Booz Allen Hamilton reviews

Where do I begin? The work here is chaotic and sporadic. You will get proposals sprung up on you out of thin air with outrageous deadlines, forcing you to work late nights, weekends, cancel any dinner plans, even vacations you’ve planned. The people within pricing are so accustomed to working well over 40 hours plus weekends that they don’t even make a fuss about it. They simply take it as “part of the job”. Newsflash, have a backbone and stand your ground without letting program management dictate unreasonable timelines for you. Having worked as a pricer at other places, this is by far the worst company for work life balance. Pricerscof all levels (Sr. Consultants, Associates, Lead Associates, etc.) can easily work till 7pm/8pm each night. Booz Allen is so cheap that they are always understaffed, especially in pricing. Another thing is the bureaucracy and red tape. There are more tedious rules to follow and you will get dinged on the most minute details that are not even pricing related by the internal audit team. This affects you as it goes on your metrics. The managers here are also hit and miss. Some are decent and some will belittle you. I’ve seen it and been part of it myself during my time here. Another thing is “off” Fridays. The company is trying to switch to a 9/80 schedule but it is not even real as you’re basically “on call” your entire Friday and have to be within minutes of Wi-Fi signal during your “off” day. During my time, I was called on most of my off Fridays, essentially making the 9/80 benefit worthless. Other things to mention is you will get paid once every 4 weeks (instead of 2 weeks) until that policy goes away in late 2023 and their healthcare benefits were the worst compared to other companies I’ve worked at. They have a free healthcare option but don’t opt for it unless you are never sick. Otherwise, prepared to pay a hefty price out-of-pocket.

If you did not grow up at Booz Allen, you will have a hard time acclimating to their insular, tribal culture. Booz Allen has a very unique way of doing things, and although they claim they want innovative thinkers, change, and an inclusive culture, I experienced anything but that. You will be successful if you are white, an extrovert, build relationships with the right people, and can talk a good game. The politics and the preference for being fake nice vs. authentic and candid is suffocating. BAH is aware of these problems, but they are not truly committed to changing the culture. Healthcare insurance is abysmal. Diversity is a joke. They win awards but once you've been at the firm for a while you will see that it is "pay to play" and their approach is very check-the-box. People of color are leaving in droves and are all but absent at senior leadership levels.