Pros
Though not exactly the kind of work that interests me, I have to say that I look back on my time at GKV with great appreciation for fostering my growth as a young designer. This was my first job out of school, and they (and my manager in particular) really made me feel like a valued and productive member of the team. For the project I was on, which was a renovation of a prewar apartment building, I was designing major components, having significant facetime with clients, and coordinating pretty complex systems with consultants, all at the age of 23-24. It gave me exactly the boost of confidence I needed at that age, and made me really feel like I could do this as a career.
Kontras
I have three major things that made me want to move on after being at this office for a year and a half: 1. They use Vectorworks, which just isn't my cup of tea. It's not industry standard, so it's hard to find a consultant or contractor that works in it. The project I was on didn't really get into the BIM side of it, but I can tell it was pretty clunky compared to things like Revit. 2. The pay when I was there wasn't competitive at all. For such a big firm, it was kind of shocking that they couldn't pay me more than $48k and then refused a raise when I asked for it. I couldn't really afford to live on that, so I had to move on. One other thing I'll mention that's both confusing and upsetting is that I recently contacted my manager to check in and make sure she was okay with me listing her as a reference, and she completely ignored my emails and follow-ups. I thought I had a good relationship with her and with the firm; I can't think of any reason that we might have parted on bad terms. I'm genuinely confused, and I'm concerned for my future job prospects if I can't list my first job as a reference. Something to keep in mind.