AlphaSights’ business model depends on recruiting new college graduates whose unassuming enthusiasm to join the workforce allows them to be lured into this role which leaves much to be desired. The nature of the work is mindless, repetitive, and devoid of intellectual challenge to the point that most flee prior to, or very soon after, making it a year as an associate. Those who remain and become managers are the few left standing who consumed enough of the AlphaSights Kool-Aid to make it that far. They say the proof is in the pudding; simply compare reviews left by managers verses associates and you’ll quickly notice a pattern. Highly skilled “rats on a treadmill” work is not sustainable for college graduates, or anyone for that matter. Universities worth their salt—and AlphaSights employees indeed hail from strong institutions—instill the imperative that our lives and our life’s work ought to nurture our curious minds and fulfill our creativity and self-expression. Realistically, few—if any—jobs will completely satisfy this mission, but the work at AlphaSights is so dreadfully beyond the pale it cannot be underscored enough. Relentlessly monitored monthly/weekly/daily targets and incessant volume tallying is antithetical to what the learned person should aspire to do. AlphaSights loves to fall back on the it’s classic line, “this job isn’t for everyone.” It’s a cheap ploy, and it won’t be surprising if those very words make an appearance in the company's response to this post. I can only recommend this job to you if you are relentlessly commercially motivated, willing to perform menial work to no end, and enjoy being measured by intense productivity metrics. In short, prepare to become a robot of sorts.
