senior technician

senior developer

senior construction inspector

maintenance technician

crew supervisor

Texas Department of Transportation

So from what I understand, your quality of life at TxDOT will largely depend on what area office you work at. For example in Houston, the West Harris office is regarded as the best, and the North Harris office regarded as the worst.

Management is a mixed bag. As a new hire you'll either succeed or fail depending on the years of experience and managing style your PM has. There seems to be no middle ground because there is no structured personal development for new employees. It is all left up to the individual, and this, for the most part, results in the creation of indifferent drones that show up in the morning and leave promptly once the bell rings. 

The pay is mediocre at best. There is no overtime past 40 hours. Instead you get "comp time" for every additional hour you work. You can use those hours to take the day off whenever you want - no questions asked. The downside to this is that A.) you don't get paid 1.5x for overtime B.) if it is a rainy day or the contractor is not working, you can be sent home and be forced to use your saved comp time C.) if you accumulate too much comp time you will get sent home for X-amount of days to cut your saved comp time down. 

They try to fluff up benefits and medical, but they just do not compare to the benefits in the private sector. Additionally, 9.5% of your paycheck is taken every month to pay retiree pensions (on top of taxes and additional medical benefits you want).

If you have a college degree, want to develop yourself, and want to surround yourself with people that care...you might want to look elsewhere.

However, if you want an easy 40 hour work week with very little stress, almost no responsibility, and very good job security...this might be the job for you. 

In Maintenance you normally work Mon-Thurs 7am to 5:30pm (30 min unpaid lunch). You get paid a salary monthly on the 1st with no paid overtime. Anytime over 40 worked hours goes towards PTO. They are strict on how much time you can rack up and threaten termination if you go over 240 as they have to pay you for anything over that. The management is hit or miss. You either get really good supervisors or you don't. They are huge on safety. If you have a safety incident 9 times out of 10 you are getting a write up as everything is a "preventable accident/incident". The company pays 100% for your health insurance but you have to pay for vision and dental if you want that. The retirement system is a joke. It's more of a 401K nowadays. No more working 20 years to retire. You get a lot of holidays and time off. You work a lot and they normally don't give you a hard time when you are sick or want to take some time off. If you are working in a Maintenance office be prepared to work and work hard. You will be spending 8-10 hours outside in all weather conditions lifting sometimes 100+ lbs and a lot of manual labor... shoveling, trimming trees, patching potholes, picking up debris, cleaning up dump sites, collecting litter, installing small and large highway signs, operating loaders/skidsteers/rollers/backhoes/etc. If you are a engineer, office worker, admin, supervisor, or inspector with TxDOT... you have it made and will be a very laidback well paying career. 

A typical day at work would be responding to requests for legal advice, drafting and reviewing contract documents and advising the client on compliance/enforcement issues, drafting and interpreting legislation, representing the company as legal counsel in internal and external meetings, making educational presentations and generally learning new concepts and new pathways to success every day. The hardest part of any job I have had as legal counsel is when the client ignores or is hostile to legal advice and fails to listen, understand and comply with the law. The most enjoyable part of the jobs I have held as in-house counsel has been training and educating clients and enabling the client to accomplish their goals, both personally and professionally. I am seeking a workplace culture which is friendly and compassionate about work and dedicated to doing the right thing. I am seeking management that will listen to me, respect and trust my opinion and one who is interested in the advancement of its employee's careers and one who is sincerely interested in compassionate management and helping employees reach their own highest potential while maintaining a healthy work/life balance.

A typical day of my job would be posting my materials received and payable. Working on building monthly estimates to pay the Contractors. I had to look through Contractors payrolls and make sure they were paying according to Policies in accordance with the standards set for each particular project. We had some State/Federal, some just Federal and some with Local/State/Federal. Each of these would be different on many issues and standards. I would usually be in charge of anywhere from 2-10 projects ongoing at a time. I would process, Monthly, Semi-Finals and Finals on each Project. The workplace Culture was very good. They usually trained you well in advance of any new changes. The hardest part of the job was the stress level to complete a project and the Audits. I always excelled in my work. I would average anywhere from 10-12 hours a day. The most enjoyable part of my job was that I loved the paperwork and the employee fellowship and also bonding with the Contractors on a professional level. I am leaving out a lot of day to day typical grind of the job, but I can get into that with my interviewer if needed. TxDot was based on a Merit System. Each Department would receive so much Merit money to hand out. You had to be doing above and beyond what was expected of you. I would always receive Merit money through out my whole experience at TxDot. I worked really hard to get it though. It was not just dished out.

It’s nice that it’s possible to advance and learn skills to qualify you for a different role at TxDOT. However, it’s very difficult to get a substantial raise or promotion based on merit alone. The best way to advance your career here is to apply for and take new positions. It’s unfortunate because this structure creates a lot of instability in job responsibilities and subject matter expert knowledge transferral, and leads to silos of knowledge. Management is structured such that the hardest worker is the one who may become manager of a group even if they aren’t actually skilled at managing people, but rather, are the most technically skilled.  I think this depends which branch you work in and specifically how the dynamics of management work in your section. TxDOT also drills the idea that we should reduce deaths on the road while also at the same time promoting increased capacity of the road network system. These are contrary goals. TxDOT should be more progressive in its goals and emphasize and promote alternative modes of transportation besides personal vehicles. Building more lanes has not and will not solve traffic problems.

