Diverse and Challenging Work - Anonymous employee Coffman Engineers Employee Review

5.0
Jul 6, 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Coffman values their culture, and works hard to maintain it at each office. One piece that I really appreciate is transparency. They do a great job of communicating their goals (both at our local office level and company-wide from the President/CEO). It’s nice to know not only where the company is going, but how I fit into that plan. They support professional growth and development, and provide great opportunities to give feedback for improvements around the office (from business processes, to project management challenges and even the free food that’s provided in the kitchen). The work itself is challenging and diverse, which I like a lot. There are opportunities to work on many different types of projects with different types of clients. They also have a great PTO/Comp time policy for overtime work (you can accrue hours), which is an added benefit during busy times like this

Cons

Nothing negative. It's a busy time in the industry and at times the workload can seem daunting, but that's true for most firms in our industry right now. Even with the busy economy, Coffman really supports taking time off to spend with friends and family.

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Coffman Engineers Response
7y
Thanks for the encouraging note. As a leader, you get used to hearing that one thing is always at a deficit: communication. Honestly, this can be the biggest challenge. We as people need to know where we are going (and why) in order to have clear purpose. Clear purpose is imperative to maintain motivation. I appreciate that currently (from your perspective) we are providing enough communication to give clarity of purpose. Thanks for all of your hard work to help keep this train rolling. Dave Ruff - CEO/President

Explore other reviews about Coffman Engineers

5.0
Apr 21, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Awesome work culture. They are big on getting your work done rather than needing to stay in office longer than necessary. I also got a lot of hands on experience.

Cons

Hiring process is a little late in the year ~April for students trying to get internships.

5.0
Jun 26, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Professional Environment Focus on People Supportive Environment Engaging Work If you care about your work product, are a compassionate human, and enjoy succeeding as a team with a support cast of team members that share in your success - you would be hard pressed to find a better place to work. While this is a traditional engineering workplace, leadership as a whole is pretty darn great. Everyone is generally very supportive of one another and there are plenty of ways to get involved if you want to do more for either your discipline or your office (or you can not; definitely not required). There are lots of offices, while maintaining the brand and image is important, Coffman encourages individual office autonomy. There is also overtime/comp time.

Cons

Health Insurance could be better. For the most part Coffman follows standard engineering firm roles/rules for promotions, productivity, and project management. This is listed as a con, but it's more just a truth of the industry as a whole for better or for worse. Career opportunities depend on where you are, so if your discipline has 5 principal engineers that are all 30 years old in your office - you're going to be disappointed if you goal is to become a principal engineer in that discipline. There are other ways to stand out, but the shareholders (Principals) are generally who signs contracts, stamps/signs drawings, and are the major decision makers.

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Coffman Engineers Response
4mo
We are a growing company and do have other opportunities if you see limitations ahead of you. One of those opportunities is to help us start up a new office location (but you are sort of in one now). Another way to stand out is to get involved in our strategic programs. This is a way to gain exposure across the company. Keep crushing it in Portland! Dave Ruff - CEO
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