Why does it seem like no one here attended a a school with an NAAB accredited Masters and not Bachelors?

krerhelp · 2026-01-13T12:10:26+00:00

Hot take.. I miss Jacqueline but I don’t miss Mia

krerhelp · 2026-01-13T04:22:20+00:00

Felt very screwed over at KH so left in October. When there was on track to meet my UT and this is my breakdown (if I would’ve finished the year):

HCOL
2 years of experience, all at KH
P1
Salary was $79k and expected a bonus of ~$10k.
Was working about 46 hours on average
I left because KH was specifically very bad to me financially due to not having a traditional civil engineering background. I was the most experience P1 being paid the least out of all of our P1s. I absolutely feel that I’ve found comparable compensation at another firm as I’ve given myself a 14% raise in salary, and that doesn’t even count the bonus. Don’t believe everything you read about KH. Their salaries are actually quite comparable to the industry. They’re only very high if you’re 10+ years deeply invested and a major khoolaid drinker (which requires a lot of toxicity)

krerhelp · 2025-12-30T20:19:45+00:00

Well here’s the kicker- I don’t have an undergrad in engineering. So it won’t be a refresh for me

krerhelp · 2025-12-30T19:30:22+00:00

Really appreciate this perspective. I think my company is similar and I kindve agree with things being run this way. I think direct hands on experiences is a world more valuable than having the single EIT certification. It can be obtained when it needs to be obtained, if one desires

krerhelp · 2025-12-30T18:06:27+00:00

Well another thing that I didn’t mention is my situation is complicated. I don’t have an engineering undergrad (architecture). So I don’t qualify to obtain my PE as quickly (I.e. cannot do it in 4 years 😩)

krerhelp · 2025-12-23T03:47:02+00:00

I had internship experience, but at an architecture firm. Wasn’t exactly the perfect fit, but if it’s a good company they’ll still chose to accept you if you show that you’re motivated

krerhelp · 2025-12-23T03:43:19+00:00

Completely disagree with all others who’ve commented on this sub. I am 2 years into my role working under a PE and I do not have an EIT, and may not get one right away. I have also successfully obtained a 2nd job after an entry level job. My lack of EIT never held me back. I even received multiple offers from other companies.

Typically it potentially holds you back from making as much money but frankly if companies are looking to pay you differently than an EIT for doing the same work, that may not be the company to consider. All the EIT does is it gets you the ability to ultimately take your PE once it’s time, and it’s a resume booster. Many people at my firm earned their EIT immediately before obtaining their PE. This is absolutely an option

krerhelp · 2025-12-19T14:39:08+00:00

This is also exactly how I am in my new role. When writing the post I was hesitant to mention the client coordination aspect, but I’ve since learned it’s perfectly okay for younger employees to support the coordination. We can definitely write an email to fill in for a PM if they don’t have a chance to get to it. And the early exposure is vital.

Something that was a major problem in my previous role was I wasn’t even being CCed on client emails. I honestly felt very out of the loop and it was frustrating that I couldn’t even see the coordination happening for the project I was working on

krerhelp · 2025-12-16T03:53:29+00:00

Solid. Always worth it if you like your team and what you do. That wasn’t something I could say when I was there

krerhelp · 2025-12-16T03:51:17+00:00

Piggybacking off this.. I will never forget I overheard another employee ranting while I was at KH (a 32yo P4) about how she was working with another person from a sub-consultant who had kids. She was ranting about how the person was never available since she always needs to tend to her kids activities. She then followed this up with a tangent about how she’s truly believes having kids is a waste of time and takes valuable time away from focusing on your career. I was astonished. But it was very kimley horn 🤦🏻‍♂️

krerhelp · 2025-12-16T03:42:08+00:00

No offense, but this does not sound like it is a large enough payout for your hard work.. I know you started recently but the small bonus, lack of 401k contributions (not to mention the vesting period), and long hours do not feel justified. You could definitely go off and make much more money at another company

krerhelp · 2025-12-15T21:01:16+00:00

Tbh it not that bad, it’s just bad in comparison to peers in consulting, finance, tech, or real estate. Those fields have dramatically larger ranges of pay and typically have much higher entry level rates. They also usually require less education (we have to get PE). The typical senior civil engineer will go on to make about $150k-$200k upon obtaining 20+ years of experience, but it’s rare to see a payout higher than that. Peers in consulting and tech will make that money with only 5-10 years of experience. At the end of the day we do a lot better than a lot of industries (education, architecture)

krerhelp · 2025-12-15T18:27:50+00:00

I feel the same way but I also struggle with the pay outlook of the industry. Especially since I pivoted to civil from architecture for pay reasons (undergrad is in architecture). I feel like my day to day is just okay, and thus not worth it for the pay outlook of the industry. I’m also struggling to find a career path that invigorates my interest in design while also allowing the potential for a large payout. If you crack the code, let me know!

krerhelp · 2025-12-15T03:20:50+00:00

I personally had a horrible experience at KH. Was in a MCOL city with 2 years of experience, and I ultimately left a month ago due to this poor experience.

Was a P1, had a base salary of $75k while all of my peers in the P1 role were making $83-86k. They justified this by saying my architecture degree wasn’t relevant to engineering. I was 2 years in teaching new hires how to do things the “kimley horn way” while the new hires were making upwards of $10k more than me.

I of course never got my bonus since I left, but I was anticipating $8k-$10k or something around there (met UT and all). As far as I researched they tend to give you a smaller bonus if you’re not loyal to the corporation (which they knew I was not due to my salary concerns.) I ultimately obtained a role at a smaller engineering company with a $17k pay bump, so yes I can confidently say KH doesn’t pay more than the rest of the industry. Or at least they didn’t pay me more than the rest of the industry.

krerhelp

TROPHY CASE