Stay for 2-3 years, then get out on your own terms - Consultant Deloitte Employee Review

2.0
Apr 8, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Deloitte is like any major corporate giant that you can think of - you may be the most creative, amicable, dependable team player, but in the end of the day, you're just one tiny cog in a huge mechanism. And make no mistake - the senior leadership (not the Senior Managers or your regular engagement Principals, but those who actually make hiring decisions) will have absolutely zero qualms about "making the difficult decision to separate" at literally an hour's notice. This is an up or out mentality, and that is perfectly fine, but this is probably the only place I've ever worked that has such little respect for its employees, once it sucks all juices out of them. That being said, I've met some of the most amazing colleagues here - people who have truly become my friends and mentors. These are the relationships I will take with me for years to come. So take this job offer with a grain of salt. (Also, they will tell you that you're part of just 1% of the applicants who get accepted. This is a lie. Don't drink the Cool-Aid.) Use this company to build your resume - you truly WILL grow professionally and personally, that is a fact. But you will work to the bone for it - crazy hours; always on call (don't believe the Flexibility and Predictability hype); the super-competitive people who will throw you under the buss whenever it may suit them. Deloitte is a shark tank - no more, no less. So take it as such, and make the best of it. Then, after 2-3 years, get out, and join the living in a smaller consulting firm, or elsewhere.

Cons

- Cut-throat culture - Counselors are often inept and downright damaging to your career - No accountability for leadership - Salary decisions have zero visibility - If you have a clearance, you are pigeon-holed into certain jobs - Ratings are extremely subjective. Because most people in the federal sector work for the same client for at least a year, their ratings are usually done by the same person - which can be an awful idea, since it's extremely subjective and defeats the entire purpose of ongoing performance conversations (By the way, ratings are NOT shared with the employee throughout the year! You only get a composite "snapshot" at the very end, when it's too late)

Explore other reviews about Deloitte

5.0
Jun 7, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Strong resume value and brand recognition. Good career development opportunities Generous paid holidays.

Cons

Compensation may lag the external market. Promotion timelines can be slow.

5.0
Aug 4, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

These folks know exactly what they are doing. They set high standards, and consistently deliver. Their project expectations and planning is excellent. The top level management folks are extremely smart and have a great sense of vision and planning. If you go to company social events (which are very frequent by the way), it is quite easy to have conversations with upper management people (Partners). Deloitte's hiring pattern is very consistent. For the young starters, they hire smart, well spoken, and subtly aggressive candidates. They have excellent training and knowledge management. They have a well oiled and empowered HR and Tech Support group. Things get done pretty fast. Their paid time off program is really great, and pretty straight forward. No messing about. They have a big social responsibility program that encourages volunteering. It also presents a great opportunity for youngsters to take event organizing responsibilities. This can be very very useful. Once, I volunteered for an event where we painted rooms for an orphanage center. There was a young guy who did the organizing. We were 10-12 people, with 3 senior executives actually doing paintwork. Quite unique. I have personally seen that Deloitte's top talents tend to start young, spend a 3-4 years, then take a hiatus to pursue a Graduate Degree (typically an MBA). The firm sometimes re-hires these consultants after their MBA with generous financial incentives. They offer much better packages to folks graduating from top universities. Sometimes they can offer huge joining bonuses. I worked in the IT consulting division.They tend to get top-end projects. On projects, the average age seems pretty low. A lot of 20-somethings, then there are a handful of 30-40 year old people and some senior Management folks. Beginner salaries can be a bit low. (which is expected. It takes some time to build credibility in the Consulting business) Overall, a great place to start your professional career. If you pay attention, you will get seasoned very quickly.

Cons

Work-life balance can become poor, especially during tight project timelines (This is expected in the Consulting Business). The employees have a significant amount of "firm-internal" training and knowledge contribution tasks. There are annual goal expectations. It can get tedious if you continuously work on high demand projects. There is intense competition, especially during targeted promotion/milestone years. There can be some backstabbing. It's part of the experience. It is not as bad as it sounds, and seems manageable. A lot of times, being young and inexperienced has it's flaws. The company has a simple way of seasoning consultants. They get pushed into high pressure situations, and they learn fast, and quickly start managing their own work. But they tend to be blind towards intricate details, especially in complicated IT product implementations. This has an interesting effect. If someone is able to do the hands-on work, everyone else tries to piggy-back on that person for their actual work. The hands-on guy gets overwhelmed, and others try to use him/her as a key resource. -- I personally went through a crunch project, and found a number of people "managing expectations" (piggy backing), while a handful of people actually knew the end-to-end solution and did the hands-on work. This created a lot more work and mental anguish than needed. Because of the expressed pressure, the hands-on guys have a hard time building and growing their reputation and subsequent performance evaluation rating. This also affects the project execution timelines. IMPORTANT: Make sure you thoroughly read through your employment agreement and understand the implications. In recent years, they have started hiring for specific projects ONLY. This falls under a particular "AMS service line". In this case, if your assigned project gets into a problem, you are exposed to the risk of employment termination. Their HR and Management are very helpful, and they will try to get you a new project. But there are several constraints like location, your skills, and limited time. I went through this, and it was somewhat unnerving. This was one of the reasons I ended up leaving the company.

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