Booz & Company Senior Associate Reviews

Pros

Lots of smart, down-to-earth people

Cons

Needs to do more strategy work in order to break into the tier of McK, Bain, and BCG

Pros

An great place filled with truly dynamic people, Booz is a great place to launch or accelerate a career, or make a long-term home for those interested in career consulting. As someone who has worked at multiple consulting firms the key advantages are: -A dynamic entrepreneurial environment; unlike the rest of MB3 consultants at Booz are free to work across many clients and launch their own products and offerings. Regardless of level, if you can think up a great project and a client wants to buy it you are free to do so. -A truly diverse environment; the company is filled not only with top tier MBAs, but PHDs, industry experts, and top consultants from various backgrounds and all parts of the world -Embracing the future: The company's new strategy is replacing the Monday-Thursday paradigm with a more flexible, and impactful travel model. We go onsite and meet with our clients where and when it makes sense, not just because its the thing to do.

Cons

While more flexible than other places the hours are still long and the work is still challenging, and management consulting is not everyone's cup of tea. While the overall firm is leading the way with a new work model, change takes time and as team member you have to be cognizant of the style of people around you. The hub offices offer great experiences for employees (e.g., New York, San Fran, Chicago, etc.), but some partners still insist on maintaining and attempting to recruit to offices off the beaten path (e.g., Cleveland) and need to come to terms with the reality of where high value consultants want to work and live in the new economy.

Pros

Brand image (for now) If your work style is truly autonomous and you have an aggressive attitude towards work, you'll find a home here

Cons

Ineffective mentoring system (mostly works to reinforce the negative aspects of the culture and can backfire during your own appraisals) Appraisal system places more emphasis on negative experiences/skills to improve, while down-playing or ignoring positive ones (i.e., the bad was awful, while the good was an outlier) Staffing is dog-eat-dog, which works against new employees (e.g., spend more time trying to get staffed on appropriate projects than developing your skills through formal training) Extremely subjective and distorted appraisal reviews (i.e., feedback is captured several months after the fact) Poor project management skills (i.e., deliverables are rushed without clear timetables and prioritization is rare) Knowledge management and knowledge transfer is dismal... you either know on your own, or you'll have a hard time finding it in a timely manner -let alone, get some solid advice from seniors... this will likely work against you at appraisal time Arrogance like I've rarely encountered elsewhere (total turnoff and not conducive to learning... know-it-all attitude in an industry that requires inquisitive minds and questions)

Pros

Exceptional leaders and co-workers, intellectually challenging and interesting work, exposure to C-level client leaders, opportunity to establish an excellent network of clients and coworkers, access to top-tier career opportunities post-Booz, very generous compensation, benefits and business travel policies

Cons

Not going to lie, the hours are very long and often spill over into weekends, just part of the deal at this level, critical to find a good partner or two to be your patron saint and help keep you staffed on the most desirable projects

Pros

While the work hours are sometimes outrageous (after 2AM I begin to question if we can possibly be thinking clearly) the work is interesting and challenging.

Cons

See above. Also, the management took an enourmous payout when the firm separated, and missed the opportunity to make big investments to bring us up to the level of BCG / McKinsey. We are now a solid #4 who is unlikely to catch up.

Pros

- Really smart people - Great professional development opportunities - Good brand recognition - Great compensation and perks - Terrific mentorship and development opportunities - Established c-suite relationships

Cons

- Greater diversification to new markets needed - Prone to business cycle fluctuations due to smaller size - Small budget for marketing

Pros

Interesting clients and projects. Smart project team members. Challenging in a good way. Is a great way to set up long term career in terms of compensation and interesting job opportunities.

Cons

Work / life balance is very challenging. As much as seniors want to put programs in place to better this, it remains challenging. The projects are demanding and require more than standard industry hours.

Pros

Great place to work. I have not really met any single person that I've not enjoyed working with. Company seems to reward people well with promotions. Get to work on some interesting problems. I've had good work-life balance

Cons

Some lack of direction. General obsessiveness of beating McKinsey, or using them as a benchmark, as opposed to just focusing on what we do best and going with it

Pros

Access to multiple companies / senior management in a short period of time Access to best practices across industries you are interested in

Cons

Long hours, travel Monday - Thursday - as for any other consulting company As you plan to move out it is hard to make a case on functional knowledge to potential employees

Pros

> Always ahead of the curve > Opportunity to work with some of the very smart professionals > Senior Executive Access to industry leaders and trendsetters > Extremely lenient of internal admin and operations front

Cons

> Very very long hours > Requires family compromise resulting in high attrition