Pros
Your resume will look good for when you leave..especially if you are involved in campaigns that are seeking to raise $100mm+ You are given a lot a responsibilities and in some cases, the ability to work with higher level people at organizations, even if you don't necessarily have the "experience" to be there. CCS sometimes get desperate and will hire someone to fill an important position on a project that doesn't always have the credentials and experience to be there..this could turn out being you and you could all of a sudden have something great on your resume when you didn't beforehand. You will work with some people at CCS that have great ideas and become your lifelong friends. There are some in management that would fall under the same category.
Cons
Noted above, your resume will look good for when you leave..implying that most people end up leaving. The turnover at this place is extremely high..way higher than any other organization I have ever been a part of or colleagues of mine have ever been a part of. This is in part due to a variety of things: Relocation - this has been touched upon in other reviews and obviously comes with the job. CCS is a consulting firm and with consulting comes travel. It is important to note though that CCS doesn't have the operating model of a normal consulting company (M-Th travel, Friday office/home office). CCS directors are on location 7 days a week..CCS gives you a lodging stipend, as opposed to paying for flights, to offset the costs of having another place you live. This makes seeing family/friends at "home" harder/impossible considering you have to pay your way back every time. That of course is unless you happen to negotiate a deal with your managing director that they pay for you to go back home all the time. Only some people are given this opportunity, playing into CCS' very clear way of treating some employees better than others. Then, you may get a call one day that says they want you to move to another city for the next 6 months and they give you 1 day to do so. Meanwhile, you have to break your lease at the place you have been staying, pack, etc. -- they cover the costs, but provide ZERO assistance in helping you transition. All while you still have a job to do at the client you are working with. It is important to note that these projects at CCS can last anywhere from 1 week to 3+ years. However, you may go into a project thinking you will be there for 6 months..then next thing you know, they want you to stay for another 6 months, another 6 months, etc. While this means that you have a job, the uncertainty of what is coming next far exceeds this. Compensation - as noted above, CCS clearly favors some directors better than others. There are some directors who will be making double or triple what you are making (no exaggeration) while working on the same exact project as you, sometimes under-performing compared to you. Most people will say that they are all for fair compensation based on performance -- CCS, however, does not abide by this. You have your annual review -- they literally ask you what you are looking for in a raise -- advice to employees..just say like $40k more! They could possibly say yes. It's crazy. Meanwhile, others are working 80+ hours per week and barely getting by. Some employees also get things like free flights home, etc. There are no company-wide policies about this that are actually enforced/lived by. Everyone's situation is different and there is no autonomy throughout the organization. Management - as noted earlier, there are some in management with very good ideas and genuinely care about your interests. There are a lot that do not though. They will sometimes ask you what you would like your next project to be/where you would like to be located -- there is a good chance though that your next project will not be what you want or where you want it. Sometimes, this has to just do with the type of project available when your current project is ending. Other times, they just simply don't care and assign you to anything that is easiest for them. So don't be fooled..some of them will lie directly to your face..and you will believe them, despite hearing all of the stories of directors being given the run-around..that is, until it happens to you. Management is involved in all of the issues discussed above regarding relocation and compensation. They make those decisions and have no problem with the decisions they make. There also does not seem to be any plan in place in the foreseeable future to get employees on an equal pay scale relative to performance. Management acts like no one knows that this disparity exists because they are too naive to realize that all of the directors talk and have an idea of what others make (if not knowing exactly what they make). It's a different day in age where people are more transparent and they expect the same out of the organization that they work so hard for and sacrifice other aspects of their life for. It just seems that CCS is stuck in the past in terms of the ways they operate. Way of Life - As just mentioned, you will sacrifice other aspects of your life will working with CCS. Especially if you are on certain campaigns and need to work 80+ hour weeks, have meetings every night where you won't get home (your home on assignment) until 10pm, and have to work weekends. Most people know that you have to put in "your dues" to move up in this world and many are willing to do so. Working these hours with no real end game in sight though, is discouraging to most. Especially when you are then not compensated for the hard work that you have done or put on a better assignment when your current one comes to an end. There will usually just be a cycle of 80+ hour weeks where CCS owns your life and that will be it until you leave the company (as many decide to do) HR - you receive no support from HR. You would think that a company who has directors constantly relocating would be able to provide some type of support for housing, but there is none. You are told you are going to X city and how much you will receive a month for a lodging allowance. Good luck finding a place! That's about all that you are told. You have to find a place, furnishing, set up utilities, etc., the same as if you were getting your own place to live (which you already have and still have to maintain). Also, they don't handle the transition of moving out either, as mentioned earlier (dealing with your landlord to break the lease, canceling utilities, etc.). Other than that, they do maintain the payroll and that is how you get your paycheck, so I suppose you have to be somewhat thankful that they are able to do that in a timely fashion. Everything else though that you would expect from a consulting company is not there.