Pros
-Potential for exposure to different industries and sectors -Certainly have some big name clients in the Chicago area -Potential for a lot of down-time (if that appeals to you) on projects that are not challenging or excess time spent on the bench. -I never had to use vacation days for these reasons.
Cons
This is essentially a staffing agency that they try to position as a consultancy. 1. Little to no exposure to DLC colleagues, which leads to lack of culture (even though they like to think they have great culture through providing an extra day off or sending you a quarterly care package / gift) 2. You have little input and decision making in the projects to which you are assigned. DLC's business model is such that they erode margin every day you are unassigned, so that's their priority vs getting quality projects aligned with a consultants growth goals 3. You can get assigned to a role that is below your pay grade and experience (i.e. lack of development). I had 8+ years of an experience and in one of my roles was essentially backfilling analyst and/or senior analyst job responsibilities 4. Opportunity to earn a bonus much less than how they portray it during the interview process. You either need to be an ancillary business development rep for them and generate leads to earn a bonus, or you need to bill more than 40 hours/week. What they don't tell you is some (if not most, but can't confirm) projects are fixed price and don't allow you to bill more than 40 hours. I was there for 1 year on three different clients and never had the chance to earn their "productivity bonus". 5. They don’t give you a 401(k) match until you’ve been with them for a year 6. I actually asked to be dually assigned to projects because one of mine was so slow - and that request was never met. You would think they would be all over an ambitious consultant trying to bill more hours. 7. DLC likes to tout their consultants as having really impressive backgrounds. I'd encourage you to review LinkedIn profiles of the current employees and make that judgement 8. I don't recall how they framed it during the interview process, but while on the "bench" / unassigned, you're required to do continuing education of some sort. This is the biggest joke out there. After you do your excel cert, you can get away without doing anything but it's the most ridiculous policy. If they want to create good culture - give some of that bench time back to the employees to enjoy their lives. It's not the consultant's problem DLC can't generate timely assignments.