Arup Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Arup

Pros – Good place to move up

Cons – There is a lot of bureaucracy going on.

Advice to Senior Management – Make the company about the employees like it used to be.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Arup as an intern for less than a year

Pros – great office, nice working environment

Cons – entry-level tasks not challenging enough

Former Employee – worked at Arup

Pros – You will be proud to work for Arup. A leading engineering firms behind some of the most exciting engineering and architectural projects in the world. Great colleagues.

Cons – Your experience will vary greatly depending of what team you are in. It is better suited for those with specialized technical abilities.

Advice to Senior Management – US offices seem to be more conservative than the European counterparts.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Arup full-time

Pros – Employee owned (sort of) - can take the long-term view, with no shareholders demanding quarterly results
Opportunities for travel
Responsibility early in your career
Amazing projects

Cons – Too much tolerance of poor performers
Inconsistent vision
Disconnect between the center of the firm in London and the different countries

Advice to Senior Management – Demand more accountability

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Arup full-time for more than a year

Pros – International company innovative solutions good expertise and sharing of knowledge good career growth opportunity only couple of offices are doing great type of projects

Cons – Small offices tend to do typical local work and usually function more like satellite office supporting office to main large offices very limited international work at small offices

Advice to Senior Management – None

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Arup full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Arup continues to be well-recognized in the industry, which allows it to win high-profile projects.

Cons – Increased politics as the firm as gotten bigger. If you're not British, it's hard to move upward past the Associate level. Replies too much on structured review process, with grade levels. The firm seems to have issues getting rid of poor performers.

Advice to Senior Management – Reward and recognize good staff.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Arup full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Great co-workers, interesting projects, good benefits

Cons – Lack of growth potential, average salary, terrible senior leadership in NY office

Advice to Senior Management – Allow junior staff more leeway to grow business and pursue their interests.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Arup full-time for more than a year

Pros – Projects are amazing and training is incredible, thrown right into the mix and forced to become a great engineer. International recognition. Work life balance is great.

Cons – Engineering work in general can get dull and repetitive sometimes.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Arup

Pros – Great people, great company, fun atmosphere, prestigious and interesting projects, challenging work, highly intelligent coworkers, open information sharing globally across the firm, opportunities for learning, opportunities to create your own path and learn what you want.

Cons – Long hours, and not so great if you end up with one of the few terrible managers.

The vast majority of the people there are great and you'll likely love it, especially at the lower levels where you aren't a threat to anyone. However, there is a bit of political game-playing going on at the higher levels, and unfortunately some of the leaders with high integrity are blind to the games of the people without it. The ones who do see it may not be able to help you.

Advice to Senior Management – Stay true to the Ove Arup spirit. Be aware that communication between staff and management is not as open as you seem to think, and that there may be a few who don't belong. Not necessarily because they aren't productive or smart enough, but because they are willing to damage good people to further themselves. They are poisoning corners of an otherwise amazing company. Your employees who work for these managers do not have the options to speak up that you think they have, and you are losing great people because of it. It is also teaching people to play politics if they want to survive there.

Greg Smith's resignation letter from Goldman Sachs says it well: "Weed out the morally bankrupt people, no matter how much money they make for the firm. And get the culture right again, so people want to work here for the right reasons."

Don't let this happen to Arup. Encourage more American locals to work in the UK for awhile at some of the better offices, so they understand that the proliferation of British leaders in the US is because the work culture they "grew up" in is an integral part of Arup's success. Enron and Goldman Sachs are indicators of what the work culture in the US can bring if you let it. Keep the best of both cultures, and know which parts to discard.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Arup

Pros – Travel and great work experience. Global organisation with excellent engineering knowledge base.

Cons – Salary is lower than some alternatives.

Advice to Senior Management – Often, Engineers do not automatically become great project managers - some should remain in technical field.