Vantaggi
- Some good engagements - Opportunities to travel internationally and work with global clients - Quarterly bonus paid out two months in arrears (if you can achieve it, see my comment below) - Great colleagues to work with and socialise outside of work
Svantaggi
- A process for everything to the extent that strictly following the policies can eat into the returns from engagements. - Bad expense policies and management: you are not allowed to entertain a client beyond a cup of coffee / tea (unless you are very, very senior), it takes usually between 4 - 8 weeks until you are reimbursed expenses, Hospitality Team will book you into the cheapest 2 / 3 star hotel unless you are assertive to book you into a decent hotel, Expenses team will watch the pennies and deduct it silently from your final payout, strictly no receipt - no reimbursement... - Many people get assigned to unsuitable engagements - Bench time can be very long - weeks or even months depending on your specialism. I have seen consultants who have spent months on the bench which means that you are not going to get your quarterly bonus which will heavily depend on your billing ratio unless you are very, very senior. So don't assume your bonus target is guaranteed - make sure you negotiate a high base salary if you really want a guaranteed income. - Project / engagement managers are challenged to execute programmes with resources who either do not have the required skillset, who lack motivation due to location or long-term project commitment due to the project's nature (difficult client, long hours, bad project and client management etc) - Daily rate expectations are unrealistic which is the fundamental reason for long bench time