engineer

intern

senior engineer

financial analyst

project manager

Southern Company

There has been a lot of culture changes recently.  Some like it but it feels many do not.  It comes with the territory of operating in the energy production sector.  Unfortunately, the climate around the office has been that these changes are not in-line with what kept many people excited to be with the company.  My experience has mostly be positive with my workload, co-workers and daily tasks but the lack of me progressing into the company is the main reason why I am exploring other opportunities.  As of late (mid-March), my typical workday has been comprised of learning and developing workflow processes for a new CCTV/Radar initiative that is currently taking place at all Southern Co. Operating Companies.  I am currently building out the knowledge base that will be used as a standard for all future projects.  This includes workflow diagrams, checklists, and Standard Operating outlines.  My management allows me to work with autonomy as long as I complete and adhere to a 3 month "guideline" that was put in place to assist me as I am the first one at Southern Company to try to piece all the pieces of this project together as the previous BA who used to handle this has retired.  The hardest part of the job is keeping all of the active and pending projects that are developing organized while keeping up with my previous responsibilities of supporting our Access Control and Access Management systems.  The most enjoyable part of my job is the autonomy they trust me to work with.  I have not experienced much micro-management and for the most part, create my own schedules and deadlines.  I am allowed to do this is I have shown that I am reliable and responsibly enough to do this.

Typical day at work:
Has become more about accounting and less about technical design work.  I am responsible to review design work by others and I prefer to be more hands on in the design process.
What I learned:
It's more about who can play office politics in order to move ahead.
I've learned much about electricity production, Public Service Commission influence on cost reduction pressures for the company as a public utility.
Management:
While I respect the job management has to do, we have had layoffs and turnover in our department for a reason and I disagree with the methods used. 
My co-workers:
Love working with my peers that I work directly with in project teams in the office and vice-versa.  Have developed mutual respect.
Hardest part of job:
Management has completely changed from 16 years ago.  Best days are long gone.  They expect you to work and sacrifice routinely for project deadlines that they set unreasonable goals to begin with.  No one listens, only keep asking you the same question until they get the answer they want to hear.  They have already begun to cut jobs due to budget restraints.  It is time to look for another job.
Most Enjoyable part of job:
My peer co-workers will work hard and we work as a team for one another.  It is each not wanting to fail our project teammates that inspires us to work harder, not management.

The Gas Operations division managed by a VP and PM that seem to care more about their own personal goals for career advancement than the success of the project team. The VP, PMO and PM as well as lead on a major rewrite green-field multi-million dollar project are all African American. They bond together and shut anyone out that does not share their racial profile. Promesses of support are not kept with no regard for the damage done to the team spirit. Most team members feel unappreciated and hard work is not recognized. Truly a sad place to work for. Perhaps departments outside of Gas Operations have a healthier culture, but the culture here reeks of racial profiling against anyone who is not an African American. whites as well as contractors from India (I am not from India btw). I have also been told by folks that have been here for the last 10 years or more that the culture is changing from an inclusive and creative one to a bureaucratic "all about saving a penny" mentality. 11 Team members have left this project, most were fired! No job security. It's truly hard to find anything positive when the culture management fosters is so divisive. If you're enthusiastic, vibrant, excited to make a difference and have a lot of creativity you would be better served somewhere else.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Gaining a tremendous amount of experience and education while working for the group of companies.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Demanding work environment with an ever expanding list of responsibilities and dealing with some very unrealistic expectations from management.  Expect many short fused requests.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Great culture for learning and gaining experience. Most employees are good natured and happy to help facilitate learning; however there are two major issues that one needs to consider before joining the team. There are still a large number of old-school  "Grumpy and Ill-tempered" employees that are coasting down to retirement age that one has to contend with.  That, along with the companies new, "politically correct", hiring practices, are no longer based on the best person for the job.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Morning meeting with dissemination of work, followed up with project meetings and management meetings. The work day consists primarily of corrective maintenance for critical emergent work, coupled with planned maintenance and operational duties throughout the work shift.

