- The company hires engineering graduates for non-engineering roles. The work performed by an "inspection engineer" is not engineering of any sort, and it's truly a job that could be done by a trained monkey. My advice for people applying for Inspection Engineer roles is to look elsewhere... If you have an engineering degree you will lose your time here, and not really get any experience on something useful that could help you get a better job in the future. Besides, advances in AI will make these jobs redundant in the next decade. Seriously, if you are an engineer, let me tell you that you are worth more than this, really! Your talent will be wasted here and won't be appreciated! The company only calls these roles 'engineering roles' to make them look as a professional job, but that's just not true. Furthermore the company solely hires graduate engineers for cheap labour as the company knows they are desperate and will work for cheap.
- The salaries are ridiculously low: £22.5k for a graduate engineer, rising to £25k after 1 year. Surviving in Edinburgh with that salary is extremely challenging.
- Field allowances are also low. Competitors offer much more attractive packages when it comes to lunch/dinner/hotel spending limits.
- It's a very cliquey company. If you weren't working there early enough then you are just a number to them, and won't be treated with the same respect.
- The company is very stingy and will always find an excuse to not spend money, or to not pay you money that you're due (I know of several people who have not been paid their field bonuses, as they are 'discretionary'). Management always likes talking about how the company is making millions every month, but they still use kit from over 10 years ago that constantly breaks down. Company will go as far as finding excuses to not give you a promotion, in order to save a few hundred pounds. (Managers get bonuses depending on the overall profits of their department...so every penny saved will increase their bonus in April... This results in very greedy decisions being made).
- Upper management is quite toxic. Several people had to leave the company as a result of bullying from certain managers, which is very concerning. Other managers have refused to pay employees their field bonuses in full. Additionally, it seems that some upper managers refuse to speak politely to workers further down in the company, as if they were not worthy of their time.
- You will have to spend a lot of time away from home, which doesn't work for everyone.
- Work/Life balance is horrible: Company frequently changes your schedule with less than 24hrs notice and expects you to adapt to it. Your social life will be severely affected and you won't have much time to see friends/family.
- Work is very physically exhausting. You are expected to work 10 hours a day in the field, sometimes for several weeks in a row (including weekends).
- Field bonus is a scam. You are entitled to a 25% pay bonus when working in the field, but they expect you to work 10 hours on field days. Therefore, the field 'bonus' is nothing more than the legally required pay for your 2 hours of overtime on field days...
- Their notice periods are also outrageous. Several employees resigned in a short period of time and the company got worried about this. Consequently, most of the new contracts feature notice periods of 3 months after completing training. For example, new pilots for the company will initially have contracts featuring 1 month notice periods, but then as soon as they complete training (approx. 6 months after you start), their notice periods increase to 3 months. This feels as if the company wants to trap you there, because no other company will wait 3 months for a new recruit (especially if you are a recent graduate with limited experience).
