Employee beware - Senior Associate Exponent Employee Review

2.0
Apr 18, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Exposure to more variety of technical problems than you could possibly imagine

Cons

You are essentially responsible for finding your own internal work. You will only be fed for so long. After that grace period you will be scrutinzed weekly and your UT evaluated. Typical targte is 80+% but given that vacation and sick count against you, by working 40h week at 100% the maximum UT you can achieve is 90%. What does this tell you about work life balance? Expect the tiniest infractions to be blown out of all proportion at review time. Do not expect to be told what is really required of you to advance - they will not be upfront about. Senior staf are expected to bring in $150+k of business, promotion to manager requires $500+k, senior manager $750k-1M and Principal $1M.

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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

1.0
May 26, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Working with some brilliant and considerate colleagues.

Cons

Avoid this place unless you are ambitious about succeeding in the consulting field or purely desperate. If this is your first professional job, or if you are transitioning from another industry, do your due diligence first to understand how the utilization system works. You will be told that there are many different aspects of success beyond utilization, but in practice there are not. Before deciding to join, ask your hiring manager how much utilization you may realistically expect from the projects he or she expects to bring in during your first year. If your hiring manager does not seem to have a clear picture of this, they should not be allowed to hire direct reports. You may still accept the offer even if your manager does not have a clear utilization plan for you, but in that case, consider the role closer to a contractor position than a genuine FTE role.

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