Pros
- The pay is very good given the lack of responsibility. Also given skill and capability (misalignment), the company pays much more than other reputable employers. - Office life is very relaxed and highly stress-free, if not a little too much.
Cons
***Alarm bells during the interview process*** The interview process happened pretty fast, although there were certainly some red flags along the way. The initial "personality fit" questionnaire was not only lengthy, but the questions being asked seemed to lack purpose. My thoughts were that it didn't really matter what answer you gave at this stage. From past experience it's always good to be asking the question "What value does this give us?". Second stage interview was short, random and unfriendly. The interviewer (Partner) had no knowledge of my area and came across as somewhat disinterested. Whilst the third interview I was given a choice in case studies, one unrelated to my area and the other related, however very badly written. It was obvious that by the case study, the company had very little knowledge of my capability area. The interviewers again were people with little knowledge in the area of hire. Finally a brief conversation a Director failed to uncover any more details about the company asking questions such as "Expectations of the role", "KPI's, Metrics" seemed to baffle the Director in giving clear answers. ***A costly induction process*** The induction process took a full 2 weeks. This consisted of 1 hour sessions on every topic conceivable from "how we work", "HR introduction", "how the bench works and internal CVs", 4x "Industry specific intro's", several sessions on each key account plus a half day at a key client pulling in around 7 resources off project. A very costly and somewhat meaningless induction activity for new starters who will not be joining that account. My advice again would be to ask the question "What value does this give us?". If employees are not starting on a specific account, there is little use in spending hours communicating all the details of that account. Furthermore, customise the induction given the consultants experience. Most consultants having worked for a previous Big 4 or consultancy will know how business works very well (and can probably improve the process lots). Therefore concentrate on what the gaps are. Don't waste resources time by pulling them away from billable work to give a lengthy inductions session. Lastly, inductions are given as new hires are made. Sometimes on a 1-2-1 basis. Efficiency is key, run an induction once a month for 2 days max! Get resources onto internal work ASAP if there are no project available. ***Hire instead of train*** In terms of other skills, the company does not believe in the value of training. They do not understand that skills need to be developed and would rather hire someone on 1) having worked previously for one of their clients, 2) having worked for a reputable company i.e. Big 4, or 3) having contacts to sell further business. On the last point work certainly comes from connections senior consultants have with existing clients (see point 1). However there doesn't seem to be much skill in how to sell or properly defined offerings to sell to clients. Even their core PMO offering is rather complex to understand. Lastly, the company is hiring like crazy right now and to me this is a worry as often consultants who are hired do not have projects in the pipeline to go to. There seems to be a lack of hiring strategy and to me the bubble will burst at some point and some probation periods will not be passed. ***Predominantly a PMO business*** The company sells a lot of PMO work. However speaking to consultants they often sound as if they are changing businesses dramatically with A.I. (which is actually Business Intelligence) when the only contribution made is project governance and reporting. You rarely hear of the "value that the company" actually delivers. Time again I have seen and heard of project that lack scope and resources are often floating without purpose. To me this is a huge risk of brand and reputation to the business not having defined roles or deliverables. Furthermore work is often sold as a "Project Manager" when actually they mean Business Analyst. Huge disconnects here of what a Project Manager is for a company whose core business is PMO ***Lacking key basic concepts*** The company operates with some key elements missing. There are no defined offerings or propositions, what does the company actually sell (want to sell?). For the work that is delivered, there are no defined methodologies or approaches. The quality of documents that are produced are often appalling and far below the standard expected by clients working with other consultancies. I've never seen a Table of Contents to tell me what I am about to be shown. Therefore deliverables often lack cohesive structure. Lastly, consultants seem to lack people skills (which is strange for consultants) in that I have yet to meet a person who gives even a partial introduction to who they are when you first meet them. ***Lack of leadership*** The company is ~30 years old, however is only ~120 employees. This to me also says a lot about the leadership. Although most senior figures are nice people, unfortunately none of them have ever worked in real consulting companies and therefore have no experience of how a consultancy runs. This then creates a disconnect between how leadership think the business should run and the skilled consultants they hire from previous Big 4. This may be a reason for high attrition rates. ***Envy over the Big 4*** I have heard too many times consultants of all levels (however mostly more senior) bad mouth larger companies and especially the Big 4. This really doesn't present very well and comes across as jealousy, envy of consultants who have either failed in these companies or don't have the skill to work there. It would often be celebrated when work is won from Big 4 companies. However in reality, the work won is too small to be on the radar of these companies and if this is untrue, it's really the low consultant day rates that tip the scales (a partner can sell for the same day rate as a senior consultant in Big 4). At the end of the day, these companies have reached where they are for a reason. This should be used as something to aspire to, not battle against. ***Summary*** My advice would be to avoid this company. However more specifically: 1) do not choose this company if you want to learn and develop a meaningful career, 2) do choose this role if you are not fussed about developing a career but want to get paid. Surprisingly the company pays a very decent wage, how I am not quite sure of the economics. But it is an easy job for excellent pay. From a Big 4 career I found it to be a 25% pay rise and 50% decline in responsibility and work load.