I work(ed) in the engineering department and the typical work day was like any other engineering job. Our main focus was operations of the power generating plants. It was generally expected to be at work by 7:30 but the ability to come and go for personal issues was also generally accepted.  It was a professional work environment in that if you kept up with the work, you could easily work in most personal issues during normal work hours. Vacation, holiday, and sick leave were all generous, and paid parental leave (including new fathers) was in addition to other PTO.  

Management, as with any job, can be frustrating.  The rigors of regulation and a reactive engineering environment also provided tough challenges. For the most part, management means well but it feels as if they are all talk. Action and change are very slow to be realized. However, management is exceptionally aware of diversity and culture.

In a large company, coworkers are obviously a mixed bag, but in general people are very kind and easy to work with...even the engineers.  

For me, Southern was a great place to work and would be a difficult place to leave.  A career company for sure.

I’ve been in customer service for the past 5+ years and have never felt so unfulfilled/stressed out in my life. I have a passion for customer service but this company really wore me out in every way possible. The pay is definitely not worth the toll on your mental health and sanity. You constantly get graded not only for calls but how you use every second of your day. Be prepared to listen to your call recordings alongside a quality supervisor and have them nitpick your calls word for word. You basically need to catch up on emails/read updates on your break in order to meet unrealistic time metrics. Time metrics remain the same even if you work more hours. They see you as a call answering robot and not a human being. Constant required OT because call center is always understaffed. Be happy if you get a second between a call. Complex system is basically learned on your own to the point were you constantly have to refer to a horribly written online manual to figure out how to navigate or complete orders. Understandably, emergency calls can pretty much get you fired-no room for mistakes!!! High stress environment. There’s a Union for a reason.

I was hired as a contractor for Southern Company on a short-term contract with the possibility of renewal. They ended my contract early with little notice. Reasons given included internal reorganization, reduced work load, and the need to reduce costs. According to the media, increasing costs associated with recent investment decisions suggested reductions may be necessary.

Contractors in the same department were hired on through contracts of varying lengths depending on the company you were hired through. Contractors were referred to as non-employees and were heavily relied on in many areas of the company. The culture is conservative and somewhat rigid. Many employees have remained with the company for many years. Telecommuting was allowed but very limited. Some company perks were passed through to contractors.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Hands down, the People.  I have worked with CEO level down. Though at that time, I was at the lowest tier known to mankind, the early morning Mailroom. You NEVER felt it. In fact, it was the exact opposite. You were always elevated by your willingness to try, go to school and make something better of yourself! This I did and SoCo has always been the Gift that keeps on giving!!!

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Simply me. Stress is something that sometimes is internal. Enjoy your Career. Don’t let it enjoy you!!

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is quite hospitable. Actually much like the Southern Culture. It sincerely is a Business at heart. Give it your best and you will reap the rewards.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Busy with a flare of friends and shared goals. This atmosphere is completely one of acceptance and affability.  If you have a problem working here, don’t turn to HR to solve it, turn to the mirror and look at what the real problem may actually be.

When I started last year i was a contractor, I was promise 2 weeks of training and only received 3 days, by the 4th day they already had me working on the task at hand which confused me (especially since we only went over the task twice). I barely interacted with the manager or he wasn’t proactive in the new hires which I found odd. I asked several questions and feedback from QA but would always get vague answers when asked for feedback on my work. I felt like everyone one already had their groups and favoritism. The group I was hired in felt very unorganized and lacked communication. I asked multiple questions to make sure I understood what exactly I was doing even though each job would be different from day to day. If you decide to take on this position I would recommend to do weekly check-ins with your recruiter (just in case you have discrepancies and they can let the manager know on your behalf  bc QA will not). Find a company that values training people properly and that communicates professionally as well. 

As the Cooking School Manager, there was a tremendous amount of preparation, organization, scheduling, close team work, product ordering and tracking product margins required to get through any work day. 
Recipe development and testing were a critical part of success in classes. 
Communication was critical with vendors, instructors and staff.
Team building and close relationships were important to motivate and maintain knowledge and performance among the team.
Difficulties included decentralized accounting/operating functions to manage our store location. Coordination with the Corporate office was often inefficient. 
Every day we had creative challenges but also this was my dream job that allowed me to utilize my full range of skill sets. I was very disappointed when the location closed. I loved my role as Cooking School Manager!

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