Kimley-Horn Reviews

Pros

The culture is amazing - it's hard to believe how much fun we have while still working pretty hard. The benefits are unmatched (they are really as good as advertised), the compensation is strong, and performance is rewarded. Everyone has an opportunity to share in the success of the firm. I also love the ownership structure - privately held and many hundreds of owners across the firm with no one person controlling more than a small percentage. You really feel like you are working for each other at "the Horn", and not for Wall Street or a few select owners. Working here at first requires a bit of faith and trust, but for smart, motivated people, it pays off in spades.

Cons

Working here requires some extra effort, but mostly it requires passion and energy.

Pros

401k Match (8% to employee 4%) Profit sharing (10% of salary AND bonus) Bonus (varies, but best in industry) The best of the best work here

Cons

Long hours. Expect to work 46 hours on light weeks, 52+ on heavy weeks. This varies greatly depending on your team and discipline. I’d suggest asking for your entire future teams yearly hours worked during an interview before accepting an offer. This should be easy for HR to provide (public knowledge to all staff) and cuts out all the BS. You’ll be able to divide that number by 26 to get a true feel on the expectations for that team. 6 year vesting schedule. On top of that, you only see your contribution once a year (industry standard is every paycheck). You will not get a contribution for your first year here, meaning if you start working here at the beginning of a calendar year, you will not see a single penny of 401k match / profit sharing for 24 months. Our 401k & profit sharing are distributed on February 15th every year. 30% of our contributions (for the entire year) were wiped out in one month due to COVID-19. Management, consider giving employees their contribution bi-monthly to allow for true cost-basis investing. Low salaries. This is usually not an issue with a bonus & profit sharing, but all of that is possibly gone with COVID-19 impacts. If you calculate your true hourly rate (we are not paid OT), it is much much lower than industry standard. Bottom line. If you’re looking to identify your life as being a civil engineering consultant, this place is for you. You’ll make good money (in the long run). If you’re looking for flexibility and to have free time in your 20’s, look elsewhere. This isn’t 2009, even in this global pandemic there are plenty of opportunities.

Pros

Great benefits including an insane 401K match, great medical, good overall company culture, sizable bonus at the end of the year (even though bonuses are taxed at a higher rate and they do not cover what would've been straight-pay overtime)

Cons

Utilization rates are VERY important, and vacation time is not subtracted from the total hours you need to work to meet your UT goal. Essentially, if your UT is 96% and you take a week long vacation, you have to make up those 38.4 hours over the course of the year by working overtime without pay.