Point B Reviews

Pros

I left a previous consulting company in summer of 2021 due to a culture of being overworked (60-70 hour weeks at minimum) with little work-life balance and lack of competitive compensation. When I took my position at Point B, I was desperate for having more of a predictable schedule and a company culture that aligned with my values: work-life balance, flexibility with time-off and the opportunity to bond with coworkers to your comfort level. Point B embodies all of that and more. When considering taking a job at Point B, ask yourself if your priorities are as follows: - Having more time to structure your schedule the way it works for you, both with daily schedules and paid time-off. - Getting to know individuals in your area and across the country that are some of the kindest, hard-working yet balanced people you'll ever meet. - Diving deep into meaningful work that is customer-focused and rooted in values such as diversity, global climate action and more. - Working in an environment that fosters and encourages growth both personally and professionally.

Cons

If you are simply looking to take a career in consulting, operations or another department for the money, then consider your options elsewhere. Point B's compensation is competitive, but the pros of working for a company that aligns with your values outweighs getting potential bonuses elsewhere or making an "above-average" salary. Consider your everyday life, not just the bottom line. Point B has changed my life for the better and it could change yours too!

Pros

100% benefits paid for individuals and unlimited PTO.

Cons

Complete lack of support from leadership and a terrible operating model. Executive-level consultants are expected to have their own clients while also leading less experienced consultants. Leaders always prioritize clients over their direct employees and employees are left out to dry with missed meetings, lack of direction and no support. Don't believe the hype that this is an employee-first company, especially after being purchased by a PE firm and immediate changes to their ESOP. Favoritism is rampant and new consultants are not given the same opportunities. HR does not understand each state's legal requirements and does not care if you're treated poorly as a consultant by a client. The hiring process is excessively long (2.5 months) and my background authorization took four (4) weeks with me doing most of the legwork for the 3rd-party company. This has been a terrible experience and I can't wait to resign after another opportunity comes through.

Pros

Good work life balance Nice people Lots of attention to diversity Good place for early career consultant

Cons

The senior leadership is trying to run a small to medium sized consulting firm like a Big 4 firm, but with very few knowledgeable people to lead the practices. The Solutions group is building dozens of offerings that not more than a few resources will know how to deliver. The real cultural and de facto leader of the firm left when the PE firm bought most of the company. What's left is a bunch of nice overhead people that are in way over their head. The legacy Seattle people still control too many of the decisions and don't listen to the ideas that new people bring in.

Pros

Point B has a long track record of a Great Place to Work. Associates are engaged in the firm's success and support one another enthusiastically.

Cons

One attribute of having long relationships with great customers is that associates end up on long engagements. While its not a real "con", if you like a lot of variety of challenges in a short period of time Point B is less representative of this sort of opportunity. To be fair this is changing as time goes on and some projects are structured as solution engagements with a shorter lifecycle.

Pros

Really lovely, talented people here as coworkers. You can also work remotely from wherever you are in the country. I am grateful I no longer work 50-60 hours/week.

Cons

- Pay is not competitive for consulting and has not kept pace with the market the past 20 years at minimum. Accenture, a large public company (public companies >500k employees are notorious for not being competitive in pay), starts associates fresh out of school with no experience at $120k now as do many of the Big 4, which again are firms notorious for low pay because of their brand name as they're so competitive. Point B does not match the name recognition of those firms but still offers even lower pay. With WLB being prioritized everywhere nowadays and an increasing focus on the employee experience across the board, it doesn't make sense. This is consistently the only part that truly worries me about working here. Lost income opportunity adds up over the course of a career, especially if you invested heavily in your education or if you're building a family or hope to own a house. - Levels and placement do not make sense compared to the consulting industry at large. Deloitte, EY, KPMG require 1 YoE for C, 3 years for SC, 5 years for M, 7-8 for SM (these are consistent bands across all Deloitte and KPMG service lines) yet Point B regularly places hires with 2-8 years of experience at entry-level C and others with comparable experience wherever else. Even MBB (Bain, BCG) firms place people at C with <2 yoe. Not sure why Point B has higher requirements of experience for these positions than MBB/Big 4/ most boutiques and why there is so much inconsistency in placement given individual experience. It definitely makes our recruiting less competitive and we need people. Key takeway: Really tough to demonstrate your true experience against peers and in industry as a professional here and hurts long-term career growth. Point B again needs to align to market at large on pay and levels.