Vantaggi
1) Supportive management. Culture is always set at the top. I find senior management to be dedicated, energetic, empathetic and approachable. Strong culture of entrepreneurship, quality, curiosity, accountability and integrity which also seems to carry through the company. Strong team with good people. 2) Employee-owned company, focus is on sound and well-managed growth not just shareholder value. Many employees become shareholders. They took a bit of a hit during COVID to keep the team together. Not much in BS, red tape, nonsensical rules etc. vs. big companies. 3) Consultants are given quite a bit of flexibility and trust, good guidance without micromanagement. Performance metrics are fair and reasonable - mostly quantitative with a qualitative component. Generally if you are smart and accountable and do your work well you will be good. If you slack off or aren’t cutting it, it’ll show up in the numbers so nowhere to hide. Performance tends to be assessed quarterly – not hovering over the shoulder too much. 4) Develops a wide skillset – subject matter knowledge, analytical skills, organizational habits, interpersonal skills, communication. They’re looking for people who bring both depth and breadth (they call it the “T-shape”). You may not go too far if you want to focus on a highly specialized area, or if you want to just project manage and leave the technical work to the team. It's enjoyable if you value having both. 5) It’s a good early-career opportunity for go-getters. Quite merit-based and not too hierarchical compared to the big firms. You can quickly get plugged into real projects and start growing your skills and responsibilities – basically as quickly as you can manage. Good if you are a quick learner who learns by doing and studying those around you. Less formal training and hand-holding compared to larger companies. 6) Diverse projects – always different sizes, durations, etc. Usually quite interesting with less “cookie cutter” stuff. I think you need the right personality for it. You often have no idea what your next week or month will look like. Good if you find that energizing, if you always like mastering new things and get bored of routine. May not be for you if you a) need that predictability, b) really want to focus on a specialty, c) are uncomfortable not always being an expert. As you get more senior you might have more control on subject matter but the lifestyle is still the same. 7) Probably should be higher on this list, but good work-life balance by consulting standards. There is a commitment to growing your talents rather than churning through burnt out consultants. The only benefit of working really long hours is you might improve your stats and get a higher bonus. Culturally, it is not expected. Extent of travel depends on your clients and projects. Most projects are not on-site so no need to relocate or live out of a suitcase. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever had a vacation request turned down, just don’t book it last-minute if it’ll cause you to miss a deadline. Hours are flexible, you are expected to be available during work hours, but never had any issues with fitting in an appointment and so on – you can usually catch up in the evening. 8) Independent and entrepreneurial streak. Not as siloed as most companies. You can usually work across divisions, on different types of projects, etc. People listen to good ideas, not as much pulling rank. Company is on a growth trajectory, meaning lots of opportunities. Very diverse team in terms of nationalities, backgrounds, experiences and skillsets.
Svantaggi
1) Mostly just the inverse of the pros. Not for everyone – you need the right personality and mindset. It is after all consulting, so you need a high level of accountability, to meet the client's needs, to prepare work that is client-ready, etc. No one will dress you down for making honest mistakes but you need to be a quick study and dedicated to improvement. Sometimes there can be long hours – you also have to manage it yourself a bit. My experience is that longer hours are cyclical but a chronic poor work-life balance is usually due to poor time management, patching your own mistakes, wasting time on a bad methodology, overcommitting, lousy delegation – i.e. the usual culprits. I’ve found work-life balance at CPCS in the big picture is mostly within your control. There’s not as much of the BS where something urgent is suddenly dumped on your desk for no good reason. 2) CPCS kind of straddles the middle. It is more consulting than the big engineering and accounting firms. It’s hard to just coast through this job by virtue of being good/okay at one thing. If you’re starting from behind in terms of knowledge and skills you may have to push harder to catch up. You have to hold your own. People do leave because they are not cut out for it. Overall I’ve found this is a positive because it is meritocratic and you can almost always count on your colleagues to be competent and dependable. 3) At the other end of the spectrum it is more technical than the big management consulting firms. They want people who are really into this stuff and like the work, rather than people who are just there for the paycheque, prestige, resumé. Again, on balance, that is a strength. In terms of the pay it is not that bad, but probably could stand to be a bit higher, truthfully. Certainly it is a step or two below what people are capable of earning going to the highest bidder. You have to put it all in the blender and see whether it’s in line with your priorities. 4) I would say that CPCS places a high priority on building pride in the company, but in more modest or spontaneous ways. It may not be for very extraverted people as there is less show and hoopla than some big companies (huge retreats, ra-ra events, extracurriculars and that kind of thing). For example you may go out for a drink with your colleagues once a month, or get a team lunch, but not have an employee soccer team or whatnot). That may not be for everyone. Some people who work in remote settings may not get as much social interaction through their job.