Pros
Culture is a big thing in my opinion. The group of people you're going to be working with is anywhere from 22-30 range usually. I think management has done a great job at hiring the people that fit well in the group dynamic and allow for growth as a team. WORK LIFE BALANCE IS AMAZING. My day is always 8:30-5:30 no if's and or buts. Some perks are great, the time off (especially in CA) is awesome right out of the gate and allows for needed days off. Management is extremely accomodating and willing to work with you in any situation. This seems even more true now with the COVID-19 problems, management has been communicative and had a full plan set in place for such an event. They have been doing everything to keep us communicating, including virtual happy hours, fun email chains, etc. and I think one of the unspoken things that have been really good is their continued health care reassurance as well as continuously telling us as a whole that we have the ability to do free teleconferencing with therapists. Even before this though, when someone is sick, when someone just needs a day to themselves, everything is sorted no questions asked. Overall, while I will list some cons, I think the Pros (many that I haven't listed) outweigh the negatives.
Cons
So these will more or less be my own thoughts and might not be the same for other consultants in other offices. 1) While C-Suite has listened to us and given us a cost of living raise this past year, we're still considered low-income by more than 10k in NY, SF and LA-based on HUD guidelines.. I understand margins here, but if you don't want people to leave, you can't only give semi-annual raises that barely beat inflation. 2) The system for promotions is awful. It's actually the main reason I am leaving. Every person who comes in knows the cycle, 6 months CSDP, 1.5 years of consulting, then off to sales or specialist role, then another 2 years. You're losing a lot of great talent because you're sticking to these arbitrary timelines that make people question why they'd stay somewhere with limited upside (albeit, guaranteed). It just feels like you should be rewarding people on merit, rather than on time alone. 3) Healthcare and other perks: Healthcare, not great, 401K not great but not bad (4% match right out of the gate with vesting as time goes on), the lunch is most cities pays for like 1/2 to 2/3 but the options are so stale... It'd be more prudent to just give us per diem of the set amount and allow us to use it as we please (whether that be to buy groceries to eat healthier, etc.