Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc

Pros – Some manager and new younger staff are really great to work with and have excellent contacts and experience to tap into.

Cons – Salaries at VHB are lower than similar companies with similar benefits.

Advice to Senior Management – More salary increases, and management needs to be less hungry to acquire new companies. More focus should be given to the existing offices and employees.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc

Pros – Flexible hours and fair compensation along with interesting projects and casual work environment. Good community involvement for charities. Many competent workers.

Cons – Sneaky upper management tactics; Sweatshop mentality by hiring young, recent grads and pushing them to work uncompensated to keep projects on budget; Older, senior and more expensive workers pushed out the door for young, cheap talent; Active age discrimination seems to be their dirty little secret; Location in Watertown is awful; Management will do anything to stay profitable at the expense of their workers. Program for promotion to associate creates bitter divide between stock owners and workers.

Advice to Senior Management – The same top-tier, inner circle people get all the recognition for successes, when in fact there are vital team players at mid- and lower-levels who are constantly overlooked and under-valued.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc

Pros – When times are good VHB gets its fair share of large , complex projects. Many clients will go to VHB as staffing levels during these times allows VHB to get things done

Cons – Major downside are when things slow down there is NO! company loyalty and many heads roll. During this past downturn people have been laid off that have been with the firm many years ( 20or more ) associates, principals, i.e shaeholders have been laid off. This in my opinion does not reflect what a "generational" company should be all about.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop protraying the firm as a best place to work, generational or act like you care . When times are good you offer an honest wage for an honest days work but there is absolutly no loyalty ( or planning it seems) for when times are not booming.Staff levels are currently down 100-200 indicating that management(mismanagement) failed to plan for a rainy day. Any company thrives in a boomomg economy what makes a firm the vey best is how they handle things when things are not so good. In this case VHB is failing miserably.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc

Pros – Has a very talented staff. Leader in the industry. There are oportunities to work on a diverse range of projects.

Cons – Not as transperent as it can be. No clear system of promotion and compensation requirements or standards. No standard training program for new hires.

Advice to Senior Management – Be more transparent on how business decisions are made and future plans. Develop a standard training program for new hires.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc

Pros – Excellent opportunities for learning and professional development. Employees are well trained and given the tools they need to be successful. Supportive and collaborative work environment. Large budget for fun out of office group activities. Good flex time work schedule. Very supportive of workers taking time off. Many opportunities to work on high profile projects and well-known clients. Effective and diligent performance reviews.

Cons – Office politics play a large role in management decisions. Long hours can be expected while compensation is lagging. Many unpaid hours of professional development are expected. Company routinely lays off large numbers of employees when workload slows.

Advice to Senior Management – Provide more transparency regarding backlog of projects and firm's overall health.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc part-time

Pros – Nice, professional people, flexible work time

Cons – not a lot of self-advanced opportunities

Advice to Senior Management – More training

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

Former Employee – worked at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc

Pros – Pay and compensation were good. Good IT and graphics department.

Cons – Billability is too high; you are expected to produce a high quality product but not allowed to bill the time necessary to produce it. In order to stay on budget one has to work many hours uncompensated. Communication often broke down. There was no training; emails to senior project manager were often not responded to. Expected to work on lots of different projects at the same time and to keep track of it all to the last half hour, then yelled at for not doing it perfectly. Boss was emotionally abusive. I was often blamed for her mistakes. Humiliating treatment of terminated employees.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc

Pros – Good intentions bad execution outside of watertown office.

Cons – Grinding focus on utilization rather that work quailty and client satisfction.
Professionally limiting.
No matter your personal capabilities and value - you are just a number.

Advice to Senior Management – It's needs to be about the people - not just the short term almighty dollar.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc

Pros – HR, IT, good intranet. If you're an engineer with no ambition, willing to do the same technical work over and over and over ... and collect a paycheck, this would be a good bet, until they don't win work where you are based. Nice enough people, but really limited in their thinking.

Cons – Amateurville. Small minded regional company focused on small projects. No ambition.

Advice to Senior Management – Resign

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc

Pros – Excellent, solid staff. Entry to mid-level staff is young and dedicated to learning and producing a quality deliverable. Proposal preparation documents are first class. Initial compensation (hiring salary) is excellent. Flexibility of work schedule. Benefits are good.

Cons – Target Billable Percentage is overly micromanaged. Must hit or exceed target every two weeks or get called on the carpet. No true sales force, expectation of seller/doer. Tough for engineers to do. Expectation of meeting high target billability without adequate time alloted to develop clients. Weak, if any, mentoring. Senior management likes to think they are connected with staff, but far from true. Extreme self-preservation of senior staff, especially amongst associates and principals. Poor annual reviews and annual compensation bumps do not keep up with inflation. Carrot dangling of shareholder possibility.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop the restructuring. It seems that we are changing each month or quarter based on the latest perceived trends from Forbes, Money or Inc. magazines. Let's define ourselves and stop trying to model ourselves after other firms. If a true partnership is wanted with the employees, empower them...the letterhead says, "Energy, Innovation and Imagination" let the employees use it and stop quelling with micromanagement of the timesheet. We have some of the best people in the business, let them use the talents that you have bought. Understand that if you want a generational company, understand the generations that you have hired and stop trying to mold them into something they are not. You have hired excellent talent, now let it develop itself and take the company into the future.