Cornerstone Research Reviews

Pros

Generally a great place to work. Get to use skills learned during PhD program to work on interesting projects. The firm has been very communicative and transparent during the COVID pandemic. Things have slowed a bit, as they have almost everywhere, but the firm seems to be in a healthy position. No layoffs or furloughs, and long-term prospects are very bright.

Cons

Client services, so hours can be variable.

Pros

Great culture, constant learning opportunities.

Cons

Work hours can be volatile.

Pros

Before COVID, there was a good office culture. People are smart and nice, and tend to be more collaborative than competitive. There are interesting cases if you get lucky and you will learn some useful datas skills. Exit opps are not bad, including top grad school programs and tech jobs.

Cons

There are aggressive expectations for analysts. You will work long hours and on many cases at a time. Management doesn't seem to turn down business and instead pushes work downward. There is little regard for work-like balance or the general well-being of analysts since they expect you to leave within a few years anyways. Advisors are supposed to advocate for you but have no real incentive to do so. They also don't care about your preferences or goals when it comes to staffing. You will be staffed on whatever they feel like staffing you on, and many people get repeatedly staffed on certain case types even if they are not interested and no longer developing. Many of the managers and associates lack solid management skills, and analysts suffer. As you become more senior, you have to manage both upward and downward to compensate. Given all the cons to this job, compensation is mediocre. You may be working longer/harder than would be expected of a typical analyst due to your case load, and you will not receive any extra compensation. You can make much more and enjoy better benefits at a tech company. The company has grown quickly and has not adjusted their policies accordingly. They are years behind other companies in terms of diversity. The few diversity initiatives that exist have been created at the insistence of analysts or by necessity due to the political climate, rather than by any progressive leadership.

Pros

Fantastic culture, ultra smart colleagues

Cons

The work can be a bit repetitive but thats just the nature of consulting

Pros

High pay compared to other alternatives for an Economics major Adapted the internship well to an online format during the Covid-19 Pandemic Opportunities to learning programming and data science skills Wide ranging exit opportunities (Business School, Law School, PhD)

Cons

Tasks sometimes mundane (reading through legal documents, adding footnotes to expert report) Expected to move on after 3-4 years (though you may return after getting another degree)

Pros

The company understand that its 'lumpy' work (very busy/not busy periods) is challenging and implements sensible policies around this reality. There is a lot of access to senior employees at the company. Lots of development support, very collegiate environment.

Cons

The company is transparent about the hours and pace of work when you interview. The reality just feels harder for many people than they thought it would. Working up to or past midnight is something many employees are familiar with but these busy periods are rarely sustained more than a couple weeks. While the company tries its best to respect people's evenings and weekends, if there is a client demand or court deadline, the company will work as needed to meet it.

Pros

Very friendly coworkers, interesting work, opportunity to develop skills, good compensation.

Cons

Work regularly goes into weekends, late nights, etc.

Pros

Really great culture, good structure and training opportunities for new grads

Cons

Unpredictable hours, lack of control on case assignment