Pros

Smart People, Great Industry and work environment, they keep you up to date with tools and conferences so that you are able to be on the cutting edge of everything.

Cons

There are different rules for different employees from the same group. If you are single, married, have children, and even being male or female has a direct correlation of how much flexibility you are given in your day to day activities. If you are single and male, expect to work longer and later than other individuals.

 They also fail to make it clear what they want from some of your managers. Managers are also not approachable for questions, as you are already suppose to know everything, even though you may be transitioning from a different industry.

Be careful socializing outside of your department as they will fire you if you are approached by others for a job in a different department or if they believe you are speaking with another company.

Advice to Senior Management

The difference in Communicators and Teachers is that Communicators take something difficult and teach others how to use it in an easy manner that others can grasp. Teachers take something difficult and make it difficult to understand.

AEP needs more Communicators and fewer teachers.

Pros

I had a hard time in college deciding what I wanted to do with my life. I am a Purdue grad and I learned about AEP at the Engineering Round Table in 2005. I knew I wanted to do a rotational program and what could be better than working at a nuclear power plant? AEP let me hit the ground running and shape my own career. I was hired in with a group of engineers that became my best friends. My bosses are great listeners and instructors and every day on the job I learn something new. I don't feel restricted in my growth and I know this is a very stable company.

Cons

I don't always love when there are issues in the plant and it causes us to operate differently. Outages are good money but very tiring.

Advice to Senior Management

My feedback would be that they are doing a great job in this unstable market.

Pros

There is a lot of opportunity for growth at AEP. The benefits are phenominal.

Cons

Growth can sometimes be limited in the shared services part of the company. Having worked in SS & now in one of the Operating companies I believe that the management style (in the Opco) is more geared towards developing you as a benefit to the company rather than just what you can do for your current department.

Advice to Senior Management

The direction things have been going lately has been great. I would say that Mike needs to keep doing what he's doing. AEP has changed a lot in the last 5 years & I definitely believe it's been for the better.

Pros

AEP has so many great reasons to work there. The management and team I work with are so competent. I was afraid going into such a big company, but it has not been an issue at all. I get paid so well. The benefits are great and the career developement and safety standards are world class.

Cons

Sometimes management seems to only care about safety standards but I know that is necessary seeing as how we have to keep things safe in a not always so safe workign environment.

Advice to Senior Management

I would re-evaluate some of the standards of safety breach disciplinary actions. Besides that, this job is better than anyone could ever ask for.

Pros

1. I love what I do.
2. My coworkers have become my best friends.
3. I get up to date continuous training
4. I get to do a lot of community service
5. The pay is definitely something to brag to my friends about.
6. The upper management is very knowledgeable.
7. I am able to have a great work/life balance.
8. I have career stability.

Cons

1. Outages seem to be very time consuming in the midst of them.
2. The benefits are not as great as they used to be.

Advice to Senior Management

I would say that I am enjoying the alternative energy sources that we are exploring and we need to look into it more.

Pros

I really enjoy the opportunities that I have been given as a result of working here. The pay and benefits are nothing to complain about, either. I feel that there is no glass ceiling for me and I can do anything I would want to do. I have made some life long friendships and respect the management. Its not so bad working so close to the beach, either.

Cons

I would say that outages are the only downsides of working at AEP, but. hey, at least the overtime makes up for all of the negatives.

Advice to Senior Management

I would say we need to also get into more alternative forms of energy.

Pros

One of the best parts about working at AEP are the opportunities for internal mobility. At AEP, and particularly in the Commercial Operations division, people are encouraged to try different projects and groups. Upward and as well as lateral mobility is quite common, and many people switch roles every couple of years. This kind of dynamic environment (1) produces a workforce that better understands how their work fits into "the big picture" (2) allows employees to get to know and network with a broader cross-section of the company, and (3) forces us to re-examine the old methods and habits in search of improvement.
Before getting to know AEP, I had imagined the company as any old utility -- rigid and boring -- but after two years, I'm still excited to work there!

Cons

A negative to working at a large company such as AEP is the disconnect between divisions and operating companies. Besides AEP's regional utilities across several states, there are also river barge operations, special environmental projects, and energy market trading activity. While corporate management tries to unify the company through e-mails, a good intranet site and company newsletters, it's still sometimes difficult to see the big picture of the company and truly understand what's happening.
Another frustrating aspect of working at AEP is the time it takes to work through layers of IT security for new employees. It takes several days to get security badges to work, e-mail accounts to be set up, access for computer applications to be granted, and passwords to function. These problems make it difficult for new employees to acclimate to the climate and to jump right into their new jobs.

Advice to Senior Management

While there is a formal process for employee feedback, I feel it might be very helpful to have a formal chance for employees to give feedback to their supervisors. This would open the channels of communication further.