project engineer

welder/fitter

welder

Zeeco

This is based on my experience with Zeeco Inc. in Broken Arrow, OK. There are many different product groups which may not have had the experience I had.  

PROS: The culture of Zeeco is amazing. Very few companies compare to the amazing culture set by Zeeco. The CEO/President and all executive management are amazing, down to earth people who want you to become personally connected to the company as your own and foster several opportunities to do so (company picnic at the company Zink Ranch, Holiday parties, cupcake celebrations for birthdays, newly developed Young Professional Network, etc.) 

Great opportunity to get meaningful work right from the start! My first day I received two "REAL" (because that's honestly how students and new employees term meaningful projects) projects. I was able to feel important from the start of my career. 

They hire STRONGLY and majorly from their intern pool. This is good from a basic experience/exposure stand point but also is a major drawback as I lead into the CONS.  

CONS: Poor Training- There is no real "training" for your position. You are expected to ask questions (many of which without industry experience/exposure, you don't know to ask). I had no previous experience with the industry nor the type of work I was doing. I didn't mind that, but I did mind that there is no structure in place that aided in guiding me to better understand how to do my job, the expectations for me, typical "need to knows/company standards" are not provided until you "need them" which is suppose to prompt you to talk to people and those with the experience were usually unavailable or having to help several others for undetermined amounts of time (usually a line of 4+ people waiting for assistance). 

Under-defined Expectations: There were no formal evaluations (until March-ish) and really no metric to gauge work performance/progression of knowledge, other than how your work is "perceived" or your relationship with those providing the feedback (primarily the manager of the group and their more senior person in the group). This was really the hard part for me, as I desire feedback to improve on my work and that usually only presented itself during Group meetings where as a group we reviewed each others work. This could take upward to 6 months to happen, which by then I learned from others mistakes (and by observation of work performed) and just implemented into my future work; but the earlier work wouldn't reflect that knowledge.  

There are no windows. I actually love that this is a cute little shared joked among the company; it really does suck that there are no windows but the camaraderie and humor that builds from knowing we all (CEO included) are without windows allows for great "what can we improve" conversation. But Seriously, it can become quite daunting being in the building all day, often at a computer with no ability to take in fresh air. 

Generational Differences: This isn't so much a Zeeco specific CON as is industrial CON. The manager's are typically between the 55+ age, have been with the company since its inception and have a very different way of seeing how things should be run compared to the very young workforce (Zeeco has rapidly expanded over the last 5 years such that the majority of the engineers are between 0-5 years of experience within this industry, or are new to the company from some other industry/school) With that being said they Zeeco is far behind the curve with the implementation of a tier system to better structure the groups and expectations as well as appeal to the younger workforce they now have that desires to see the possible paths available for career progression. 

Additionally, there really is no work/life balance. Management over the different groups all handle their groups very different, and I didn't have a difficult time requesting time off, but from the many other industries and bigger companies I've worked for, it was unsettling that Zeeco (as a company) did not seem to have considerations for work/life balance. Many companies have flex hours (alternative work hours to get every other friday off.). Zeeco did not have this and I was also required to work 8am-5pm everyday which did not work well with getting personal things done like moving, scheduling appointments for my car, having services performed or even calling for services to be performed, because it is the work schedule of most businesses leaving me to request time off that I wouldn't otherwise have to if I had flex time/days.    

With that, I enjoyed my time with Zeeco. I gained great experience and much knowledge of the combustion industry, Flares, Incinerators, Burners, etc. I hope this is taken as constructive feedback as it is intended to be.

Zeeco is a privately owned company with no oversight from a board of directors.    Thus, it is subject to the whims of one person.  The CEO loves revenue and speaks to it incessantly, but seems oblivious or apathetic to the issues with the products in the field (poor project execution and product quality).  

The management team has little to no training with regards to management skills.  They're all "lifers" who have been with the company for 15+ years and have pledged complete loyalty to the president.   

If you're a young engineer looking to be innovative , you may want to look elsewhere.   The company is looking for engineers to implement the designs and sell the products, generating maximum revenue.  Unfortunately, the product managers stick with the same designs that have been in place for decades.   Any new technology they have is licensed from some other company - Zeeco is the middle man to sell someone else's technology.   There is essentially zero budget for R&D here and the company is clueless when it comes to commercializing new products into the market.   Many of the existing designs and products are copied or pirated from other manufacturers in the world of combustion.   
 
