Interesting work, but siloed and disparate offices, lack of accountability, and luck-based professional growth.
Pros
Smart people, different and interesting projects (no boring routine), chance to own analysis pieces.
Cons
When there is a client deadline, work/life balance dissolves entirely - this is largely an industry complaint, though. Professional growth is not promoted by the firm. The lifespan here is a few years and out if you start at the bottom. Management, in my experience, has not been internally grown even a single time. Advancement depends entirely on external circumstances such as which city you work in (access to bigger markets or big players), your managers/group and their workflow/business development practices, and the work volume in the group's pipeline. The firm itself doesn't seem to do much more than provide an HR/Admin/BD skeleton. A franchise model with experts peppering the country (and globe), running their own groups the way they see fit.
