Close, but no cigar. - Manager Protiviti Employee Review

2.0
Feb 19, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

In some regards, projects are what you make them, and you have a great deal of leeway in how to best meet the needs of the engagement. Some projects enable us to get a great deal of learning opportunities for different industries and different company styles.

Cons

We always are late to the recruiting party and can't compete with other consulting/auditing firms. In that regard, the campus hires we get are second tier. I can't recall the last time we hired a good experienced hire. Management can't seem to figure out how to balance business development and project execution (execution usually is what suffers). Compensation is way behind consulting competitors (less travel used to be the balancing factor), but now we even can't compete with many industry jobs. On the work side of things, despite some half-hearted efforts to become more like the strategy firms, we never seem to be able to escape the image of being the SOX people. And we shoot ourselves in the foot frequently because we lack the skills, knowledge, and management to execute those kinds of projects in an effective way. Even non-audit jobs end up looking like audits.

Explore other reviews about Protiviti

5.0
Jun 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The WLB, people, and projects

Cons

The salary is below that of most other consulting firms

3.0
Mar 29, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1) Chicago office has a good culture, overall. It’s not perfect but most of the people are great. 2) Work-life balance score has been solid (about 5+ years of insights here) 3) Although it was not great this year, Incentive compensation has overall been pretty good over the course of 5+ years. Much better than big 4 in my experience.

Cons

1) Since 2023, the culture hasn’t been great for a variety of reasons (mainly due to sluggish performance and growing too fast) 2) It feels more like a temporary staffing agency versus a consulting firm for a lot of the time. 3) There has been an awkward push for a return to the office and more business development focus that is in stark contrast to what most Protiviti people value. 4) Most people I talk to say they are not motivated by most of the MDs they interact with (this is significant in my opinion).

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