If you are looking for work life balance, this likely isn't the company for you.
Pros
- Larson Allen was not afraid to invest in new technology. Software and hardware seemed very up to date and instances of problems with software and hardware seemed minimal. - Larson Allen was very competitive. Marginal performers were pushed out in pretty short order. This attitude is good to be around as a young employee because you'll push yourself the rest of your career wherever you go.
Cons
- Sterile environment. To some extent, all service firms are managed in a passive sterile fashion, but Larson Allen's MInneapolis office was managed more passively than most. Rather than verbalizing things the writing was often written on the wall. I requested less travel and when the next schedule came out I was on the road extensively. I take that as a passive jab. At that point I think they thought I was going to leave and they wanted to make my departure quicker. - Work life balance not respected. I was told in my interview work life balance was important to management, but this was far from the truth. There were many instances when we went from the client, to a drive-thru or curb side to go, and then went back to the hotel lobby to work. On one job, a senior tried to claim that if you would have spent the money in the office you shouldn't claim the expense on the road. The direction things were going they weren't going to compensate travel. - Experience at Larson Allen is not as highly regarded as experience at a Big Four. When I tried to leave Larson Allen, I had no Sarbanes Oxley experience and most of the clients I worked on were laggards in the Not for Profit world which didn't go over well with recruiters. - Industry Specialization limits perspective - I was told in my interview employees were given opportunities to jump from industry to industry. This in fact was very rare. In order to be given that type of latitude you had to be an excellent performer on the partner track. I started in the health care and there was no way out. While I was fine with health care, if you are entrepreneurial banking, real estate, or manufacturing would have offered a look at businesses I would have been more interested in. - The company thought very highly of itself - While people at Larson Allen would never admit this, most people reviewing a financial statement couldn't tell you if Wipfli, Larson Allen, or Baker Tilly prepared the audit. Larson Allen took this approach they were better than the other firms and knew more about their client's business than the client. - CEO & BOD highly revered. The CEO had a following that was almost creepy. You would have thought he was the head of State or something.
