Embedded Consultant, "move out to move up" - Planner CDM Smith Employee Review

2.0
Aug 31, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits (health insurance, dental, retirement matching, etc.), nice coworkers, great client (state). Embedded staff: Possible to be paid for 40 hours a week and have only 3 hours of work to do for client.

Cons

Doesn't feel like a nationally sized company, business units are geographically segregated. Internal collaboration across business units is difficult or impossible due to internal corporate bureaucracy. Over-emphasis on UT to the detriment of professional development and networking. Embedded staff=stuck on one project forever. Everyone who's been in an embedded staff (state) position has had to quit to find better or more challenging work. Possible to be paid for 40 hours a week and have only 3 hours of work to do for client.

Explore other reviews about CDM Smith

5.0
Apr 22, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Lots of training and opportunities

Cons

Company structure can be confusing

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CDM Smith Response
3w
Thank you for taking the time to leave us a 5-star review! It was great to have you as an employee and wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
2.0
Jun 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Flexible hybrid schedule is very nice and starting salary is high for early career engineers.

Cons

The main people running the company are not engineers and you can tell. They are all focused on utilization with rates often set at 97% or higher. This had led to my supervisor asking/telling me to not charge company required trainings. As an early engineer it really feels like they don't want to invest in me and only care about their bottom line. If you are an early career structural engineer you will also not get any meaningful work until you've been with the company for at least 5 years. The senior engineers do not trust you and will only give you grunt work.

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