Fehr & Peers Career Blog

APA Conference Big Success for Fehr & Peers

The 100th Annual APA National Conference took place April 27 – April 30, 2008 in Las Vegas. Fehr & Peers hosted a booth in the exhibit hall and Jerry Walters, Fehr & Peers’ CTO, spoke as a panelist during a conference session.

We joined many others in the industry in showcasing our areas of expertise and our newest projects. Also on promotion at our booth was Jerry Walter’s co-authored book “Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change.”

We had a great time during the conference and our staff presence allowed us to network with clients, industry professionals and students. Thanks to all the students and professors who stopped by our booth and dropped off resumes and contact information! It was nice to meet everyone and to answer questions about our company, our offices and future employment opportunities.

F&P CEO Bets All On Alma Mater But Comes Up Short!

Matt Henry. CEO of Fehr & Peers, and Jon Nepstad, Principal-in-Charge of Fehr & Peers' Utah office, recently made a bet over who would win the NCAA Basketball National Championship. Matt, an alum from the University of Memphis said it would be his alma mater Memphis. Jon, an alum of the University of Kansas placed his bet on, of course, his alma mater Kansas.

This was the wager:

• Straight bet - no points
• Loser must make a $50 donation to the athletic fund of the winner's university.
• Loser must wear team logo attire (to be provided by winner) around the office for one day.
• Loser must pose for pictures while wearing attire - to be published via the intranet.

And the winner was.... University of Kansas. And we have more than just photos of Matt wearing Kansas apparel proudly - we have video...

Fehr & Peers at APA's 2008 National Conference

Fehr & Peers is gearing up to have a large presence at this year's APA conference in Las Vegas. We will be hosting a booth in the exhibit hall at Bally’s hotel from April 26 - 30, Jerry Walters will be giving a presentation the morning of April 27, and several entry-level to senior-level staff will be in attendance. Our booth is booth number 436 and will be manned at all times. If you are planning to attend the conference and are interested in learning more about Fehr & Peers and our employment opportunities, please stop by at any time.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Spring 2008 Career Fairs and Recruiting Going Well

Fehr & Peers has been in career fair mania for the past several months, attending a range of career fairs searching for the next F&P employees.  So far, we’ve visited many different universities, including Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, University of California at Davis, Santa Clara University, UC Irvine, Sacramento State, and the Universityof Reno.

Since January, we have hired eleven entry-level students for full-time and internship positions.  These students are from a variety of universities, including University of California at Davis, UCLA, University of the Pacific, University of Colorado at Denver, Kansas State and Brown University.

Although we do not attend career fairs at some of these universities, we are always hiring from across the country.  If you have any questions about submitting your resume or want to learn more about our recruiting process, contact Lara Forbes, HR Generalist.

We will also be exhibiting at APA's National Planning Conference in Las Vegas, April 27-30.  If you are planning to attend the conference, stop by our booth, drop off your resume, and pick up some of our fun handouts!  We will be at booth #436.  This is a great opportunity to speak with several F&P staff about the firm, what its like to work here, and to answer any questions you may have.

To see which career fairs we will be attending next, click here.     

TRB Wrap-up by Communications Coordinator Kristin Tarr

Once again, I was lucky enough to participate in one of Fehr & Peers’ main recruiting efforts for the year.  I attended the Annual TRB Meeting held in Washington D.C. January 12-16.  This was my second year coordinating and attending the event in representation of Fehr & Peers.  Last year we hosted a hospitality suite at the Omni Shoreham hotel, and this year we hosted a suite at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel.  Each year has progressed into a new, fun, interactive event where F&P professionals get to meet and talk with students in search of their post-college career. 

This year was a different experience being at the Marriott, but fun none the less.  On our first night Cal Poly San Luis Obispo students were in heavy attendance.  I met many great students from Cal Poly and had a good time talking with and getting to know them.  Many more students came in from UCLA, Georgia Tech and UC Davis, but we also had visitors going from floor to floor visiting all hospitality suites at the Marriott!

The second night was not as crowded, but that provided a great atmosphere for us to talk more one-on-one with different students.  Iowa State, UNC Chapel Hill and UCLA were present, and again we met plenty of great candidates.

One of the most important, and daunting, decisions is where you will work right after college.  Fehr & Peers understands this, and provides students with the opportunity to meet us and get to know us in a fun, informal setting.  Doing the hospitality suite for a second year was awesome.  I answered a lot of your questions and felt I was able to connect with all the students on a personal level.  Thanks everyone for coming out, and if you weren’t there this year hopefully we will meet in 2009!   

Transferring Offices...

From time to time staff members find it important to be able to transfer to another Fehr & Peers office - reasons often differ from person to person.  Here are some responses from staff who have made transfers in the last few years - Jeff Gulden, Sarah Brandenberg, and Joel Rabinovitz.

Click here to read what they have to say.

Staff Makes F&P Even More Green

Periodically, as part of Fehr & Peers Academy, staff from all tenures and locations are nominated to participate in Leadership Development Forums - an opportunity to provide leadership and guidance on issues of culture at the firm.  The latest forum was held to strategize reduction of Fehr & Peers' environmental impacts associated with employee waste production, energy consumption, and commute choices by empowering employees to choose among a series of measures that are effective and economically viable.

The group spent a full day in discussions, and then created a list of recommendations to present to the firm's Executive Committee (the highest ranking leadership group, including the CEO).  These recommendations will now be shared with all offices in the hopes that each one will find opportunities to adopt one or more that are feasible for itself.

Click here to download the list of recommendations.

Gather Insight from Our TRB 2007 Hires

One year later, we catch up with staff members who we met (and eventually hired) at TRB 2007.  Jamie Henson works in our Walnut Creek, CA office, Charlie Alexander and Matt Kittelson work in our Roseville, CA office.

Click here to read what they have to say.

Transit Discipline Group Added for 2008

It's official - Transit is the newest discipline group at Fehr & Peers.  Other discipline groups are travel forecasting, impact assessment, pedestrian & bicycle, smart growth, operations, and design - they exist to promote information sharing, establish best practices, implement quality control procedures, and develop selected research projects.  On average, 8-9 staff members from various offices are selected to work in these groups each year.

Adoption of Alternative Work Schedules (AWS)

In 2007, Fehr & Peers created an option for each office to implement and evaluate alternative work schedules based on their individual needs and the demands of their clients.  A unique aspect of the F&P culture is that each office has a relatively high level of independence to make decisions that are appropriate for itself.  Options include:

• "5/8" - Five 8-hours days per week.
• "4/10" - Four 10-hours days per week.
• "9/80" - A combination of a 4-day week and a 5-day week, 9-hour days and one 8-hour day.
• "4-and-a-half" - A combination of a 4.5-day week and a 5-day week, all 9-hour days.

All options add to 80 hours in a 2-week pay period.  Since July of 2007, five of ten offices have adopted alternative work schedules - time will tell if they are as effective as we hope.