KPMG reviews

Being idle is rewarded, so long as you show face at your client. I tried to leave before 9pm after they ran out of work for me to do, and was penalized for it. The people who work here sadly think that this is normal. Work/life balance isn't in their vocabulary. I once asked for an example of work/life balance and my interviewer told me that the company let him take off to see his wife in labor. If he was thankful for that time off, what's the point of having a kid? But I'm sure he'll make a good living. I'd rather live my life and be a little less wealthy than eat dinner at the office for 10 months of the year.

Consulting is not for everyone. If you are in the technology space, you basically operate in a horizontal that has no industry affiliation. That means you may end up bouncing from client to client across different industries, starting from scratch every time, and taking on the associated stress along with it. Quite often it’s just a glorified staff augmentation model, where the client wants a body with a certain skill, and KPMG is more than happy to provide as its revenue anyways. Be ready to spend time on the road 3-4 days a week, every week. If you have a good amount of work experience, expect to spend a lot of time managing projects with kids straight out of college who have been “sold” to the client as “experts”. Given that you’ll be out at client sites with different KPMG teams (from offices across the US), you may be a stranger to colleagues in your own office in spite of being with the firm for a long time. Additionally, you have to be constantly in billable projects (to maintain your utilization, which in turn impacts your bonus), participate in sales and support, community activities, administrative activities, and other extra curriculars. It sometime just gets too much, with too little in return for all the stress and anxiety. Work life balance is in name only. In the end, it all depends on your preference and goals. All the points I have listed are more reflective of the consulting model itself, and not necessarily unique to KPMG.