SEE BRANDOW & JOHNSTON HEADS USC DUMB WOMAN KIM CARAVALHO & CAL POLY DUMB GUY JAMES PEARSON TREAT CALIFORIA LICENSED STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS BADLY WHEN THEY INTERVIEW CANDIDATES

Folks, we are going to expose another bad structural engineering firm.  This particular one has been established since the end of World War II and it is located in Los Angeles, CA.  Its name is Brandow & Johnston.  It is headed by James Pearson and Kim Caravalho.  If you were to invite someone for a couples dinner date, the answer would be James Pearson & Kim Caravalho – dead!

They are widely known for designing one if the tallest buildings in Los Angeles, the Wilshire Grand Center.

It is owned by HBK out of the Midwest and it is run by these idiots shown below

 

Here is what happened, folks!  A promising candidate applied for the Project Engineer opening.  This person specifically wanted to work there and had heard about the firm’s reputation.  This person sent an email to apply for this position.  This person got an email from Brandow & Johnston asking for them to come in and interview for their career opportunities.  Well, folks, James Pearson & Kim Caravalho sent this email to the potential candidate.

Yes, folks, the first thing out of James Pearson’s mouth is whether the person wanted to work freelance or full-time.  Yes, folks, James Pearson and Kim Caravalho forgot about the engineering positions they had posted.  Nowhere did it mention it was a freelance position.  We can only imagine how Brandow & Johnston reads plans if this is how they read job descriptions.  We have posted the ad below:

 

Now why does James Pearson mention whether the position is a freelance position?  We believe it is because Brandow & Johnston may be trying to get out of paying local, state and federal taxes.  This violates AB5, a California state law that requires employers to pay workers as employees if the job the independent contractor does is the same as what the business does.  Yes, folks, it sounds like the firm may have some other problems as well.

And you can see Kim Caravalho was copied in on this email.  When this candidate asked about the work they had in the pipeline, they had no response whatsoever.

Brandow & Johnston decided to do the interview anyway.  The candidate received this email from Brandow & Johnston.

As you can see from this email, Brandow & Johnston wanted the candidate to bring sample work (s)he had done in the past.  So the candidate downloaded a presentation on his/her personal computer.  They refused to allow a Skype interview to be done.  We can only imagine what they would do during the COVID-19 pandemic.  It must be pretty bad if this interview was any indication.

On the day of the interview, James Pearson and Kim Caravalho went off the rails on the candidate.  They complained to the candidate that they were not paper plans.  Again, this is a bad move during COVID-19 because it can live on paper for days!  James Pearson and Kim Caravalho complained the experience was insufficient.  When the candidate asked for specifics, Kim Caravalho & James Pearson refused to elaborate.  Basically, Kim Caravalho and James Pearson decided to show off the sizes of their mental Johnstons, if you know what we mean.  Also, James Pearson & Kim Caravalho complained that the candidate would have to start off as an EIT right out of engineering school.  Folks, it makes you wonder whether they have the phone number to the Men In Black which they could come in and have the candidate’s engineering knowledge and experience erased.  And their bad behavior did not stop there.  They kept telling the candidate (s)he should never have went into structural engineering.  Deeply distressing – and people are understanding why Brandow & Johnston is a bad structural engineering firm to work for.  You know what their slogan is folks?

We think they need to add the slogan “Thinking is optional.” because their next good idea may be their first!  And with brains like Kim Caravalho has, you wish she would have paid a bribe to get into USC like Olivia Jade and not pursued structural engineering.

 

 The only way James Pearson & Kim Caravalho cold make that interview experience any gross is if they got Nigel Farage, Bill Cosby, Alex Jones, Donald Trump and Phil Spector all in the interview via Skype.

Yes, folks, James Pearson and Kim Caravalho forgot about the candidate had significant structural engineering experience.  They were very unprepared for the interview.  They did not read that the candidate had a structural engineering license from California.  You know what that means, folks?  They were trying to lowball the salary and even discourage the candidate from working there.  Folks, we will discuss later what we believe the actual salary they were going to potentially offer this candidate by contacting another candidate.  We will discuss that candidate’s experience later.

Also, they refused to allow the candidate to tour the office.  You know what that means, folks?  They were looking to get rid of some employees without letting them know.  Also, Brandow & Johnston refused to allow their fellow employee to sell their firm to potential candidates.

After this bad interview, the candidate received this email from Brandow & Johnston.

Did they actually hire a candidate at that time?  We checked using LinkedIn and found out this was not true.  Yes, folks, Brandow & Johnston heads James Pearson & Kim Caravalho lied in their written email to the candidate.  This means they were using the job interviews for free consulting.  This means they were using the candidate’s work sample to get free design ideas.  Yes, folks, James Pearson and Kim Caravalho were using candidates and making them work for free – which is a violation of California Labor Law.  Yes, folks, Brandow & Johnston is so cheap they refuse to pay consulting fees.  They wasted that candidate’s time, money and wear and tear on his/her car for a fake job interview.  And according to one of the Glassdoor reviews:

“The upper management are not really consistent with their words. They would say one thing at first, but in the end, they would say something totally different.”

