Eric Johnson:
CLASS OF 1974
Magnolia High SchoolClass of 1974
Anaheim, CA
California State Polytechnic UniversityClass of 1993
Pomona, CA
Eric's Story
Workplace
Straight out of High School, I started working at Carls Jr on Harbor and Broadway. Went to FJC for two years (maybe completed one year of school) and transferred to ASU (parent's idea). Spent one Semester there and came home. Parents said school full time OR work full time. So...started my first full time job at Willdan drafting street improvement plans. Later went to work full time for Fluor in Irvine as a drafter on the South African petroleum refineries. Great work environment and very cool building! Unfortunately got laid off due to downsizing. Worked for a year for a structural firm drafting industrial prefab buildings. Hated it as there were only three of us in the company. Way too crowded environment. Offered the job back at Fluor...downsizing again after one year. Moved on to Brandow & Johnston (B&J) in Irvine drafting high-rise buildings and parking structures. The structural engineers there encouraged me to go back to school to get my degree. So, I started at Cal Poly Pomona in the evenings taking Structural Engineering classes. Left B&J in 1990 coming back to Willdan. Got my...Expand for more
Bachelors Degree in Engineering in 1993 (still working full time the whole time). Promoted from drafter to engineer. Best move, going back to school. Worked toward my Engineer-in-Training Certificate and then my Professional Engineering License. Moved up the corporate ladder from entry level Designer to Supervising Engineer and now Project Manager.
Jan 2008 - Willdan had gone through some major downsizing because of the building economy and many managers left (voluntary and non-), my manager was one. I was brought up under another department eliminating my chance of being promoted to department manager. So I left and in April started working for HDR in Irvine (Jamboree and 5 Fwy). Project Manager to start with the job of starting and growing a structures division. Received a promotion in Jan 2009 to Structures Department Manager. We have 8 in the dept as of Summer '09. Another great move, I would say. Alot of work...HDR's culture is so much different than Willdan. Employee-owned, mid-western values, much larger...7,000 employees -vs- 700. Did I say another good move? HDR's been good to me so far.
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