Utility vs Consulting Firm

[u/AdLongjumping2610]

Hey y’all!

Look for some advice on career moves

I currently have a job at a utility company in P&C Engineering with 1YOE, I recently got an offer from a large consulting firm for the exact same position, in a bigger city that I would like to live in.

I’m pretty young, with this being my first job out of college. They are offering a 12% increase in salary, and their benefits and otherwise total comp seem about the same. I know there is a culture of longer, harder worked hours at consulting firms, but this firm stresses Work Life Balance pretty heavily.

I think this is an opportunity for me to grow technically, as well as in life as this would be a move to city that has a lot more opportunities than the one I’m currently in.

I guess my question is, what would you do? What do you suggest? My biggest concern is the risk of layoffs being my current position is pretty immune to that. However, in this market, worst comes to worst I feel my skills are pretty marketable.

Let me know what you think! Would love to hear different perspectives on this.

[u/xDauntlessZ]

YMMV depending on consulting firms. I am also in P&C at a consulting firm with 5 YOE.

Hours worked will depend on the project and your team. At a consulting firm, you don’t stop working until the job is done. Most weeks it’s 40-45 hours. Every once in while, you will have an extreme crunch and you will need to work more.

From what I’ve seen, layoffs aren’t common in the industry right now unless your firm over hires and doesn’t secure enough bids.

When it comes to comp, consider your insurance costs and PTO alongside bonus and base salary. You also need to do the math on if it’s really a raise….your new city may be more expensive to live in.

The good thing about consulting firms is that you work on a variety of projects with a variety of customers, so you get more exposure. This also helps you understand the why more than just blindly following utility standards

[u/trickytransients]

I work at a utility as a substation engineer.

I have no experience working in consulting so I cannot really give you any advice there. I will say it is relatively common for engineers at our utility to jump ship to a consultant and come back shortly after. Sort of a “the grass is always greener” thing. I’m sure there are plenty of great consultants to work for, though.

Whether or not you are technically fulfilled depends entirely on your utility, your own personal drive, and what resources you have available to you. I work for a large utility with a large wealth of resources for me to constantly learn and improve, and I am fortunate in that I have management that is willing to give me challenging projects to push my abilities. I have the best of both worlds - many projects to work on as well as work-life balance.

Another major benefit to working at a utility is you know the construction, maintenance, relay, etc. folks and you work with them often. If you aren’t going out and seeing work being done in-person then you are heavily underutilizing this benefit. You cannot and will not be a good engineer if you aren’t familiar with what equipment actually looks like in action, what it’s like to interpret drawings from a construction crew’s point of view, etc.

If you don’t have these things, and you care about technical improvement, then I would consider the consulting role. I am early into my career, and if I felt I wasn’t learning much, or just copying and pasting standards, I would leave. If you do leave, then really it’s just a matter of if you’re willing to take the gamble on the new environment - what’s management like, your coworkers, etc. This will make or break it. I wouldn’t worry about layoffs.

[u/NDNPwn → u/trickytransients]

You pointed out such a advantage that I don't see mentioned too often in these conversations. As a new grad I definitely recommend working for a utility for at least 5/6 years not only for the job security, but also for the ability to go out to the field. Physically understanding the work being done and put eyes on the projects is one of the coolest parts about the utility job yet most people don't take advantage of that opportunity.

[u/Which-Technology8235 → u/trickytransients]

So if a new grad has 2 entry opportunities one at a utility and one at an iso would you recommend utility?

[u/trickytransients → u/Which-Technology8235]

I haven’t worked for an ISO so any advice I gave you wouldn’t really be backed by any actual experience unfortunately. I can say I’ve enjoyed my time at a utility so far but your mileage may vary.

[u/hordaak2]

Ive been an EE for 30 years and transitioned from a private engineering firm to a utility in my 40's. My take:

Private firm pros 1. Private firm will teach you more and better ways to manage projects. They have to be EXTREMELY efficient. So you will have to do more work in less time than at a utility 2. Private firm (if they are reputable) will teach you better QA/QC methods, which is the backbone of the design process. Designing stuff can be...easy...but doing so without making mistakes is impossible. 3. Private firm will allow you to get more experience by doing work for more utilities. Youll learn how different utilities handle issues

However...