Folks, we found something that is really interesting.  The person who sent this was Beth Aldrich.  She claims she knows the Bible.  Well, folks, someone needs to ask Beth Aldrich is her Bible is missing a few commandments because she did nothing about the firm lying about full time engineering positions.  Makes you wonder whether her version of the Bible is missing a few commandments.

If you think treating this person was bad, wait until you hear what happened to one of the California Licensed Structural Engineers who received a job offer from them.  This structural engineer had 20+ years of experience, a Masters Degree from the great Structural Engineering program in Southern California, and a California Structural Engineer License.  Do you want to know how much he was offered for salary, folks?  $55K per year with no benefits.  When you divide $50,000 by 2080, this is about $25 per hour.  This is much less than what an EIT makes right out of engineering school.  Yes, folks, Brandow & Johnson head idiots Kim Caravalho and James Pearson believe all people with engineering abilities are to be treated equally – and that apparently includes salary.

If you thought that was bad, folks, wait till you hear what this firm did to this same potential employee.  Yes, folks, in the contract, Brandow & Johnson sent this person their offer would drop $5K per day until they responded to it.  Yes, folks, Brandow & Johnson admitted they are willing to hire experienced structural engineers for less than minimum wage.

This person decided to get a new job making over 3 times the salary offered by Brandow & Johnston.  This person supplied a copy of the Brandow & Johnston letter to the Structural Stupidists.  We could not quit laughing!

And speaking of being bad, folks in SEAOC need to take a closer look at Kim Caravalho being a high ranking member.  As we have shown you above, Brandow & Johnston Vice President Kim Caravalho is a fraud and a prostitute who is willing to do anything for cash.  If people decide not to allow women to receive equal pay, all they would have to do is look at Kim Caravalho’s conduct in this instance.

 

You know, folks, it is too bad for James Pearson, President of Brandow & Johnston.  Based on his actions on interviewing candidates, his firm is pretty bad.  Yes, folks, a new name for the firm is Bran-dumbo & Con-ston!

Yes, folks, Brandow & Johnson was founded in the mid-1940s.  The 1940s called and wants their bad management practices back.  This includes bait and switch on the candidates that interview and apply for their engineering positions.

We have some great solutions to resolve these issues of fake interviews.

1.      Allow body cameras into these interviews.  Folks, wouldn’t it be great for many people to see these unethical firms interview people?  We think it would.  This would be a great way for people to obtain who is performing the fake interviews.

2.      Register these bad experiences with the colleges where these firms recruit.  When this is done, colleges can decide not to allow these companies to interview college seniors for structural engineering jobs there.

3.      Pay candidates time to interview.  This means paying for all expenses such as gas, hotels, mileage, food, etc.  Right now, as we have shown you, Brandow & Johnston is busy committing wage theft on their potential employees.

4.      Register these interviews with the unemployment offices in the states where the candidates reside and where the firms are located.  That way if a candidate has a fake job interview, these firms would be required to pay for unemployment to these candidates.  We suggest an amount equal to 100 times the number of weeks they interview with a one week minimum.  For example, let’s say California has a $500 maximum weekly unemployment benefit.  The penalty would be $500 x 1 week x 100 = $50,000!

5.      Send this information to the various cities, counties, states, and federal agencies.  If firms like Brandow & Johnston are willing to commit fraud in job interviews, what makes taxpayers think they are going to not do it on the projects they are allowed to design?  Also, people can campaign against these politicians who allow Brandow & Johnston to do city projects by forcing them to lose their campaigns.  It is especially good to go on radio shows and humiliate these people.

6.      Make all the interviews public record so attorneys can access them freely.  It is fun watching the firms get pissed off when they claim one thing and get angry when they find out the emails say something completely different.

7.      Allow these fake interviews with the construction companies.  They will find them quite useful because they can get themselves out of trouble.  If the firm is lying about career opportunities, what else are they lying about?  We suspect it is their engineering.

 8.      Allow county assessors to have access to these interviews as well.  When these people try to lower their tax bill, the assessor can deny it because they will have the evidence they lie.

9.      If any of these firm employee’s have family members in nursing homes, let their family members know.  This has been very effective with bad cops in the days before cell phone cameras.

10.   Hospitals can use this information to decide who is allowed to live during COVID-19 when the hospital beds are overcrowded.  Ask yourself:  if you were a nurse or doctor and your firm is causing the hospital not to get paid, would you let the bad firm’s employees live?  Potentially not if Kim Caravalho & James Pearson is any indication.