A Growing Design Firm - Senior Designer workshop/apd Employee Review

5.0
23 Aug 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You can tell this firm is changing/growing and has a bright future. After primarily focusing on residential they have recently completed some restaurants and are moving into more commercial/hospitality work. Many of the employees have been at the firm for a long time. There seems to be a good attitude toward hard working employees with "can do" attitude. Hours are pretty good, better than other firms from my past. The hours extend near a deadline, but that seems normal to me.

Cons

Since the firm is growing, there are some growing pains: the office is not huge and they have hired 5-8 new people so it feels a little crowded. Designers have a lot of samples, etc. so it can feel a bit messy. I'm a neat freak so I could do with a fresh coat of paint and some regular cleaning. Since the firm is growing they should hire a few more senior people.

Explore other reviews about workshop/apd

5.0
9 Dec 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great design projects and opportunities

Cons

A lot of work and long hours

2
4.0
3 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

A lot of exciting projects! As a designer I think the project exposure is great for high end residential projects. Worked on some pretty cool ones in great locations. The standards are pretty high but usually the PMs are supportive, (as an Intermediate I appreciated the effort to meet standards). Sometimes some long hours, mostly due to client demands but leadership tends to be generous around holidays so makes it very balanced (I've been in worse places where they don't even offer summer hours).

Cons

Maybe to tie it to some of the comments about senior management - there seems to be some miscommunication between SST that creates this sense of micromanagement or lack of delegation skills and then it trickles down. Personally I have not experience manipulation, gaslighting or any condescending tones. Even during my reviews there was a level of support and constructive criticism, I like to be proactive so I would make sure to set these conversations early and just deal with them. You get what you put into it basically.

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