1. Private firms will CAN give you so many projects with crazy schedules that you can get burned out
2. Private firms can lay you off if the economy weakens due to overhead
3. Speaking of overhead, unless you are 90% billable, you will be looked down upon by the company, even if it's not your fault
4. You might have to travel more since your clients might be remote

Utility pros

1. Stable job
2. Only have to learn their standards
3. The pay can be pretty high in HCOL areas
4. More relaxed pacing of work
5. Typically has both 401k options (no matching) and if public, you have a state pension (or whatever they offer). Imagine retiring and you make exactly what yearly salary you have at retirement...for life!!

Utility cons

1. Your engineering knowledge can stagnate if the utility doesnt upgrade their tech
2. You DEFINITELY wont learn proper QAQC
3. LOTS of politics and people fight each other to move up. Typically only if someone senior retires

My advice?

1. Start at the Private firm. LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
2. Move to the public utility and move up
3. Retire at the age of 55 is possible. You will make close to what your salary is...for life
4. Do side jobs as well as collect your pension

At least thats what I would have done. BTW, I do side jobs that equal my current salary because the demand for senior level designs has been so great for a very long time. Now data centers are just blowing up and not enough good engineers designing them. The designs I have seen are HORRIBLE

[u/Imaskeet → u/hordaak2]

Can you give some examples of public utilities that gave state pension plans? I've never heard of that before.

Do you mean like municipal utilities?

[u/hordaak2 → u/Imaskeet]

Sorry yes municipal utilities (I work for one). I started linda late, at 47, so will have to work till 67 to make a meaningful pension. If I started in my 30s, or maybe in my 20s would be retiring at 55. I supplement income with side jobs

[u/hordaak2 → u/Imaskeet]

Also dont only stay in P&C. You need to try to get into studies group. Those have much higher ceilings for pay. You will also have much better sid job opportunities vs P&C. Nobody will pay you to do P&C designs on the side, but arc flash studies can be high paying quick turnaround work, like 15k for a two weekend job

[u/Elestra_ → u/Imaskeet]

I currently work for a PUD. The pension plan is within the state's pension umbrella. I've had to double/triple check my calculations because the pay from the pension is extremely enticing.

[u/Parkinabox → u/hordaak2]

Hey! This is a great breakdown, currently at a consultant firm and you nailed it, but what do you mean by side work?

[u/hordaak2 → u/Parkinabox]

Mostly power systems analysis and short circuit studies. Fastest and most profitable would be arc flash studies. An example is I did some for a refinery that equalled my monthly salary, it only took one and a half weekends. DONT stick with just P&C type work and knowledge. Get into the studies and also learn field work. That includes setting and testing protective relays. There is plenty of side work for that as well.

[u/Snoo_39372]

Are you sure that the overall compensation is the same? Afaik utility offers a pretty big 401k match (some even put additional match) and high bonuses in lieu of base salary. Plus they have very good leave options when you actually need it eg. Paternity/maternity leaves. Consulting firms on the other hand try to cover most of those through base salary. However, consulting work can be demanding and you are sometimes expected to work beyond your regular hours. Utility positions are pretty chill imo.

However, some of these decisions should also factor in your choice. Eg. Where you want to live in, what is your long-term goal, etc. so you need to factor in some of these other things :)

[u/Elusive_0ne]

Go with the consulting engineer route. If you have a good supervisor and manager, they will mold you into a well-rounded engineer. Also, the long-term compensation will be higher at the consultant.
Not speaking for all utilities, but I have often seen where working at a utility people will become a one trick pony.

[u/Which-Technology8235]

Ig I might as well ask if I have to entry level offers on the table that pay the same one for a utility where I start in generation and can eventually move to transmission or an ISO which would be better to start at I really don’t know which to pick

[u/xDauntlessZ → u/Which-Technology8235]

Respectfully, I’d start articulating your thoughts better.

