Pros
-Great for learning the ins/outs of business -Good firm for getting exposure to entire design process no matter your experience level -Team members are generally driven to the success of a project without being competitive with each other -Exposure to many different project types -Good size firm -Nice balance of autonomy and teamwork -Great client portfolio and many repeat clients that are nice to work with -Good blend of architecture, interiors, and environmental graphics (on some projects) -VDT is actively trying to be more diverse, but diversity still lies mostly in the studio. A DE&I initiative was started in 2021 and has made a lot of progress
Cons
-Leadership takes forever (and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever) to implement changes or make decisions. -There usually aren't enough people staffed on projects, making deadlines very stressful for any project that isn't a ground-up building. All deadlines are stressful, but this adds an extra layer of challenges. -A weekly beer budget seems to be more important than office acoustics or comfortable task chairs -There is one architectural career path with a slim shot for advancement if you haven't worked at VDT your entire career. Life-longers seem to be promoted more readily than others with varied backgrounds regardless of years of experience. -I do not have a good work/life balance at VDT, but others within the firm are probably able to have hobbies.