Pros
They are great at hiring many fresh, smart, and talented individuals from different background. The office building is beautiful, impressive, and bright. There is the option of catered lunches every day, and dinners are catered too during tax season/busy times. The initial impression that I had was simply being completely impressed. This was the initial impression. I was also a recent graduate with my bachelors degree, and this job seemed ready to develop and give me a great amount of skills. Skills that I have developed: Project Management Interview skills Consultation skills in response to clients of various industries and backgrounds Ability to pivot and respond to different and challenging questions from clients Exposure to different industries and what they do
Cons
After a few months, the shiny and new wears off, and you will realize that you have no work-life balance. The people who are high performers have managed to delegate their work to others around or below them, which enables them to leave a little earlier...as in leaving by 7-7:30 pm instead of later. Most of the highest performers work their weekends, and go home and work some more on their assignments at night. This was frequently expressed and repeated by these individuals, as if there is truly a need to let everyone know that they are working very, very hard. It is looked down upon if you don't work this much, all the time, at all times. The training program is constantly changing, but not truly evolving. The people who come in only a couple of weeks behind you will be put into a completely different trend of training and classes. Overall, the training is inconsistent, confusing, and the grading given can be mostly subjective. There is also the issue of some individuals getting personalized training, and others being left on an island and boggled down with work assignments that keep them from developing. When this disparity occurs, management, as in their team Directors and Associate Directors, are constantly bringing in the individual for constant updates and micromanagement discussions on where the individual thinks they stand in comparison to the newer trainees who are given more tools and increased help and mentor-ship from the very beginning. The Company constantly insists on development, personal work and being rewarded for your hard work, but their tools are few and far in between to fully develop their associates into rounded employees. The opportunity for bonuses on top of your base salary are possible, but they are extremely difficult and at times are unrealistic for younger employees. Priority and tools are given to the Senior Associates, and those Associates who have managed to become very, very, very friendly with their Directors and Associate Directors. If your Director, who is the decision maker along with all the other Directors on the floor on whether you advance or not, decides that they don't see much potential in you (this can happen very, very early on at this Company), then you will not be developed. This is subtle and very prolonged when this happens. You will not be given the tools, and you'll work even harder trying not to sink and get the ax.