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A hell of an engineer Engineering, construction, and transportation contractors who find themselves at a loss for new ideas may find themselves calling Stone & Webster, a world leader in management and engineering consulting founded over 100 years ago. Stone & Webster?s management consulting arm tackles a wide range of management quandaries, devising business plans and overseeing implementation for clients in banking, energy, and water, as well as the public sector. The engineering and construction division provides expertise and service in over a dozen fields, including transportation, pharmaceuticals, and specialty chemicals. The company scored a major coup recently, winning a $330 million contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to clean up a contaminated chemical operation in New Jersey. It was the largest environmental services contract award of its kind in 1998. Get into the cold Stone & Webster also operates several cold storage facilities in the Southeast, offering distribution and management of frozen and controlled-temperature food products to grocers and other food concerns. In late 1998, the commercial cold storage division acquired refrigerated warehouse operator The Nordic Group, which will now remain intact as a subsidiary. Other divisions The company also owns an artificial intelligence firm called Prescient Technologies, aimed at developing a wide range of CAD products. Another division of the company, Stone & Webster Development, was established in 1989 to direct the firm?s interests in the non-utility power production, pulp, and paper industries. When it's time to change... Despite the relatively rapid pace with which Stone & Webster is acquiring new business, financial returns for fiscal 1998 were less than stellar. Revenue dropped from $1.32 billion to $1.25 billion, while the company posted an overall net loss of $49.3 million. Late in the year the company announced a new voluntary retirement program in an effort to cut costs and increase competitiveness. About 200 of the 600 employees partook in the plan, which is expected to be just the first in a series of measures attempting to boost the company's position. This is nothing new for Stone & Webster, which has undergone many changes in the last few years, including expansion into new markets and corporate downsizing.
While the company has had some well-publicized difficulties, insiders claim that Stone & Webster "is in a hiring mode now." Applicants should consult its employment Web pages, located at www.StoneWeb.com/HR/index.htm, to search for current openings. These are divided by work category and location. The Web pages describe required education and work experience, provide contact names and addresses, and offer applicants a chance to submit an electronic resume. Interested parties can also e-mail resumes in ASCII text format (attachments are not accepted). Resumes can be sent via snail mail, but not by fax. Once received, Stone & Webster enters all resumes into a central database, where they will be kept for up to six months. Hiring managers and recruiters throughout the company have access to the database, and find resumes for specific positions through keyword searches.
Busy little engineers According to insiders at Stone & Webster, "there never seems to be a dull day." Part of that is due to the sheer amount of work to be done. One employee reports that "we are extremely busy with about a half a billion dollars worth of project work." Unfortunately, "you end up working and traveling - which can bite into personal plans." Aware of such occupational hazards, Stone & Webster "pays a little more than the typical company." One insider elucidates: "Your degree and experience will obviously dictate your salary. A starting engineer [out of college] might expect about $32,000 to $35,000 from Stone & Webster." Cream-filled Stone & Webster attracts ?the cream of the engineering crop.? As a result, entry-level employees are often older and more experienced than those at other consulting firms. Says one former employee, "I found working in the office very formal and stuffy. The company is very Boston conservative, not one to take chances. That being the case, it's hard to compete in the market today." One source sums up the Stone & Webster experience thusly: "If you like commuting to the city and don't mind corporate dress code Monday through Thursday, the variety of work available and the chance to see the world may interest you."
Human Resources
Management consulting; Engineering and Construction consulting; Cold storage; Software and artificial intelligence;Project development
Black and Veatch;ICF Kaiser; More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
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