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

Great compensation and benefits, outstanding work life balance, lots of career opportunities, and you get a say on how far you want to go in your career. For lazy people like me who want to be overpaid just doing their jobs, this is great. I told them I didn't want to get promoted after the first promotion. They were totally cool with that and didn't hold it against me.

Inconvénients

Their managers do not know how to effectively lead. Every single one of my program managers had poor people skills, were condescending, patronizing, and passive-aggressive.

Conseils à la direction

Send your newly promoted lead associates to leadership training. Even send your associates to leadership training so that when they're up for promotion, they will know how to effectively lead people, which will help retain employees and improve employee satisfaction.

Avantages

Smart people, interesting cases, growing commercial business

Inconvénients

Limited visibility at junior levels, focused (not generalist) casework

Avantages

If not working on client site, they're very flexible as long as you get your work done. Also very collaborative environment where everyone is helpful.

Inconvénients

Low to average pay, benefits, etc.

Avantages

Great company to get into the defense contracting arena. Well established positive reputation in the industry.

Inconvénients

Very flat and matrixed firm. Difficult to break out of your specific team and or contract

Avantages

Individual projects are exciting. Working with close knit teams is great.

Inconvénients

Onboarding is clunky and not straightforward

Avantages

Booz Allen invests in your future. I've been working in the firm for less than a year, and I have had the greatest training opportunities. They offer great committees that you can join and lead, like health and wellness and diversity & inclusion. My job lead supports my career growth and makes me feel valued. I love this firm!

Inconvénients

Fast paced sometimes, but you are challenged. You get promoted based on your performance, so if you overcome these challenges, you get quicker raises and promotions!

Avantages

Most people I have met here are kind, smart and genuinely willing to help you. BAH encourages people/SMEs to reach out to people outside of your team if you have questions regarding something that's not within your wheelhouse and people will readily help you. Decent work/life balance especially for consultancies, and federal holidays (huge plus) Good benefits outside of compensation, although sick days are... rolled into your PTO

Inconvénients

Working for organizations that aim to "increase lethality" in their domain can truly wear on you. If this sort of thing even remotely bothers you, or as one other reviewer pointed out, you're frustrated by lack of fiscal responsibility and don't like to take from the American taxpayer, this company isn't for you. It's mostly federal and a large percentage of those are within DoD. The company also does not... compensate fairly, even if compared to salaries outside of the consulting industry. They use the excuse of "well we have better work/life balance than other consultancies" but that doesn't account for general market value outside of the consulting world. People are nice and are willing to help, but the nature of cleared work makes it so you really can't exchange ideas and collaborate with other people who are not on the same contract. Can be pro if you don't like very collaborative environments. Employee experience varies greatly depending on your administrative team and your project. My admin team is aloof and not very warm which is likely due to being overworked. Other teams are more friendly and are not overworked. Some associates on our team are split between three or more products. Makes you feel like you're being juiced for all you got. Nobody warns you how long the clearance process may take. Many people have taken more than a year to get theirs, which makes it hard to get on a project. If you're not on a project after a prolonged period of time, you can get a Lack of Work notice and eventually let go (not that I've seen that happen, but it's important to note it can be nerve wracking). Pretty traditional culture, but that depends on the account. Defense account is pretty much how you'd imagine it.

Conseils à la direction

Have more transparency around certain processes (i.e., clearance, how you get placed on a project). Encourage more collaboration and cross-pollination, when possible. Encourage a more tech- savvy/modern and less risk averse culture. Remind people of the mission and the good things that BAH is doing. We're so focused on our clients, it's hard to feel like you're a part of a cohesive unit/brand (I've heard several... "cog in the machine" comments).