Would never recommend working here until the company culture drastically changes - Associate Exponent Employee Review

1.0
Oct 25, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

As a consultant you get to work on a variety of different project and gain a breadth of experience in a short span of time. You also get to work on very interesting and high profile cases that would not be possible outside of exponent Fairly high base pay for fresh PhD graduates. Gives first step for academic people to enter into industry jobs.

Cons

Burn and churn work environment; high turnover of very skilled and qualified employees due to burnout and bad company culture. Senior management is not trained in management skills and do not promote team work among employees , instead they push a very caustic, cut-throat dog eats dog work environment. They prefer employees to over work and clocking 60-80 hr work weeks are not uncommon. Management treats staff like they are pawns and not real people, no thought is given to personal development and career progression. They tend to hire fresh graduates/early career engineers/ scientists from big name universities and work them till they burnout and quit. This is evidenced by the extremely high turnover rate. Having a work-life balance is nearly impossible without getting threatened to be fired. If you are look for a stable career with good career progression avenues and are think of building a family soon this company is not for you, especially if you are a female employee.

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Exponent Response
8y
Exponent does provide a high intensity work environment. We are solving complex engineering, science, regulatory and business issues for a wide variety of clients which means we get to work at a fast pace to identify creative solutions. We do hire a lot of our employees directly out of their PhD programs and most of these employees thrive on the excitement of the work and their ability to contribute immediately. We do not have high turnover, especially for a professional services firm. The majority of consultants who leave the firm do so because they choose not to do consulting. Many become clients. We have tremendous focus on the professional development of our staff since most of our senior consultants progressed through their careers within Exponent. We provide internal and external training, employ a robust mentoring program, promote the importance of certifications, enable opportunities for research and publication, and perhaps most importantly, provide on-the-job project management and business development training. We are proud of our culture of scientific excellence and professional development. Sally Shepard Chief Human Resources Officer

Explore other reviews about Exponent

5.0
Mar 17, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits and great culture

Cons

Inconsistent workload but partly due to the nature of the business

2
2.0
Jun 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Many consultants successfully use Exponent as a stepping stone to larger tech companies. The project work can sometimes be very interesting and some consultants appreciate overtime and bonuses for long hours (albeit many feel they would earn more overall compensation at larger tech companies).

Cons

The company has very high expectations of its consultants and doesn't always provide the resources necessary to achieve their expectations. In order to grow after the first few years, consultants are generally expected to generate their own business, but some junior consultants feel they are not fairly given credit for business they help bring in. Many consultants feel the performance rewards are too delayed.

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