Poorly Run Organization, But Learning Opportunities Exist If You Can Grin And Bear It
Pros
• Get to work with some of the largest companies in the world. Most clients are #1, 2, or 3 in their industry • Opportunities for international travel exist if you want them • Staffing on travel projects can be minimized if you want it to be, though you take a hit in promotion potential • Moderately smart consultants at entry levels (Associate, Senior Associate, and Consultant), though as was mentioned in another review, there are a lot of ‘second bests,’ especially in terms of communication skills • Advancement can come quickly, though often it is a result of a person working very long hours for weeks/months to right a sinking ship • It may sound sarcastic, but the bad management and communication skills that run rampant in the company actually provide a great opportunity to learn how to be a good manager by observing what not to do • Good pay relative to non-consulting jobs (though below industry average within consulting)
Cons
• Poor management with complete lack of transparency. Basic things like relevant available data, cadence of meetings, and project deliverables may never be communicated and may be surprisingly hard to get out of your manager. Larger projects commonly see duplication of effort and people working for hours/days on obsolete modules, particularly with our soft drink client • High volatility in hours compared to industry average. This stems from poor top-down communication, leading to a ‘hurry up and wait’ mentality that often ends with a mad rush before a meeting that could have been avoided through defined expectations and a project roadmap • Complete lack of training: building a valuable skill set is a combination of getting lucky in whom you’re staffed with, recognizing your weak areas, and a lot of google searches. Some people never build competency in Excel, data analysis, presentation flow, etc., and you’ll be forced to pick up the slack if you’re staffed alongside them • Office location is inconvenient: either commute 1.5 hours every day and live in NYC or commute 20 minutes and live in Stamford, CT • A decent chunk of the organization is analytically-competent but socially challenged individuals, leading to dysfunctional teams and poor communication across managerial relationships • Management attitude: from day one you’re made to understand that you are basically a disposable cog. Especially at the AC and SAC levels, your intellectual contributions are generally not welcome. As one VP put it, you’re there to be an ‘excel jockey.’ This attitude starves off any investment in the success of the project and any feeling of commitment to the firm • No one seems happy. Out of ~40 people that I interacted with only 2 did not either say or demonstrate their unhappiness at Mars.
