Acumen reviews

3.1

30% would recommend to a friend

(394 total reviews)

Thomas MaCurdy

5% approve of CEO

22% positive business outlook

Acumen has an employee rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars, based on 394 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Acumen employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Government & Public Administration industry (3.6 stars).

Reviews by job title

394 reviews
1.0
Aug 1, 2010

What a waste, what a shame

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The projects are thought provoking and interesting. A lot of the projects here have a substantial impact in public policy. A lot of opportunities for responsibilities, management for those with just a bachelor's degree.

Cons

While the people are somewhat intelligent, they think they are much, much smarter than reality shows. To summarize, a lot of the people with just BA/BS (which surprisingly are on average more arrogant than the people with PhDs) are smart, but not good enough to cut it in an actual competitive environment (like econ grad school, which is what a lot hope to acheive). Senior management is an absolute disaster. They claim to be "tough and honest" while preaching a meritocracy, but unfortunately they spend more time scheming, behind people's backs instead of doing things that are just a given in other companies (example: performance evauatons, structure, adressing weaknesses directly). In addition, nepotism is a hugh problem, resulting in a large number of incompetent people in high positions. Middle management unfortunately picks up a lot of these bad habits (except for the nepotism part). Many managers are dishonest with their workers, which leads to zero growth.

2.0
Apr 30, 2010

Grow Up Acumen!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

This is an environment where a recent college graduate can get a lot of responsibility and project management experience very quickly. The work can be high-profile and interesting, and you are given a good amount of responsibility and ownership almost from day 1. There is also ample opportunity to interact with senior management.

Cons

Unfortunately, the projects and level of responsibility are awarded on a seemingly arbitrary basis. Management is rampant with extreme favoritism, and raises, promotions, offices, teams, etc are all doled out based on shady behind-the-scenes shenanigans that aren't subject to any accountability. This coupled with the fact that the company demands every moment of your waking life, and in return all you receive is disrespect and belittlement at the hands of the managing member.

4.0
Mar 8, 2010

Hardworking place, but good people

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

People are very nice and dedicated

Cons

Work/life balance can be difficult to maintain

Viewing 388 - 390 of 394 Reviews

Glassdoor has 432 Acumen reviews submitted anonymously by Acumen employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Acumen is right for you.