Entry-level? It's sink or swim. If you fail to impress them right away, you're done. - Environmental Engineer II CDM Smith Employee Review

2.0
Jun 18, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Excellent benefits, work from home flexibility, acceptable pay

Cons

Company hires WAY too many junior-level engineers (levels 1-4) and then doesn't have nearly enough work to keep them all busy; You have to impress every project manager perfectly the FIRST time or else they'll never give you work again; Management can't decide whether efficiency or "staying billable" is more important, and will move the goalposts repeatedly so that you're never fulfilling the "right" priority; Incorrect guidance and misinformation, with crucial true details not being communicated until many months into an otherwise unknown problem; Supervisors and managers generally don't care about helping you succeed, but will be quick to judge you; The "engineering" work is really mostly mind-numbingly boring clerical / administrative busywork (i.e. document reading and editing), and you should expect it to be this way for your first 5 years, as the junior employees are given the grunt work that the senior employees don't feel like doing; Young employees are discouraged from sharing their own ideas and innovations, and may face backlash if they dare to; Entry-level employees are treated like a commodity and WILL be "laid off" to cover for the incompetence of lower-level and upper-level management; Might have to work late into the evening / early in the morning to finish a task by a deadline; You often aren't given a realistic amount of time to get tasks done; Company randomly started going "woke" from 2020 to the present; Company claims to be "employee owned" but operates like a heartless big corporation; Company claims to "hire for careers, not jobs" but definitely hires for jobs, not careers.

Explore other reviews about CDM Smith

5.0
Apr 22, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Lots of training and opportunities

Cons

Company structure can be confusing

1
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CDM Smith Response
3w
Thank you for taking the time to leave us a 5-star review! It was great to have you as an employee and wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
2.0
Jun 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Flexible hybrid schedule is very nice and starting salary is high for early career engineers.

Cons

The main people running the company are not engineers and you can tell. They are all focused on utilization with rates often set at 97% or higher. This had led to my supervisor asking/telling me to not charge company required trainings. As an early engineer it really feels like they don't want to invest in me and only care about their bottom line. If you are an early career structural engineer you will also not get any meaningful work until you've been with the company for at least 5 years. The senior engineers do not trust you and will only give you grunt work.

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