Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Reviews
Updated Aug 12, 2020
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Recommend to a Friend
Approve of CEO
Managing Partners
36 Ratings
Pros
"Great projects and talented architects" (in 25 reviews)
"Awesome place to work with talented people" (in 18 reviews)
Cons
"there are often long hours and clients can be difficult" (in 55 reviews)
"Poor work/ life balance on the architectural side of things" (in 29 reviews)
- Featured Review
"architect"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
I have been working at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill full-time
Pros
professional and have more opportunities building big projects
Cons
hours might be a concern
"good working environment, nice people"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
I worked at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill full-time for less than a year
Pros
Working experience is nice and people are friendly
Cons
good salary and good environment
"Good firm, Old School Ways"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
I worked at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill full-time
Pros
SOM has the reputation to attract some of the best talent in the industry, so there is the advantage of working with extremely competent and knowledgable peers. Building your portfolio here should be no problem. Working on projects with those in leadership positions is inspiring.
Cons
Take into consideration the company culture and whether that aligns with you as a designer. Old school hierarchy, working long hours, low pay compared to other firms, etc. Partners & principals seemed unapproachable. There are typically zero perks when it comes to what you see at other companies these days, which actually does make a difference in building employee morale.
Continue reading"amazing high-profile projects VS heavy workload"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
I worked at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill full-time
Pros
great projects. awesome talents. nice working environment
Cons
bad work/life balance. management needs to improve
"Work on amazing projects"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
RecommendsNeutral OutlookNo opinion of CEOI have been working at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill full-time for more than a year
Pros
amazing international experience and ability to work on a wide range of projects
Cons
there are often long hours and clients can be difficult
"You get out what you put in"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
RecommendsNeutral OutlookI have been working at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill full-time for more than 3 years
Pros
Great opportunity to work on high profile projects along very smart people
Cons
If you’re not lucky, you can be stuck on some mindless uninteresting work. Otherwise same problems as the industry overall, long hours with relatively low pay.
Continue reading"Good Work Experience"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
Doesn't RecommendI worked at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill full-time for more than a year
Pros
Opportunity to work on large projects and learn
Cons
Office politics, dysfunctional leadership, low morale in office
"Talented people, positive environment, very good projects"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
RecommendsI worked at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill full-time for more than a year
Pros
Great projects and smart colleagues; very collaborative and open working environment; dedicated and professional spirits; lots of learning opportunities across different departments.
Cons
long hours; deadline pressure; fixed on some certain old ways of doing things
"good company to gain experience"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill full-time
Pros
exposed to projects at divergent scales
Cons
office polities and the working culture are pretty disappointing
"Special occupation for engineers"
- Work/Life Balance★★★★★
- Culture & Values★★★★★
- Career Opportunities★★★★★
- Compensation and Benefits★★★★★
- Senior Management★★★★★
I have been working at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill full-time for more than 3 years
Pros
Great projects and talented architects
Cons
Relying on Asian market too much, too much schematic design work, not enough local and CD work.
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