Pros
- Smart, capable coworkers who genuinely care about delivering quality work.
- Interesting public sector projects with meaningful client impact.
- Opportunities to take on significant responsibility early in your career.
Cons
The Senior Consultant role feels significantly undercompensated for the level of responsibility expected.
SCs are expected to own delivery, lead workstreams, write business development proposals, mentor junior staff, manage clients, and often keep engagements running - if not multiple if you are trying to promote which isn't guaranteed at all. However, the recognition and compensation don't reflect that level of ownership.
Bonuses were eliminated, yet the workload remained the same (or increased). Leadership communicated that this would be offset by above industry standard raises and an additional salary increase, but the process lacked transparency. Even my people manager couldn't clearly explain what my raise would be or how it was determined.
The utilization target of 91% for Senior Consultants is also extremely difficult to sustain while simultaneously contributing to internal initiatives, business development, and other non-billable expectations. Those competing priorities often result in long hours. With MC's, AD's, and D's asking saying this should only take you an hour or two - which isn't truthful at all.
One of the most frustrating experiences was helping win contracts. While I'm proud of the team's accomplishments to get there, there was no financial recognition for the individuals who invested significant time into winning the work. It creates the feeling that Senior Consultants do much of the heavy lifting while higher levels receive most of the recognition and incentive compensation. They talk about a spot bonus of up to 10k, but no one believes it's real. Why would we trust at this point?
The lack of transparency around compensation, career progression, and performance rewards is beginning to drive away talented people.