"The company will do its best to support you and your individual career goals, if you make them known. Because it is a large firm, things like advancements and raises are very institutionalized. It can take a long time to work your way up. If you have a particular interest (say, sustainable design) there is encouragement to get involved and organize others. You won't get far if you sit back and let it all happen to you. The firm expects employees to contribute something, not just work."

"This is a firm where if you're entrepreneurial and have some fire in your belly, you'll go far. If you're one of those who sits back and waits for things to come your way, you belong at another company."

"We had forever been THE commercial/commercial interiors firm. With the sagging economy we have rebounded tremendously into multi-family residential, academic (primarily dorms, but others also), and some new retail. We still do commercial core and shell, and lots of interiors. We have a retail sector doing so-called lifestyle centers (suburban shopping streets). We have 2 LEED-registered projects and several weighing LEED as a possibility. The firm is almost committed to sustainability. Interns can get involved with interesting and exciting projects in early stages of design and get good CD experience too. Many of the senior people are committed to helping others learn. We have some excellent designers but they can't influence every project - you can't win 'em all."

“ADD Inc does high quality, modern architectural, interior, and graphic design for a variety of large-scale residential, corporate, commercial and mixed-use, academic, biotech, and retail and entertainment clients. Excellent design, high quality documents, cutting edge technology, and top-notch training are the hallmarks of this company."

"The firm is committed to its people - we are employee-owned. Advancements come once a year. This year there was no money, so no advancements for an additional 6 months, pending this year's billings. Aside from that, this firm will shed dead weight and use the good people to the maximum of their potential. I feel that people are compensated and advanced appropriately, although the ladder is a tall one and it can take a long time to climb up."

"ADD Inc has a well-developed and thoughtful plan of advancement and competency development. We spend a week (!) in training before we even get to work on our first project, which is amazing."

"Everyone seems pretty committed to the firm and to overall success. People are used to the best of their potential, regardless of what their official titles might be. There are many passionate people here."

"There is always lots to do. Some weeks are crazy hectic. Other times you have time to relax a bit more and work at your own pace. There are so many different projects in our office, there are always people at both ends of the spectrum."

"High energy hardly begins to describe this place. People are always on the move, and they move fast. It's expected that you seek out new work and opportunities."

"Principals are not necessarily involved in day-to-day design. Associates often function as project managers, with designers leading design, and a project architect leading coordination and documentation. A person's job title is not necessarily the same as their project role, in other words. Usually responsibilities on a project are fairly well defined. Everyone can get involved in design decisions and critiques. Senior designers (not necessarily principals!) usually lead the design decision-making."

"ADD Inc is an employee-owned company, so we all feel like we have a say in how things go, and that means that we get to design projects from day one and we get to participate in all kinds of committees, from hiring to special events."