Employee Review
- Former Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Great place to learn--set me up well for a career in consulting
Jan 10, 2023 - Consultant in Providence, RIRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Greenwich Strategy has been around for over 25 years under the same leadership. Clients have almost all been working with the firm for years, and they stick with the company due to the quality of results that they see. I was on many readouts with clients where they would say that we consistently delivered the highest quality work that they saw from any of their advisors. All the work at this point is private equity due diligence. This can be a pro and a con, but in short, it means that projects are generally quicker (2-5wks, depending) and you'll end up getting a ton of exposure to different questions. Industries I looked at in my time ranged from electrical infrastructure to foodservice distribution and everything in between. The best part about working this way is that you're always learning. The work involves a lot of quantitative analysis (good to come in with a bit of a background, but also definitely learnable), but equally important is the qualitative side. This involves a lot of speaking with experts in the industries you are researching and can be some of the most rewarding parts of the job. You'd be surprised how much of the 'answer' can come from one good conversation with someone who really knows. All in all, this is a great place to learn. Everyone here is developing in some way or another, and Chris and Beth are very good about making sure that you have the opportunity to develop. Since leaving, I have been working at a top-tier consulting firm (with a generous referral from Chris!), and colleagues routinely commented at first at how well-prepared I was compared to many in my cohort who had either come from other consulting firms or business school. If you are looking for a place to build a potent skillset in a short amount of time, you could do far worse.
Cons
Hours can be very long--not unusual for consulting or PE work, but it can definitely feel like a grind on some projects. With that said, there is a good and very close-knit culture within the office, so you're always surrounded with good people at night (and for all intents and purposes, you're never working on the weekend). The work can also be very demanding at times. There is a good understanding that people come in with different skills, and a lot of time is invested in making sure that you have the resources to grow, but make no mistakes that expectations are high. There can and will be some very stressful situations, and mistakes end up costing the entire team. I never saw us deliver an answer we didn't have confidence in, but at times that could come with some pretty tense nights. At least everyone is in it together! Also I've seen other people mention this, but doesn't hurt to add--you're going to be in Providence. We list the jobs as Boston area, but if you don't live in Providence, you're not going to get any sleep. Providence isn't a con in and of itself (it's a great city, and I wish I were still there), but you should come in knowing that.
Continue reading
Other Employee Reviews
- Former Employee★★★★★
Excellent Learning Experience for the Intellectually Curious
Apr 26, 2017 - Anonymous EmployeeRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
The Work: The quality of work Greenwich Strategy produces is exceptional by any measure. The firm has built a very strong reputation over the last ~20 years for this exact reason. As a result, the firm rarely (if ever) pitches to clients, meaning that employees get to devote 100% of their time to creating meaningful work on active engagements. Projects typically last ~4 weeks for private equity and hedge fund clients, with corporate client timelines being more varied. As a result, the work itself is very fast-paced, and every analyst and consultant plays an active role throughout the project lifecycle. The Culture: Greenwich Strategy manages to create a unique work-life balance for its employees. With projects lasting an average of ~4 weeks, there is pressure on every employee to make meaningful contributions every single day. This creates a degree of intensity most people haven’t experienced professionally. While the work is intense, Greenwich Strategy has some extremely employee-friendly business practices. Most importantly (in my opinion) is the lack of work on weekends. The degree to which weekends are protected is unique among similarly demanding positions (consulting, ibanking, PE, tech). Whatever comes next for me, I am going to greatly miss Greenwich Strategy’s weekend policy, as well as “Greenwich Strategy Holidays”. Career Progression: Greenwich Strategy has played an extremely important role in my professional development. Any driven person is going to greatly improve their skill-set while working at this firm. Partner-level involvement in every aspect of a project means that you are constantly being challenged to push your abilities further. The environment is extremely collaborative and case team meetings always bring a diverse set of viewpoints (for example, when I first joined, the analysts I worked with came from investment banking, consulting, engineering and a F500 leadership program). Prior to joining GS, I spent a lot of time in meetings with various investors, consultants, investment bankers and industry executives, and I continue to be impressed with the high-level thinking that goes on in Greenwich Strategy meetings. People go in a lot of different directions after leaving Greenwich Strategy, but the majority of analysts go to business school. The partners are extremely supportive and helpful once employees decide what they want to do next. Pay: Without going into too much detail…the pay is really solid and everyone I’ve ever spoken to has expressed satisfaction with their compensation.
Cons
Providence: Living in (or very close to) Providence is definitely something I recommend to anyone joining the firm. The commute to Providence from Boston is about 45 minutes, which would be rough when we are busy on projects. I personally chose to live in Providence, and really enjoyed the city. It is on the smaller side and could be an adjustment for people moving from a major city, but it also has a much lower cost of living than places like Boston, and has plenty of fun things to do.
- Current Employee★★★★★
An Awesome Consulting Firm
Aug 1, 2013 - Anonymous Employee in Providence, RIRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Very intelligent people working on very important topics, for very smart, successful clients. Firm leadership chooses to keep small size in order to make sure we only work on high impact projects. We can afford to be selective. Little to no travel—that’s another advantage of staying small. Intimate, caring culture. Family like. It’s not unusual for someone to bring their dog to work. (Firm policy requests employees don’t talk publicly about size, but over the years we’ve had to count the dog form time to time to get the headcount to double digits.) No face time. If we’re not working on a project/if there’s not a good reason to be in the office, we’re not, and the president is the first one to say we should take days off between projects. Truly flat organization. The most junior analyst can and does have as much impact as most senior team member. Everyone goes to every client meeting (it’s not like the partner shows the team’s work to the client). Analysts get into great B Schools, because they can write about serious responsibilities. If you’re analytically minded, good at excel modeling and research, and a team player, this is an uncommonly good consulting firm to work at. An all-around awesome consulting firm.
Cons
Can be intense—especially if multiple high intensity/high profile projects happen at once. But that’s consulting. Small size not right for everyone. Not possible to get lost in the shuffle/keep a low profile if you’re not up to the task. The recruiting process tries to sort out whether the fit is right, but it’s no perfect. That said, to my knowledge no one has ever been fired; that would be hugely counter-cultural.
