Pros
Protiviti is consistently ranked as one of the best places to start a career and I could not agree with that more. During your first few years you are provided an opportunity to see a lot of companies quickly and engage at a higher level than if you were with the Big 4 or corporate. However, most of my projects at the start of my career was more consulting focused than internal audit so this may not consistently be the case.
Cons
Once the first year honeymoon period is over here is what you have to look forward to: - No input into your schedule or career future. Even if you've expressed dissatisfaction with particular types of project you will still be staffed if there is a need causing employees to be pigeonholed and ultimately unhappy. - Seems as if management is chasing only sales credit. Even awful projects with low revenue will be sold which benefit neither the client or company. Since at a certain level management is measured on how much they can sell there is really no other concern but $$. - Zero regard for the "best employees" cornerstone. If a client wants something you must drop everything to meet their needs. Often managers do not have a backbone to push back on clients when expectations are unrealistic or may impact employees. - Protiviti is essentially an internal audit firm attempting to be a consulting firm. While the leadership team continuously talks about growing Risk and Compliance and IT Consulting most projects seem to be IA focused and the executive team is made up of tons of former auditors. - Consultants are told not to "eat hours" (work them and not charge them in) however when the budget is tight this happens all of the time. Consultant bonuses are based off of how many hours are worked and not charging them can reduce end of year bonuses. - A 401k matching program exists however the matching portion of the program is not paid until December 31st meaning no interest or no match if an employee leaves before December.
