Pros
Mentorship and training was very thorough for analyst. The good consultants and most associates will spend time with analysts working on pitch decks and other projects, and will happily mentor you. It's a great community of analyst that are also straight out of college or early career. A lot of times, analyst will know each other from other networks or be connected in some way such as from the same hometowns or from the same college. That's a nice benefit if you are a part of those networks, but it can often times leave others excluded if they are not part of those networks. The work itself is very cool and interesting! If you are someone who really enjoys digging around the internet for information on people and companies and then analyzing that information to inform decisions, you'd be perfect for the role! You know everything before it drops in the news and its very thrilling! The expectation is that analyst work 2 years then move onto grad school, stay on the associate track, or leave the company. There is always a lot of energy driven towards helping you figure out grad school plans. If you want that network of support in helping apply to grad school, they will be happy to help. However leaving for another company is really kind of looked down upon, even if its not another executive search company.
Cons
In general, very old school and elite company. There are functional purposes for the conservatism of Spencer Stuart -- i.e. you're often time in decision-making rooms with some of the most important industry leaders in the world, so it makes sense to be very secretive and quiet about the clients you work with and wear suits to meetings . However, more and more, the standard of business is moving away from such conservatism, so Spencer Stuart really needs to get up to speed with the times (i.e. increasing diversity at all levels, being a more inclusive company, caring about employees as much as you care about clients). The work hours vary, but for the most part you are working more than you should be for what you're being paid. Analysts at banks (not even talking about investment banker analyst) work similar hours and make 30% more in total comp in NY. Spencer Stuart hires the creme of the crop from out of college, so if you got an offer at Spencer Stuart, chances are that you also had other offer that would have paid more. If the client asks for something in the morning, you're up all night making changes to the document or doing the work until the team feels like its good. It teaches you discipline and client-focus, but its tough to deal with for the salary that is offered. The management structure is not well thought-out and can often times leave you hanging in the wind without an advocate. There is an analyst program manager as well managers in your direct practice. For the most part, you will almost never work with the analyst program manager unless you're working on ad-hoc internal projects. And its very possible that your direct manager is not someone you work directly with either. So often times, you are getting work from the various associates and consultants on your team and working directly with them without the manager being involved in your workload or day-to-day work life. Who you work with is often times not clear, and your manager has very little visibility into your work life, so it's very difficult for them to step in between you and the influx of work from associates and consultants. In general, executive search as an industry is a very viable career option ... if you are 50+ with a former career and a network of people to reach out to. If you are new in your career and learning, the opportunity for growth and respect is a very difficult hill to climb. If you just want to learn to be a business analyst, you will be able to really hone those skills, but if you want to be promoted and eventually be an associate then consultant, it could take you 3 years to get promoted to associate, even if you're doing associate work 8 months into the role. After that, it could be anywhere from 3 years to 6 years before you're promoted to senior associate, and reaching that valued consultant spot internally is a huge bottleneck that could take who knows how long... Although it will always be 3x longer for women and people of color. That being said, I would jump at the opportunity to work at Spencer Stuart once I'm 50+ with a former career and a network of people. That's when you get the most bang for your buck and are respected and valued as a professional both internally and to clients. The consultants are really really smart people!