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SummitWest Environmental

Is this your company?

Seems good at first.. - Wildlife Biologist SummitWest Environmental Employee Review

2.0
19 Jul 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Decent pay Nice coworkers Opportunity to win some extra money every few months or so from a drawing. Can set your own schedule. Decent start for entry level biology job.

Cons

Lots of driving, expect to drive to different sites that may be 1hr away from each other - many times, you drive more than how long you may survey for. Scheduling will most likely underbook you or overbook you. Can get burnt out very easily due to the amount of driving you need to do. Sometimes work is very slow. You may work only one hour if there's not a lot of work offered for that day. Many higher ups and scheduling will not look to see if you’re unavailable and will contact you on days off. Not a lot of opportunity for growth. If you're not already experienced with special status species, expect to only do water monitoring and/or bird nest surveys. If you want additional experience with these species, you have to take unpaid shadowing shifts.

Explore other reviews about SummitWest Environmental

5.0
17 Jun 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Staff are always willing to help each other out - Flexible scheduling - Open Door Policy, Supervisors are approachable and helpful - Annual Performance Reviews - Generous PTO - Lots of guides and resources - Career development opportunites and educational stipend - Hybrid and remote work options

Cons

None, I really enjoy working at SummitWest!

1.0
18 Nov 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Staff are friendly, approachable, and helpful when possible. They'll hire you even if you have little to no qualifications. Great for true entry level, education stipend

Cons

Deeply unserious company, unprofessional and poorly managed. Lots of talk about company culture, communication, clear expectations - all talk but no action, hollow. Fired the experienced field coordinators with no warning or replacements. Employees slip through the cracks, you wont have your 30, 60, 90 day reviews, management rarely speaks to you directly. Dishonest, backsliding with scheduling & benefits. No opportunities for upward mobility. Chaotic, shoddy training. Clearly happy to hire and send out 'biologists' with absolutely no experience, and provide them with some videos to watch and no true training. Don't provide you with tools or resources to do the work properly. period/shadowing. Expectation of unpaid work - you can only bill allotted time, regardless of how much you work. Commute time not compensated. Pay not correlated to experience. Takes advantage of employees. No central office, so they'll expect you to drive all over the state to pick up gear, play musical chairs with their fleet vehicles. Refuse to replace dangerous old cars (cheap!). Lots of emojis and word salad, minimal respect or treatment as an adult. Points of contact don't actually know about biology and will attempt to give you absurd AI generated nonsense (you don't actually have a field supervisor) Clearly don't look at a map when scheduling you - they'll expect you to drive from the coast to the desert to socal within 3 days, all while working full field hours. Expect you to answer slacks/emails at all hours for no pay (you'll be on call but not paid as such) If you work a full day with another biologist to gain experience with a species, you will NOT be paid! Other firms and companies provide access/safety layers - you'll be expected to show up and just 'find a way' using your personal map of choice. Management will push you to trespass onto private property, work in areas with feral dogs. Will need a second job especially during fall/winter, don't expect any work. Super high employee turnover...

4
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