High potential but high expectations - Associate Exponent Employee Review

4.0
Feb 4, 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The opportunity to see the inside workings of very secret consumer devices to charged litigation cases to intense government research is something people at Exponent can see on the same day. Generally, there is an atmosphere of teaching, mentorship, and communal respect for each other. The pay is not very competitive at the beginning but quickly makes up for the life you've had to leave behind to be successful.

Cons

The expectations are high, the people who are successful have to sacrifice their personal lives, family, and selves to succeed. I have to be honest, I thought I could continue to do that after 4 years of graduate school but the burn out is real. Single income and not wanting to live in a tiny apartment is practically impossible off the salary of Exponent in the heart of the Bay Area. There is an attempt to teach management skills to supervisors but it often falls flat due to the nature of the person who is successful at Exponent - data driven, antisocial, blunt people with doctorate degrees in engineering. Not sure what they expected to happen.

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
May 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Diverse work, intelligent and ambitious colleagues, above average compensation package for newly minted PhDs. Giving 2 stars simply because of these perks.

Cons

Extremely poor work/life balance, high pressure on billable hours/utilization, cutthroat/burn-and-churn culture, weak management, poor mentorship opportunities (didn't feel inspired by many leaders), sink-or-swim onboarding (I think this has changed a little since I left), ton of gatekeeping around promotions, and worst of all.... there's very little humanity present in the culture. Almost everyone I knew didn't fundamentally feel as if their office, practice, and/or manager cared about them as a human. Bad managers get promoted so long as they're revenue generating. I would not recommend this company to be a person's first choice.

2
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