Trap - Field Service Engineer ProAutomated Employee Review

Excellent culture Great travel benefits

Travel can be demanding after some time

You'll get to travel all over the US (with occasional opportunities to go international), and will be working with like-minded professionals. The camaraderie is real. Working on site with other ProA employees is like getting a buff to your Morale stat. Team dinners/events are chosen and coordinated by those of you on a job site, then simply approved by management. Add to that, they're all purely optional, which is a huge bonus if you're the introverted type or just enjoy time off for yourself. Having been at other companies that would slap you with an "unexcused absense" if you skip the barbecue or mini-golf tournament that was scheduled on your day off, the way ProA handles outside-of-work activities is a breath of fresh air. Corpo "Mandatory Fun!" isn't a thing. Management understands what it's like to work in the field, and is an incredible help when it comes to assisting FSE's through rough spots. Flight got delayed and you landed after your connecting flight already took off? Reach out and things will get sorted. The logistics are handled for you, but you have to option to fine tune things if that's your preference (within reason). Flights, hotels, rental cars? All set up for you. At the start of a rotation, all you need to do is get to the airport in time to make your flight to wherever it is you're going (or, if it's within 5 hours of where you live, make the drive to site). Your flights will be with one of the big four airlines, your hotels will be some variety of well-known chain with clean rooms, and your rental cars will come from a major name that is known for great service. You will rack up loyalty points faster than you know what to do with them. The training is the most thorough I've experienced in my 20+ years in the workforce. You'll spend 4 weeks in Delaware at their training facility, getting a solid overview of what to expect when out in the field. Training covers not only the technical aspects, but also the customer-service angle. Add to that, the first job site you're sent to, you'll likely be given OJT, teamed up with a seasoned coworker to get the hang of things. Per Diem, along with the various bonuses, add up quickly. Something to keep in mind when looking at the base pay ranges on the job postings (for Field Service positions at least). Also note that depending on your living situation, your monthly expenses (gas/electric/water bills) may drop significantly since you won't be at home nearly as often. Vacation policy is generous, especially after you've passed 1.5 years with the company. If 480V is something you'd rather avoid, you're in luck. You'll primarily be working with 24VDC or 120VAC devices, so no worries about needing to pack and wear FR/AR clothing. What tools you need are minimal, and the ones you do need are provided to you. Though I embrace the minimalism more than most, I was able to pack everything I needed for any given rotation into just a backpack and laptop bag. The odds of you getting bored are slim. The variety in customers you're sent to work with provides ample challenges to learn new things.

Unless you schedule vacations regularly, be prepared for the possibility of burning out. Typical days are 10 hour shifts, typical rotations are either 5 on/2 off (think Monday-Friday), or 10 on/4 off (usually Monday to the next Wednesday). In either case, you're doing an average of 50 hours per week. Though the various bonuses and per diem boost take home pay considerably, they pale in comparison to what you'd make with 20 hours of 1.5x overtime each pay period if you were non-exempt. Another reason to utilize your PTO! If you're of the "grindset" mentality and like cranking out long hours for months at a time with minimal time off, finding something that pays hourly rather than salary would probably be more fruitful. If you're coming from a field like manufacturing, QA/QC, or aerospace, prepare for a culture shock. Depending on the project you're working on, SOP's may or may not be a thing, and if you are given an SOP or procedure, it's probably not up-to-date and will need adjustments. It's not uncommon to be reliant on tribal knowledge (if you're lucky), or exercising your Google-fu, scouring the internet for setup and user manuals for devices you've never seen before, from manufacturers you've never heard of. If you're a fan of following strict instructions for each task and having things go right on the first try, you'll probably wind up frustrated. The work environments you're put in can be less than comfortable... You might be decked out in winter gear working in a -20°F freezer, or you could wind up sweating in a scissor lift 20 feet up in a 100°+F warehouse. For the most part though, expect vaguely climate-controlled indoor places, where you'll be wearing safety boots, safety glasses, and a hardhat.