employer cover photo
employer logo
employer logo

Holder Construction

Engaged Employer

Worst Professional Experience as a Female Engineer - Project Engineer Holder Construction Employee Review

1.0
Feb 12, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Opportunity to work on high profile projects. Decent pay and bonuses.

Cons

Throughout my time with Holder I've noticed that this company is quick to hire young engineers right out of college because they know that they are more apt to work the demanding 12 to 14+ hr days needed for these projects. This is typical for a construction company but the management positions are often filled by inexperienced engineers who have no training or knowledge on how to manage a team which causes a lot of internal conflicts. My experiences as a minority female engineer have been daunting and stressful during my tenure. The ironic thing is that the subcontractors treated me with more respect than my actual company. I can attest to having multiple meetings with team members when it comes to professionalism and having a safe working environment. The overall culture is to get projects done and beat deadlines. However, there were no guidelines or standards on how to work effectively in most cases so you had to depend on the management team for your project. They often throw you on projects and expect you to handle the load no matter what but are easy to put the blame on you if something goes wrong. So having to deal with that along with being a female engineer was quite frustrating and impacted my personal life. I can attest that during my time I've had about 4 managers quit during projects which made the work load even harder. This is a true statement that they do not value work-life balance and if you aren't ready to put in the work (long hours and weekends) then this company is not for you. I can only hope that engineers can look outside of how much they get paid by this company and realize that there are other opportunities elsewhere that are "less stressful" with the same amount of money or that they take advantage of these complex projects and start their own company instead of working tirelessly for a company that will turn on you in a hot second.

avatar
Holder Construction Response
5y
Thank you for your feedback and we appreciate your service with Holder. A differentiating factor among Holder is our hiring and staffing strategy. Holder hires many young associates out of college strategically to set them up for a long career with organic growth in the company. Many associates have 10+ years tenure at Holder. They have grown in the company by the opportunity given to them to train younger associates and organically move into higher positions as their managers do the same. The construction industry is traditionally male dominated, with long working hours. Company leadership is dedicated to tipping the scale in the unbalanced nature of the male to female and minority ratio in the industry, implementing company-wide inclusion initiatives. We never want an associate to feel unappreciated or excluded and recognize whether unintentional or intentional, it is present. Performance is a cultural value honoring our hardworking, dedicated associates, but we fully support work-life balance.

Explore other reviews about Holder Construction

5.0
Jun 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great work environment on site and across regions.

Cons

Difficulty choosing future work locations.

1.0
May 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Good salary - Complex large projects with diverse exposure - You hit the ground running, but learn a lot in a short amount of time

Cons

- Poor management with little to no direction provided to new hires - Overwhelming workload at times - High turnaround in office positions - Management actively partook in publicly berating me in front of my peers on several different occasions - Coworkers on my project were extremely cliquey and unwelcoming - Long work hours (which is expected in our industry) - Unrealistic timelines for completing workloads

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All