Great management, mentorship, and overall culture! A very youthful, casual vibe. I love how they have team meetings every morning discussing goals. The communication is excellent. It seems if you excel, you can get promoted very quickly. I love how the sales people are not drilling people out of money. They would rather someone not spend at all than spend money on a campaign or product that will not perform. Calls are "warm calls" (members of our free section, goal to make them spend.) The memes and ping chats keep things interesting. The open office environment is refreshing. I thought my first sales experience would be in an old office, cubicles, and I would be drilled with metrics. They seem to give the autonomy, and coach, but also allow for your own unique process. Managers are out of this world. I cannot even believe that my first professional experience was with a company so amazing. My recommendation for interns is to not lose hope. Someone you spoke with the first week may come back a month later and purchase! It takes patience and time. With team outings and free food, it is a great college summer experience. The only downside is that somedays are slower than others. They want to see if you can keep a good attitude with your book (older accounts, no new leads) the whole summer. If you are die hard for indeed and sales, just stick with it. You will close a deal (:

Working for the state of Texas was such an amazing and challenging time. You had your days when you just wanted to help everyone that walk in our door, but sometimes our clients didn't qualify for the program and it was heart breaking. We had days that at the end of the day many clients had all they needed for the comfort of those that were in a medical facility and we made sure that all was provided for them to start their journey and get well. I learned that our clients were tough even when their love ones were going through the hardest time in their lives. Taught us that we were blessed, and we held the key to help them. Management were always ready to assist in any possible and impossible case, that made it so much easier. Workplace , everyone always had a smile on their face no matter what day we were having. Hardest part of the job was having to turn away some clients after trying every which way to be able to assist them. The most enjoyable part of the job was at the end of the day we made sure many clients and their family were taken care of, and at their destination ready for their medical procedures.

I began my career with the Texas Department of Transportation in 1967.  I had just gotten out of the U.S. Army and was looking for a job in Austin.  One of the places that I applied for a job was the Texas Department of Transportation.  They had a job that I was qualified for, and I accepted the position.  I learned my duties through on-the-job training.  Everyone was very nice and helpful during my learning process.  In the early '80s, we were getting computerized which required maintaining the old system of logging information not only in the log books but on the computer, too.  Because of our positive attitude, we accepted and learned the new system without having to add any additional employees.

In 1989, I transferred to the Corsicana Area Office in the Dallas District of the Texas Department of Transportation to accept a position as an Inspector.  Most  of the time my duties required me to be outside at the job site as opposed to being inside like it was in Austin.  I actually enjoyed this change and adjusted to it in no time.  Many days began at sunup and ended at sundown in all kinds of weather from blistering heat to bitter cold.

Maintain District Design Development Database (DDDD) in support of the Programs deportment. Build projects with funding categories using the Design and Construction Information System (DCIS) according to the requirements of Transportation Improvement Programs, Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Transportation Policy Council. Administer state and federal transportation funded programs. Prepare and develop reports, spreadsheets and financial graphs used for future planning by the Programs deportment and Senior Management. Advise Senior Management on effective use of federal, state and local funds. Use Remote Operating System Conversational On-Line Environment (ROSCOE) for project applications. Correspond with Austin’s Transportation Planning & Programming Division and Houston’s project designers for project modifications. Assist Program Engineer with bridge inspections, structural evaluations, analyses of bridges, federal bridge programs, prepare and monitor supplemental agreements. Maintain detailed program project records and prepare annual reports. Serves as a lead worker, train others.

A typical day involved engaging property owners or their agents to further the process of acquiring land targeted by the State of Texas. Additionally, an agent spent alot of time filling out or checking the accuracy of paperwork in preparation for special commissioner's hearings and eminent domain proceedings.
Management in certain areas was problematic. The measures used to determine success on the job were contradictory to the stated desires of the State of Texas as written in SOP manuals from Austin (ex. - the State wishes to avoid the final option of eminent domain because of it's typically higher cost to the state. But, to send something to eminent domain effectively means that the property has been dealt with and is therefore closed. The more properties that are closed the better management looks on the books).
The hardest part of the job is being caught in between doing your job as written by the state and handling a manager that has other desires.
The most enjoyable part of the job is definitely the co-workers. They are some of the most generous, nicest and intelligent people anyone could wish to spend a day with.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Senior technician 41 salaries reported	$54,068 per year
Senior developer 90 salaries reported	$103,490 per year
Senior construction inspector 106 salaries reported	$61,483 per year
Maintenance technician 103 salaries reported	$19.03 per hour
Crew supervisor 106 salaries reported	$66,952 per year

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