Booz Allen Hamilton Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Booz Allen Hamilton as a contractor for more than a year

Pros – Post BAH, the firm maintains a strong point in my resume, despite seeing the way the sausage is made.

Cons – Overall, there's tremendous infighting amongst the middle to upper leadership that leads to staff confusion, missed opportunities to serve clients, and overall staff development. Also, retains a very militaristic hierarchy even in the healthcare practice. Also - the title "Senior Associate" for folks with 20 years of experience? Seriously?

Advice to Senior Management – Create a healthier culture, stop the infighting and listen to your associates and senior associates more

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Booz Allen Hamilton full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) is pretty stable if you work in the technology sector despite changing government sector. If you work in Cyber, Systems Development, or something related your job security is pretty stable. Even when contracts funding becomes problematic I have never found issues finding new projects.

One thing I love about BAH is that they seem to offer pretty flexible schedules which helps work-life balance. It all depends on the contract though. If your offsite at a government office things are pretty limited depending on the contract, but if your working onsite management wil let you work from home at times and with the new hoteling model you can eliminate long commutes altogether.

I think BAH offers plenty of opportunities to network with individuals even though hoteling model has taken away from this somewhat. There are plenty of forums, focus groups, and events to give you an opportunity to meet people across the company.

Cons – BAH is extremely political. You may find yourself in hot water at times for saying the "wrong" thing. The "wrong" thing depends on the person and can range from just being honest and at times not responding at all to something. The culture at BAH can be troubling at times. From my experience individuals tend to go to someone's direct report about an issue rather than resolve the issue with the individual. Management from my experience has accountability issues when it comes to their own decisions when things go awry.

Moving up in BAH will require you have the right people in your corner. Again this is about politics more than anything else. Who your friends are and who is backing you is very important. Nevermind what your peers think it's more about WHO thinks WHAT that matters.

Recently, there has been an exodus of people leaving the firm. As others may have echoed in their reviews the firm was purchased by Carlye Group and Investment firm. Things began to rapidly change afterwards. What also hurt the company was the decision to go public. As a result of the new market and declining earnings, the ECAP (401k) program will be revamped giving employees less employer contribution. Many benefits have been reduced or eliminated. Employee rewards are less, networking events (that cost money) have been eliminated, and PTO accrual rates have been reduced.

BAH was a dream company to work for 5-6 years ago, but they are slowly becoming an average company that does not pay competitive wages according to the market. What attracted people to BAH was the culture and benefits. Both are a shell of their former selves.

Advice to Senior Management – Whatever it takes go private and eliminate Carlye. Return the company back to its people first culture. Find ways to differentiate BAH from other consulting firms. As of now nothings distinguishes BAH from any other government contractor.

Invest in employees. To be competitive on the market and provide clients with the most up to date technological services, you have to be willing to assist staff. For example, BAH has wanted to do mobile technologies for some time but has not seriously invested much to it. Lotteries for mobile training isn't enough this needs to be company wide.

Restore the ECAP. Revamp has hurt employees morale and willingness to deal with much of the changes. Keep the company as midsized company. Stop the takeshare program that brings in questionable talent. Finally, retain quality staff. You get what you pay for.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Booz Allen Hamilton full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – When your work hinges on the economic health of the US Government, one can't help but worry about job security. In this state of sequestration, I still have a job! Booz Allen is managing it well. They are doing what they can without cutting too many corners for their staff. We still have training, and a supportive management structure to help us build our careers.

Cons – Once you're on a contract, it's great! It means your billable and billable is good BUT if you want to do something different, moving around is near impossible.

Advice to Senior Management – Try to utilize inside talent more in open requisitions.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Booz Allen Hamilton full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Great benefits, good work/life balance

Cons – Very matrixed (i.e., too many bosses), experience greatly depended on competency of your manager

Advice to Senior Management – Managers need to be more focused on their staff

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Booz Allen Hamilton full-time for more than a year

Pros – Depending on the contract assigned to, you will have an opportunity to work with very smart professionals. Booz Allen is a large company with many opportunities, be aggressive with your career.

Cons – Large company and very easy to get lost and feel like a number. Collateral duties can overwhelm a person. Long performance review process.

Advice to Senior Management – Reduce the amount of work needed in the performance review process. Allow an employee's work performance dictate promotions.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Booz Allen Hamilton full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – - Great reputation; looks great on resume
- Lateral mobility is present if you are willing to jump for it
- Great people

Cons – - Recent and ongoing changes are driving out talent
- Reputation includes working people to the bone without commensurate compensation
- Sequestration, going public, and changing culture are eroding internal trust

Advice to Senior Management – Stop instituting policies that appease the shareholder at the cost of the employees. Stem the tide of confidence-eroding policy changes and personnel actions.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Booz Allen Hamilton full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Work ethic and training are excellent to build and maintain industry insight and get a leg up on the market.

Cons – Dependent on projects to ensure your success not knowledge or skills. Once a project is completed you may get curbed. Lack of lateral movement.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Booz Allen Hamilton

Pros – Great projects
Great client exposure
Large Federal footprint

Cons – certification opportunities for worker development

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Booz Allen Hamilton full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Decent pay and easy enough job. Everyone gets their own office (YES NO CUBICLES!) unless you're at the client site.

Cons – Used to be a great place to work until the company split from Booz & Co and went public. Now they're just hiring anybody and taking away all the incentives to work there.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Booz Allen Hamilton full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – 10% salary to 401k and one class per year is free

Cons – Pick up the Management Consulting scraps from Delloitte

Advice to Senior Management – Not as advertised

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company