I recently moved to Los Angeles after receiving my M. Arch and have received a formal employment offer from Gensler as a designer. I had previously interviewed with AECOM as well and they mentioned they would like to hire me as a designer but they need a position to open up first. They did tell me that I am at the front of the queue for their next hire at my experience level. The problem is that it could potentially take until October when a possible position opens up.
AECOM told me they understand if I field or accept other offers, naturally, but that if I am interested in working for them I can let them know when I receive said offers and they will try to counter and hopefully speed up the process to hire me themselves. So it seems like they actually do want me. During my interview with AECOM they said they could match my base salary demands which at the moment are about 6K more than Gensler is offering.
I have heard many great things about Gensler from friends and contacts that work there and I am willing to take a smaller base salary if it means being happier but I need help deciding.
I will definitely let AECOM know about my other offer but I was wondering if anybody has any insight into either of these firms. I'd like to hear other's perspectives and opinions on the situation. Thanks.
My only advice is about anonymity. Despite the use of screen names, sometimes we may include little (or not so little) details in our posts that could be used to identify us by certain people. In most cases, who cares? But in the case where a new job is being started but another one is already being considered, and salary negotiations are an issue... I'd be careful.
i assumed they both in LA. If I were you, I would let Aecom know about ur offer and asked them if they could hire by the certain date. If not, you should go to Gensler and keep in touch with the contact person from AECOM for future opportunities.
I would go with Gensler. AECOM is not design focused, it's more of an engineering firm. It's also full of politics, that while also exist at Gensler, are much worse because they only care about the bottom line. They will expect your utilization to be 100%, not 85% Max like the rest of the industry. I have seen good people laid off after putting in 60 hour weeks for months because they put some overhead hours on their timesheet in their last two weeks.
Gensler's base pay may seem lower, but remember that they have bonuses twice a year and profit sharing, etc. Also the management at Gensler does a much better job of communicating. At AECOM there are too many layers of management and they are the only ones that get real bonuses.
AECOM is 45,000 employees and they are buying URS which will increase that to 90,000. You will definitely be just another number at AECOM.
@citizen You are right, I was afraid I could be revealing too much info that could potentially be used to identify me, I'll try to be careful in the future.
I agree with Aka115. Also, AECOM is getting more design focused. They recently hired Ross Wimer from SOM to head Architecture. Everyone is happy at Gensler, but AECOM seems to be making some interesting moves these days.
Has an interesting culture where they are trying to empower the younger generation of architects and designers. You will be paid less at Gensler than AECOM. They will try to tip you by giving you an "estimated salary" which factors in overtime and bonuses so that the overall offer looks competitive. What they wont tell you is that not all projects allow overtime and that the bonuses are heavily taxed. For those entering the profession - it can be an outstanding place. It has a firmwide CORPORATE structure in which you could be asked to go work at other offices or studios of there is a lull in work. The quality of work you do at Gensler will surpass that of AECOM. Gensler started off as an interiors firm - this is still evident so be careful you might get stuck doing interiors for a protracted prediot of time. But if that's your thing, have at it. It is fairly easy to switch into other studios just know who to talk to and maintain a positive attitude. Over the last three years Gensler has experienced exponential growth and has easily beat back competition from the EA firms so you will be one of the many new faces there. Keep in mind that Gensler has is a seriously defined business model - it is a service-based firm where client relationships are most highly valued. It means you can be doing shit work just to maintain the relationship - something that surprises many given the impressive and highly published projects that come out of Gensler.
AECOM
Is more political and hierarchical with some serious egomaniacs that are extremely diluted. For decades has been built upon a "revolving door" policy where people are constantly either leaving or coming in. Currently AECOM PDD (the architectural practice of AECOM) is a massive sinking ship and is an organization in severe identity crisis. The architectural group has its foundations on the good name of DMJM but as other organizations were merged in (primarily that of HSMM and Ellerbe Becket) some serious competitive politics erupted between different management teams - some of which are stuck in the 1950s. The only reason they ended up acquiring URS is because AECOM was simply in far less in debt and than URS and was able to secure some big overseas transportation and aviation contracts. Either one or the other would be swallowed up by the other - URS just lost. The 'director or design' has been a revolving position for over 20 years where this would be their third "high-level" SOM hire that would essentially be fired within one year. Upon entering, you will be treated like shit. In most cases, you will be given the responsibility without the authority to make decisions and your self-esteem will take a massive beat-down. However you will be paid better at AECOM but it will come at the cost of your self-esteem. It is a hire and fire kind of environment which doesn't even look that impressive on a resume compared to Gensler. In the particular office I worked at - we had gone from 300 architects to roughly 130 even recently they have been laying people off even though they are 100% billable. This is the substantial risk of working with the publicly-traded organization. The only good out of working there for 5 years that I got is some exposure to good government projects and also some good clients that I brought over to my next firm. The politics have turned that place into a ghost town - so beware!
I would say go with Gensler. Especially the LA office which is pretty incredible. Hope this helps! and good Luck!
Just note that if you're looking at AECOM in LA, Peter Zellner has taken over as Design Studio Principal. I'd talk to them more and ask about who you'd be directly working under.
Advice on Job Offer
I recently moved to Los Angeles after receiving my M. Arch and have received a formal employment offer from Gensler as a designer. I had previously interviewed with AECOM as well and they mentioned they would like to hire me as a designer but they need a position to open up first. They did tell me that I am at the front of the queue for their next hire at my experience level. The problem is that it could potentially take until October when a possible position opens up.
AECOM told me they understand if I field or accept other offers, naturally, but that if I am interested in working for them I can let them know when I receive said offers and they will try to counter and hopefully speed up the process to hire me themselves. So it seems like they actually do want me. During my interview with AECOM they said they could match my base salary demands which at the moment are about 6K more than Gensler is offering.
I have heard many great things about Gensler from friends and contacts that work there and I am willing to take a smaller base salary if it means being happier but I need help deciding.
I will definitely let AECOM know about my other offer but I was wondering if anybody has any insight into either of these firms. I'd like to hear other's perspectives and opinions on the situation. Thanks.
That's a nice problem to have, actually.
My only advice is about anonymity. Despite the use of screen names, sometimes we may include little (or not so little) details in our posts that could be used to identify us by certain people. In most cases, who cares? But in the case where a new job is being started but another one is already being considered, and salary negotiations are an issue... I'd be careful.
i assumed they both in LA. If I were you, I would let Aecom know about ur offer and asked them if they could hire by the certain date. If not, you should go to Gensler and keep in touch with the contact person from AECOM for future opportunities.
Gensler's base pay may seem lower, but remember that they have bonuses twice a year and profit sharing, etc. Also the management at Gensler does a much better job of communicating. At AECOM there are too many layers of management and they are the only ones that get real bonuses.
AECOM is 45,000 employees and they are buying URS which will increase that to 90,000. You will definitely be just another number at AECOM.
Just my two cents.
Thanks for the input everyone!
@citizen You are right, I was afraid I could be revealing too much info that could potentially be used to identify me, I'll try to be careful in the future.
I agree with Aka115. Also, AECOM is getting more design focused. They recently hired Ross Wimer from SOM to head Architecture. Everyone is happy at Gensler, but AECOM seems to be making some interesting moves these days.
I have worked at both!
Gensler
Has an interesting culture where they are trying to empower the younger generation of architects and designers. You will be paid less at Gensler than AECOM. They will try to tip you by giving you an "estimated salary" which factors in overtime and bonuses so that the overall offer looks competitive. What they wont tell you is that not all projects allow overtime and that the bonuses are heavily taxed. For those entering the profession - it can be an outstanding place. It has a firmwide CORPORATE structure in which you could be asked to go work at other offices or studios of there is a lull in work. The quality of work you do at Gensler will surpass that of AECOM. Gensler started off as an interiors firm - this is still evident so be careful you might get stuck doing interiors for a protracted prediot of time. But if that's your thing, have at it. It is fairly easy to switch into other studios just know who to talk to and maintain a positive attitude. Over the last three years Gensler has experienced exponential growth and has easily beat back competition from the EA firms so you will be one of the many new faces there. Keep in mind that Gensler has is a seriously defined business model - it is a service-based firm where client relationships are most highly valued. It means you can be doing shit work just to maintain the relationship - something that surprises many given the impressive and highly published projects that come out of Gensler.
AECOM
Is more political and hierarchical with some serious egomaniacs that are extremely diluted. For decades has been built upon a "revolving door" policy where people are constantly either leaving or coming in. Currently AECOM PDD (the architectural practice of AECOM) is a massive sinking ship and is an organization in severe identity crisis. The architectural group has its foundations on the good name of DMJM but as other organizations were merged in (primarily that of HSMM and Ellerbe Becket) some serious competitive politics erupted between different management teams - some of which are stuck in the 1950s. The only reason they ended up acquiring URS is because AECOM was simply in far less in debt and than URS and was able to secure some big overseas transportation and aviation contracts. Either one or the other would be swallowed up by the other - URS just lost. The 'director or design' has been a revolving position for over 20 years where this would be their third "high-level" SOM hire that would essentially be fired within one year. Upon entering, you will be treated like shit. In most cases, you will be given the responsibility without the authority to make decisions and your self-esteem will take a massive beat-down. However you will be paid better at AECOM but it will come at the cost of your self-esteem. It is a hire and fire kind of environment which doesn't even look that impressive on a resume compared to Gensler. In the particular office I worked at - we had gone from 300 architects to roughly 130 even recently they have been laying people off even though they are 100% billable. This is the substantial risk of working with the publicly-traded organization. The only good out of working there for 5 years that I got is some exposure to good government projects and also some good clients that I brought over to my next firm. The politics have turned that place into a ghost town - so beware!
I would say go with Gensler. Especially the LA office which is pretty incredible. Hope this helps! and good Luck!
Just note that if you're looking at AECOM in LA, Peter Zellner has taken over as Design Studio Principal. I'd talk to them more and ask about who you'd be directly working under.
You can read more about Zellner's switch in this interview. It's interesting discourse regarding practice vs. resistance.
@med. thanks for the in-depth feedback on both these firms, it was all really helpful.
a bird in the hand is worth two birds in the bush
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