SMART and Associates Reviews

Pros

The benefits were great. A lot of exposure to partners and senior management. All the people there were very supportive. Overall a great experience.

Cons

The pay was a little below average.

Pros

Good people.
Oppty to grow.
Recognition for accomplishments.
Ability to take hands-on responsibility for work.

Cons

Not always a good flow of info from mgmt down.
Sometimes caught short-handed on staffing.

Advice to Senior Management

Be pro-active in hiring and developing new employees.
Provide more info to employees about day-to-day business.

Pros

Rapid growth opportunity, flexible schedules, best idea wins, lots of time off, telecommuting ok, good healthcare, comfortable work atmosphere, fairly laid back, social promotion not practiced, wide variety of assignments, structured methodology, real boutique consulting experience, opportunity to break into consulting

Cons

financial outlook grim, all employees bear the load if performance is down (regardless of individual performance), some senior management have large egos and can be condescending, certain people have been lied to about where their career is headed or what an assignment might be, you could be working in an area you don't enjoy, bonus program doesn't formulate, squeakiest wheel seems to get oiled first / too many back office politics

Advice to Senior Management

work on long term vision, reward employees for individual efforts across the board, increase sale closing rate %, revamp interview/screening process

Pros

If you're green behind the ears, live in Devon PA, like to work in an "Office Space" type environment with limited career goals I guess it's not such a bad place to work after all. For a seasoned professional, you will find the environment very uninspiring. You maybe able to learn about the art of bending the truth to make the sale if that interests you.

Just recently they received a capital infusion from Great Hill Partners.

Cons

The "strategic" vision for the entire company can be summarized as "follow the money".
Completely uninspiring dull place to work (think "Office Space" - complete with Bill Lumberg).
Lack of professionalism in pretty much every aspect of day to day.
Egos that should get their own zipcode.
Subpar intellectual capital, you'll end up teaching them.

Advice to Senior Management

quit following the money and try to build a culture.

Pros

Good starting point for recent college grads due to the fair salary and work life / personal life balance. As a young professional at SMART, there is a great opportunity to work with others in your peer group since it is a fairly young company. It is not as travel-inducive as some other consulting firms that my friends work for and that is always a positive.

Cons

There is not much room for career development due to lack of communication from senior management and the type of work SMART does. I sometimes felt that they just hired grads from good schools and that was enough for them in terms of helping out their own company. There was not a priority placed on the development of their young talent.

Advice to Senior Management

Involve consultants more in upper level meetings and communicate with your employees the direction of the firm more frequently.