ICF reviews

3.7

70% would recommend to a friend

(2,740 total reviews)
avatar

John Wasson

82% approve of CEO

54% positive business outlook

ICF has an employee rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars, based on 2,740 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The ICF employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Management & Consulting industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

3K reviews
4.0
Jan 27, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1. If you want to do non-profit work for profit, this is the company you should work for. 2. Flexibility - the company offers salaried part time position (working 30 hours per week) and variable part time positions (paid hourly). one can also work from home.

Cons

A salary is a bit low compared to other firms.

5.0
Jan 14, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The company is fully of extremely mission-oriented people who are working to make a positive social difference. There is a sense that everyone is coming to work to get down to business with their own part of savings the world. This sense of purpose engenders a strong team spirit and collegial atmosphere that focuses on cooperation over competition. Unlike some other firms in this industry there is not a sense of different offices as "dueling profit centers." Instead there is a general recognition that we all benefit from working together and that getting the job done is more important than whose budget something accrues to. I also appreciate the deep technical expertise here in so many areas. At some firms in the consulting industry there is a poker-faced game of "we've never done that before and don't know much about it, but just tell the client that we'll do it, and we'll figure out 'how' later." At ICF I am consistently impressed by the expertise present at all levels in many practices - usually there is someone who *has* done it before and *does* know a lot about it. This earns my respect and makes me feel like there is leadership I can trust. At the same time there is a trust in staff and a willingness to appreciate innovation wherever it arises. I think this allows junior staff to grow quickly, and motivates them to do their best work. This is not a formulaic place and there is a lot of room for younger employees to put their own mark on the work that comes out of ICF.

Cons

ICF is in a phase of rapid growth after its IPO as a public company in 2007. This has its upsides of course, but it is also engendering a shift to a more investor-profits-driven mentality at the top. While this may be appropriate business practice, it may put some strain on the organizational culture to meet these growth goals. The company's culture of excellence and expertise may be challenged by the requirement to rapidly expand successful groups beyond their current size.

3.0
Oct 29, 2008
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Flexibility to work off-site and from home, with a good work-life balance (generally no more than 50 hours/week). Smaller practices and lines of business make it easier to get to know senior management. Everyone generally has an open door policy and senior managers are easy to approach. Company is growing with a variety of new opportunities, particularly good if you are interested in consulting for the public sector.

Cons

Focus is primarily on the federal government, so if you're looking to get into consulting for the commercial sector, ICF is not the best bet unless you have a focus on the energy industry. Company is growing, so strategic direction, communication, priorities, and expectations are not always clear. Management's focus is very heavy on employee utilization, making it difficult to maintain a "bench", focus on developing offerings, and growing business. Pooir internal communication and information sharing about the full range of offerings and capabilities within the company, making it difficult to cross-sell or to tap into specific areas of expertise quickly, so sometimes feels like you're reinventing the wheel on projects.

Viewing 2734 - 2736 of 2,740 Reviews

Glassdoor has 3,012 ICF reviews submitted anonymously by ICF employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if ICF is right for you.