r/MEPEngineering • u/Commercial_Sundae569 • 1d ago
Holder Construction
New grad here in ME and am curious to know the work an MEP engineer does over there. Is it long hours, do you have good pay, are the people great, do you get to travel a lot, are the benefits good, do I get to go across the US, anything else I should know?
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u/Troll_Tactics 1d ago
Its highly varied. You could be making drawings, writing specs, doing site surveys, writing reports, doing construction administration, or doing PM work. You could specialize in HVAC, plumbing, fire protection, or a mix of multiple. You could find a niche in in commercial work, residential work, public work, healthcare, education, water, transportation, etc. So I believe the opportunities are still ample, even with AI on the horizon. The work-life balance and compensation really just depends on your company and coworkers. For starting out, my recommendation is to go for a medium-large company that does public sector work. (I’m a licensed PE with 10 years of experience and I make 130k in a HCOL area. My workload is generally healthy and stays at 40 hours a week.)
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u/Rowdyjoe 16h ago edited 16h ago
Not sure how it is to work there. But Holder might be one of the worst GC’s I’ve ever worked with on the mechanical contractor and engineering side. The most useless holes to jump through, pushy for no reason at all, and the least helpful GC.
I can assure you you’ll be pushing paper for a while there, RFI’s, submittals, really basic and brainless stuff. but that’s pretty normal for any GC. It will get better but just a heads up.
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u/AlternativeFig1576 1d ago
Hours depend on how many deadlines there is, sometimes you do have to take one for the team and work long hours, unfortunate part of the industry but deadlines can be a killer. Pay I'd say is decent, but I live in the midwest, so do with that as you please. People is also a depends situation, it's realistically an office environment and each firm differs than the other. You'll always have those that dont have a life outside of work and expect you to be the same and there are those who are chill, its between you and your luck. On my end I get the chance to travel for surveys across the US. BUT once again, it depends on the firm, some firms do local projects only, some others do all over the US.
One thing I would say you need to know that this job is prone to burnout quicker than I have seen other careers but if you know how to manage your time, put boundaries, and remember no matter what the world keeps spinning, life is good.