If you're looking to learn about different applications in the world of fired equipment, you'll learn something here.   However, at-will employment is far less stable then a larger company, so be aware if you're considering employment here.  

Initially, Zeeco promised me that they would provide me with whatever I needed to provide quality service to their customers in North Dakota. When I hired in I requested that I be provided with Zeeco's procedures and training so I could be sure and follow their policies regarding reports, documentation, and billing. As well as enlightening me on their new products and innovations to their Flaring and combustion systems which I was responsible for servicing, repairing, and maintaining. They failed to even provide me with a New Hire Orientation. I directly requested to address issues regarding safety, relocation, and support at least twice a week with my immediate supervisor and the response was always, "We are going to bring you in as soon as we can."
 This never materialized. I still am baffled as to why they even hired me. Although; I suspect it was to relieve the service technicians workload who disliked having to come to North Dakota in the Winter and perform repairs on their flares when the weather was so brutally cold and inhospitable.

I think some people would fit better here than others based on the kind of culture and work style they like. Management and co-workers in my department were fine, but the policies, rules, and work-life balance they have is not for everyone. Their stance and approach on the COVID-19 pandemic is non-accommodating and no lack of understanding. Pay was average, benefits were just ok, vacation time had to be earned as well as sick time (accrual), 401k takes years to become fully vested. They seem to want to hire sheep that fall in line and that just keep their head down working. Did not seem like a place for those that want to be innovative, creative, branch out, make changes, etc.

Good company to work for. Most of the hire ups are laid back and easy going. However the programmer over the machine shop is struggling to get out a good program. You’ll spend most of your day double checking his work so you don’t hurt yourself with his programs. It’s always your fault and never the programmers fault. He will make irrational decisions based off his emotions. Can cycles aren’t a thing here, it seems to freak him out if you use can cycles. So just be prepared to write programs as a machinist here. Also if the program is too far off he’s just going to tell you to add a .200 offset to your tool ware instead of just programming it right the first time. Seems as if the buddy system is strong here because I don’t see how they are able to function as a machine shop. 

Zeeco, cares about it's employees from the highest position down, and that care is evident throughout the company. If you are blessed with a position there you never want to leave. I only wish they had work from home positions. You are expected to do your job, but when the day is done, you may go to the CEO's house for a fish fry, or meet up with your co-workers and their spouses for a day at the movies or Zoo. You are thought of and treated like a person instead of a number at Zeeco and because of that all their workers will bend over backwards to help out the company. They have great benefits, and keep training updated weekly. I can't say enough positive things about Zeeco and their employees.

A typical day at work started with reviewing what engineering changes our customer had made the night before in Japan.  I learned a lot about industrial flares, boilers, and thermal oxidizers. Management was very easy to work with on a daily basis.  All co-workers worked together to make a project work.  The hardest part of the job was to make sure the equipment that we designed and built worked to the customer's satisfaction in a foreign country.  The most enjoyable part of the job was when I went out to startup the equipment and ever thing worked as designed.

Zeeco is an interesting mix of "old school" business models and a young millennial work force. It is definitely challenging. The majority of the project engineers do not have more than a few years of experience and the processes are difficult to navigate. There is little to no training, which is good in some ways and dangerous in others. I was excited to travel and visit fabrication sites. 95% of the work is from a desk, which is not what I was expecting. Zeeco definitely has a great benefits package, but it is a lot of personal sacrifice of your time and energy to work here. I would expect to work more than 40 hours every week. That is typical.

This is a great place to work..... if you fit in with their culture.  I enjoyed coming to work every day but in the end when they wanted to cut spending they look who they can get rid of quickest.  They had a Reduction in force back in April and it shook the company up a lot.  I was found to "Not fit into the culture" or "Not a good fit" after a year there, but instead of being forward about it they will do their best to make you want to quit or will make stuff to get you out.

Bottom Line:  

Its a great place to work but if you want job security don't expect it here. Better have something else lined up at all times.

Zeeco offers a very good atmosphere for workers, but few opportunities for advancement of one's career. It offers average benefits, but the pay is very low. I would not have left the company in 2015 had I not had to supplement my income with money taken from my savings account every month for slightly over a year. When I received the "big bonus" and "big raise" I was promised when hired and realized the situation would not change I had no recourse but to look for a better paying opportunity.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Project engineer 3 salaries reported	$115,000 per year
Welder/fitter 8 salaries reported	$29.44 per hour
Welder 1 salary reported	$27.50 per hour

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