per hour
Truck driver 1 salary reported	$29.00 per hour
Welder 9 salaries reported	$39.72 per hour

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