Avis sur Booz Allen Hamilton

Avantages

The people are great. Everyone -- even the difficult types -- are eager to work and excel. There are some senior officers with questionable morality, but most people here are great people to work with.

Inconvénients

1. Federal clients. Don't forget that you'll move at their pace, not yours. 2. The nature of the job means that sooner or later you'll be strategizing ways to get more money from the client (i.e. federal government), regardless of whether or not you'll actually add value. BAH runs on government money, a large chunk from DoD, and thus is part of the bigger problem we have in this country with fiscal responsibility.... 3. Living off the American taxpayer. Much of the money that flies around in DC is at the expense of everyone else everywhere else in the US, BAH is a major player in this system, particularly the defense technology sector. 4. You'll never get paid what you're worth. The three lowest ranks (Consultant, Sr. Consultant, Associate) seldom make what they're worth, while senior management (looking at you, officers) make insane amounts of money.

Conseils à la direction

I'm leaving this job for two reasons, despite being hand-picked and groomed for greater responsibility by senior management. 1. You weren't paying me enough to do the job; especially when you factor in the amount of stress this job puts on a human being, the amount of time I sacrificed with my family, the amount of guilt this job inspired in me as an American. 2. The job is not meaningful to anyone who doesn't... lust for profits. At some point each of us gets a look at how the sausage is made, and then it becomes clear that the government is basically asking (literally sending out solicitations and announcements) to be ripped off. They don't need what we're selling, but they buy it anyways because Congress tells them to. This buys Congress fancy retirement plans at the same businesses that profit. But everyone else loses, and Booz Allen isn't doing enough to be a part of our nation's long-term fiscal stability.

Avantages

Amazing and intellectually generous colleagues; superior training opportunities. Depending on where you are aligned, leadership and career opportunity can be tremendous.

Inconvénients

The "Employee Value Proposition" is a major area of focus, program development, and career models... if only it was put into practice. The disconnect between the beautifully articulated vision of a career at Booz Allen and the actual ability to experience that vision is vast, which makes it all the more demoralizing to hear about and exhausting to try to realize.

Conseils à la direction

If you delivered on what you preach, this would be a career nirvana. Find out what the experience is REALLY like among front-line staff (below the SA level), across all categories of expertise. You're losing so many gifted, passionate, skilled - and invisible - people.