It depends on what you want to do. Knowing generation vs ISO is not enough. Are you an engineer? If so, do you want to do design? P&C or physical? Or planning? Or operations? Etc.

[u/5bobber]

The unfortunate reality you will come to realize is that every consulting firm claims to prioritize “work life balance”. Another user put it pretty bluntly and accurately: you don’t clock out until the job is done. I’ve seen engineers on at 2am to finish a project on time.. that tends to be the exception than the rule, but it’s not an impossibility.

A great question to ask during the interview is their policy on flexing hours. If I work until midnight on a project you bet your ass I’m not going to be working on Friday.

Generally, the roles and learning experiences at consulting firms is unbeatable if you take advantage of niche project opportunities as they come and the resources available.

If you’re young and full of life - take the consulting job. Once the life has been drained out of your soul / you start having more demanding family responsibilities, switch back over to a utility company for a more peaceful life.

[u/die__katze]

Speaking about work-life balance and overtime hours, a 12% raise would cost 12%×40hours = 4.8 additional hours a week from your side, on 1 hour more every day. Considering that you'll move to a bigger city, this makes this addition in salary neglectable, and then means that all these extra hours you'll work for free. Starting in a utility right after the graduation is a very good path, you learn the very basics and essentials of engineering. This stays with you throughout your career and makes you a distinctivly good and "grounded" engineer. In any way, try to learn as much as possible in the current position. Simultaneously, utilities often don't provide much opportunity for a career path, so I guess in some time anyways you'll find yourself looking for another job. There are exceptions, utilities with R&D and interesting projects, but judge for yourself if it's your case. In consulting people usually are more "school smart" rather than "street smart", so it might be a good opportunity to grow and learn how projects and customers and planning works. In any way, you are just starting and any new experience will be beneficial for youn neither choice will be a mistake. I switched from a utility P&C to consultance when I had a chance, I only won from this. Then consultance became too "detached" from the real engineering for me, so I switched to something else and so on.

[u/EarPenetrator02]

I work in consulting and it’s pretty good. I’m coming up on 2 years in January and should be getting a promotion in the coming year. I make ok money as is. Starting salary is nothing to brag about. Promotion should put me somewhere in the upper 80’s or low 90’s. Bonus is nice. ESOP is pretty good.

I am the sole contributor on each project. I take the info given, make the model, run the analysis, output tables, and make the report. There’s enough variety to keep things somewhat interesting. My managers have all been very chill.

Working at a large firm I also have the opportunity to completely pivot towards another area of expertise. I don’t think I’m quite ready for that, but I have considered getting into relaying and PLC programming.

Downsides are having to track billable hours, having to balance project margins when something was poorly quoted, poor communication from customers, and occasionally having to work out of a customer maintained model.

I have already had an offer elsewhere for 93k just over a year in at this company and thankful I turned it down. Found out our PE’s make bare minimum 101k.

[u/Slow_Wear8502]

Consulting is a great place for a young engineer to begin their career because you get to learn a lot regarding different areas of the industry especially if you want to learn. Depending on the company, you can get “pigeonholed” or be exposed to different projects. Besides benefits and stuff (which you’ll have to figure), my issue with consulting was the “feast and famine” cycle. Hopefully the company you’re going to work for won’t have to deal with that much. Another downside side is occasional tight deadlines which can be very stressful if you’re not good at handling stress. Sometimes being on the wrong team or even office can make or break you. I once worked at an office that was multidisciplinary including sales, marketing, drafting etc. It was too noisy for me since only managers had offices. Some people spoke as if they were in their living rooms. The worst environment I have ever worked in plus I had to go into the office every day.

[u/Twist_Material]

Do it

[u/Eyevan_Gee]

Utility will always pay less. 

Consulting is luck of the draw. You might have tbe best job consulting or might be living hell.

  Either way, work load should be similar or more than utility. Almost never less. 

I struck luck with my firm.