Company: Deloitte
Date: 2008-06-19
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: current

Great place to launch a career, but if you plan to stay for the long haul, plan to build a strong network on day one.
Pros: Deloitte Consulting is a well respected company with a strong reputation in the marketplace.  This translates into a very desirable entry on the resume.  The brand is well known and most folks are impressed when I tell them I work here.  As any large organization will be difficult to navigate, it is imperative to have a strong network with the right people in the Firm in order to have the best shots at good project experiences and career advancement.  It takes a bit of patience, but the longer you are with the Firm and the more you grow your network, which is a mainstay buzzword, the more rewards you reap.  Project experiences can vary to a large degree with many influencing factors including leadership, management, client industry, and sub-team members.  But, this does result in a dynamic career, where you never seem to get bored.  If the project work which takes up most of your bandwidth is not challenging enough, you can mix it up with active involvement in Firm activities and iniatives.
Cons: There is a sense that you can never rest on your laurels as the culture cultivates one of "up or out" career advancement.  Even if you want to stay in your current level, you will feel the sense of needing that promotion in order to keep up with your peers.  In some cases, these peers seem to get the promotion because of their network and who they know, rather than their client delivery and project performance.  As in consulting, the hours can be long at certain periods of the project and you can probably forget about taking the 4 weeks plus of vacation per year during these crunch times.