Oliver Wyman Reviews

Pros

Opportunities for junior team members to interact with clients, work with internal leadership team
Ability to stay close to industry issues (e.g. in financial services)
Still a small-firm environment where individuals can have an impact

Cons

-as with other consulting firms, pace and type of work will vary with market conditions and client needs
-work/life balance will vary by project and client teams

Pros

Great international exposure
Assume responsibility earlier on
No need to get MBA

Cons

Requires a lot of travelling in Asia
Hrs get longer when you get more senior
Giving up China market

Advice to Senior Management

Should consider going back into China market. For the China market, should hire more locals as it is impossible for a team of foreigners to do business in China...

Pros

I really loved the people on my team; just very friendly, very competent people, with a reasonable amount of respect for work/life balance. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean all teams will be the same way.

Cons

My interaction with my team members was largely virtual, so it wouldn't be a good situation for someone looking to hang out with buddies after work all the time.

Advice to Senior Management

I think the leadership has changed since I was there, so hard to say. So far as my team was concerned, we ran ourselves very well on our own. Things don't really need to change--it's more a case of avoiding interfering with something that's going along fine.

Pros

The company is very vibrant and has a great culture that can not be beat. The people are friendly and very approachable.

Cons

If you are not buddy buddy with someone in the company, it will be hard to advance in the company.

Advice to Senior Management

Since most of the upper management has not worked elsewhere in the market, they are a bit skewed with their management styles and lack outside knowledge.

Pros

Good thought leadership, excellent work life balance availability to suport staff. Interesting to work with CEOs and top C-Suite teams.

Cons

Minimal salary increases for non-consulting staff are frustrating. Non-consultants are second-class citizens. Lots of change is exhausting to keep up with.

Advice to Senior Management

Practice what you preach, utilize better change managagement processes internally.

Pros

- Strong sector focus allowing for early specialization
- Very rapid career growth. If you're good, you should be looking at managing projects by the end of your 3rd year at the firm if you join as an analyst
- Fast path to partnership - average duration is 8 years
- Good compensation
- Decent work life balance

Cons

- Somewhat weak infrastructure support in terms of support functions
- Processes not very well entrenched

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work - we're going in the right direction

Pros

- Smart Individuals
- Great Projects
- Friendly

Cons

- Lack of brand recognition

Advice to Senior Management

Work on marketing efforts

Pros

Many advantages in OW Financial Services. Key ones for me:
Fast improving brand
Lots of upside
Great people, great fun
Excellent compensation all-in
Many opportunities to get involved in improving the firm

Cons

Parent company confusion - Oliver Wyman is a great brand in financial services, but what does Marsh and McLennan want?

Advice to Senior Management

More passionately target improving the firms reputation and brand
Sort out the MMC confusion
Accelerate the push into th CEOs office

Pros

Career path dependent only on your own work
Transparent bonus

Cons

The unpredictable lifestyle
Low brand recognition

Advice to Senior Management

Work on improving knowledge management

Pros

Overall, you are surrounded by driven and intelligent people at OW. The firm has some of the best workplace flexibility programs of any of the top tier firms (Non-profit fellowships, Paid leave of absences). Culture of the firm differs greatly by office, with that said Boston and NY offices are very entrepreneurial and seem to keep the “fun” atmosphere that the firm sells to your during recruiting. Not as hierarchal as other top firms (no formal 2 year analyst program, no requirement for an MBA to reach associate). If you want to move up fast without the required time frames or degrees then a great fit for you. Name recognition is good in the financial services domain, but many times you have to refer to Mercer Management Consulting to get recognition in the management consulting arena. Many career opportunities once you leave including a newly launched alumni networking website that shows job postings from well placed alums.

Cons

Like all other consulting firms, the hours are extremely long and you often will put in 80 hour weeks as an analyst. Training can be improved, but the firm seems to be working on that post merger with OW. Speaking only for GMC, opportunities are very limited if you are based out of any offices other than Boston or NY (you can maybe include SF in this also). If you are in a different office (namely Dallas) you will be pushed into the industry that the partners there sell work in (Aviation for Dallas). The office culture in Dallas is also extremely backward and “good ole” boy. Often Dallas based consultants work harder and less privy to the consulting perks as consultants in other offices. Finally, partners and associate partners outside of Boston / NY often get away with treating junior staff horribly and thus can cause unsafe working conditions (forcing an analyst to drive 1.5 hrs to his/her home to save hotel costs, not allowing the team to eat dinner until 11 pm, etc.)

Advice to Senior Management

Force integration of FS and GMC. Partners should be forced to share their IP within the firm rather then compete with other partners for the same business. We often re-invent the “wheel” when one of our colleagues has developed this somewhere else in the world.