• It is possible to be able to develop and progress quickly, but this is largely down to the project/role you are on and how well liked you are. With good visibility from the CMT (consulting management team) in the right project, it is possible to develop and progress fast. However, you can easily be on a project with no management visibility in a more analyst based role, which can really work against you - management are obsessed with 'evidence' for progression/promotion and in a sandbox project without someone from the CMT to back you up with a first-hand account, this can be very difficult.
• Communication from the CMT is generally very poor, which can be disastrous for development/progression. There is a lot of focus on development in the team and a lot set up by the CMT to support this i.e. bi-annual development reviews which will give you development goals, but the poor communication outside of these are not helpful when trying to action points of concern. Also, there have been multiple instances where people have not passed probation/had probation extended because the doubts/concerns were not properly communicated, or there was no opportunity provided to be able to gather enough 'evidence' required to work on those development goals (which is often acknowledged by management, but leads to extended probation anyway). Similarly, there have been instances where grievances have been made against members of the team without management having provided any communication or feedback that there was anything wrong in the first place. This can be particularly frustrating when there are other members of the team are clearly very well-liked by management due to good projects/visibility and get promoted outside of the bi-annual progression cycles. There are also supposedly very strict salary bands (which are published), with the opportunity for increases once a year or when promoted - these bands have changed recently and different members of the team were moved to the new minimum while others were not, to the point where new graduates would have been earning more than current long standing employees (there was semi-valid reasoning behind this in fairness, but coupled with the points above and exceptions to the rule, this gives off the strong impression of playing favourites and rewarding those liked by management and 'punishing' those that aren't).
• Managers in the CMT are a mixed bag - there are one or two managers who clearly really care and make a lot of effort to support those under them, but I would say there are more than not who give off the impression that their priority is their own career/progression and do not provide adequate support - who you end up with as your line manager is entirely down to luck. This is not helped by the fact that a lot of managers are on 80% contracts (something which is not extended to the whole team - though for fair reasons), which is not organised properly so there are periods where several managers are away for long stretches of time. This plus manager tendency to prioritise project work means that cadences of line manager meetings can be very disrupted (which also does not couple well with the importance of having visibility in your project work).
• Bottom line: This role can be highly rewarding with the right project, strong management visibility, and genuine support from your line manager. However, without these factors, it can feel stifling, with difficulty in advancement or recognition or validation for your work despite strong delivery. Progression is framed as something you need to ‘make happen’, but the reality is that luck plays a significant role—your project assignment, visibility, and level of managerial support can make or break your experience.
