Excellent colleagues with plenty of room for career growth
Pros
Leadership on the whole is extremely strong and generous with their time, ideas, and insights. The hiring bar is very high, which results in a working environment chocked full of extremely talented consultants, from college hires all the way up the chain. Work tends to be project-based (not staff-aug), local, and small-team oriented, so your individual contribution is not lost. There is a huge emphasis on coaching, mentoring, and relationships, both within the company and with the client. The nationwide salary structure is set to the penny by cohort level across all cities, resulting in less politics than other firms.
Cons
In some newer markets, there is a lack of established, on-the-ground leadership, which can lead to breakages in the local delivery model due primarily to a weaker sales pipeline. Other side effects include weaker client relationships which can result in a degraded experience for the team on the ground. Furthermore, the set salary structure means a consultant of the same cohort makes the same amount (to the penny) in NY or SF as they would in Houston. This is not feasible long-term as the fixed salary structure morphs the company from a higher end provider in Houston and Dallas to a low-cost provider in NY or SF. This impacts recruiting, cohort leveling, employee retention, and selection of work.