BearingPoint Reviews in McLean, VA

I worked at BearingPoint

Pros – Good entry-level position. They are open to hiring college grads, which is alway nice to help break into the market. Lower level PM's have a lot of control so your work experience will be based on your manager. Mine was good. Be prepared to work off-site and be involved with clients. Responsibility will be given, if you so initiative.

Cons – No tangible work products means unfulfilling work, and often needing to 'look busy' since no work. In the DC area you will be working with the government, most likely, which can be very challenging. A bit stingy on raises in between promotions.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop staffing so many people. Numerous people were charging with no work.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at BearingPoint

Pros – The company provides for a good work life balance. The company also provides a good medial plan. The 401 K matching could improve.

Cons – The company leadership is too reactionary. The company has a very poor accounting systems which negatively impacts the decisions the senior leadership is making. Too make matters worse, a large portion of the management base performance on a metric called utilization, which is hours charged to a client divided by the net available hours. This is problamatic because it does not take into account the actual costs of the individuals working on the project, which may lead to a project running over it's budget.

Advice to Senior Management – Develop a strategy and stick with it. Hold senior leadership accountable. Get out of the office and go down to project teams to get a real idea of what is happening.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at BearingPoint

Pros – The career opportunities at BearingPoint are not limiting and there are a wide range of projects available. The company has 3 business segments: Public Service, Financial Services, and Commercial Services and then Finance and Accounting. The clients range from U.S. governments to financial services to other countries. If you prefer working with numbers then you can take your pick with finance and accounting and assist with preparing the books for our auditors.

Cons – The company is still recovering financially from restating its earnings from 2003, 2004, & 2005 & a couple of bas contracts and this has result a series of losses over the last couple of years. This has affected overall compensation, education benefits, and bonus pool. Additionally, communication from c-level leadership on where the company is heading especially while in period of red has not been honest.

Advice to Senior Management – Be clear, concise, and honest with your people to reduce retentions and keep the talent.

I worked at BearingPoint

Pros – BearingPoint offers excellent career potential. An individual can move up the ranks fairly quickly if proficiency is shown in applicable subject matter areas, and if you diplay leadership potential. Also, the ability to work on multiple projects for different clients provides exposure (though this is true of most consulting firms). BearingPoint is also pretty flexible in allowing employees to move around to find your niche (although its better to do this earlier in your career when your rate is fairly low). Typically, the firm offers a decent work life balance that is superior to other large consulting firms. All in all I would work there again.

Cons – Working long hours is sometimes required. Unfortunately the bonus structure doesn't always make up for the long hours worked. Depending on the industry you serve, you may be required to travel most of the time. If you don't mind the travel, its an excellent way to rack up frequent flyer miles and other points. Public Services typicall requires little to no travel. I worked with the firm for over 10 years and traveled no more than 5 to 6 times over the entir course of my employment. The only other downside is the firm still operates under a pseudo partnership model. In short, each managing director delivering consulting services is treated as an economic unit with gross and net revenue goals. My only issue with this is sharing staff becomes an issue when a Managing Director is not credited with the revenue of a staff member. They become less willing to share when they don't get the cash for their employee's work. This type of attitude is counterproductive for the firm.

Advice to Senior Management – The salaries for each position, especially management positions, needs to be reassessed to make the playing feel more level.. The firm should pay for performance. I've found that there is much, much disparity across management level salaries. Perhaps a pay banding approach with performance incentives is better suited. This will help level the playing field. Some are paid high salaries because they are a part of the "good ole boys network", while others work very hard and are sometimes not compensated as well.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at BearingPoint

Pros – If you need to just get into consulting and gain some exposure but you don't have the background to enter into an ACN or a Deloitte, then come to BearingPoint.

Cons – No bonuses, no standard of living raises, high turn-over, no tuition reimbursement, stocks are below a $1, company could be bought out, uncertain future, name recognition not as high as other firms.

Advice to Senior Management – Sell!

I have been working at BearingPoint

Pros – If you get into the right group, you might actually enjoy it!

Cons – Bad management who are always looking out for themselves.
Every man for himself.
Our group gets no bonuses, raises or promotions because management claims to have no funds in budget - that will happen when you spend $5M on outside/contractor services!

Advice to Senior Management – Learn some real leadership skills and walk the walk!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at BearingPoint

Pros – I can only think of one reason to work for BearingPoint, work life balance. Since the company hardly has any money for business development the business is not growing.

Cons – Management does not set defined criteria for advancing to the next level. Promotions tend to be based on senority rather than performance. The uncertain future state of the company has curbed all spending, and there are no investment dollars to grow business. In addition, BearingPoint does not support their employees in pursuing professional goals.

Advice to Senior Management – Make promotions based on performance and pay you're people what they are worth within the Solutions Practice.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at BearingPoint

Pros – Hardworking, smart people. Opportunities for advancement if you yourself take control. Interesting opportunities in various parts of the world. If required, in certain cases, the company will get you a security clearance.

Cons – The company says in theory it's possible to move around and gain more experience in different internal contexts, but in practice the groups are much more territorial. In having moved among groups, I actually feel like I beat the system instead of using it the way it's intended.

Advice to Senior Management – Need much better maternity leave benefits. Need better employee education benefits. Need to connect disparate parts of the company that work in the same regions.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at BearingPoint

Pros – Great place to start a career and learn the ropes. There can be some good help, leadership, development and management for younger candidates. There is access to top level people and depending on what group you are in, they would be happy to listen to concerns.

Cons – Complete lack of communication and consistency from client facing resources to corporate services. Processes and standards are not consistent. MD's and VP's are usually not willing or interested in getting to know staff on the corporate side. On the line, development is based on how "engaged" your MD is. It's a 50/50 proposition so make sure you get a good feeling from your MD and he or she actually interviews you in person.

Advice to Senior Management – Communicate more with your staff.

I have been working at BearingPoint

Pros – Some of the best people to work with (though it depends on group). Interesting and satisfying work.

Cons – Overhanging stock and debt issues. Difficulties exiting financial challenges.

Advice to Senior Management – Get acquired to rid the company of bad taste brought about by last three-four years of morale busting "we are turning the corner" pain.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend