Company: PwC
Date: 2017-10-24
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

Couple of Notes from Working in Advisory - And a Suggestion
Pros: For years, as a financial analyst, and then as a financial reporting consultant (SAP & BI, etc.), I had wanted to work with one of the the Big-4 or a national firm.  ...While in school had managed to get interviews with KPMG and Deloitte, but later when a chance came for a project at PwC, it seemed like the best-fit.

For what it's worth, I had always felt that Deloitte had some of the best/slickest "relationship builders", but PwC had the most technically-proficient and respectable, and so also felt like that fit me as well.  So, jumped at the chance to work in Advisory.

I still believe that was more-or-less the right take on the "cultural fit".  And I'd also say that PwC offers more of a chance to develop advanced-level knowledge, and that kind of thing.  So, if you can find a good department/group/partner, you can forge a path.  ...And this is very important to do, especially if (like me), you come in as an experienced hire, etc.
Cons: The one issue I had was (and this might not be PwC-specific, so maybe even more valuable of a note for other aspiring consultants), that there was an intense pressure to find future projects, 3, 6, or even 9 months in the future.  

After having moved-on from consulting, over the past couple of years, I've seen others report this as well.  ...They say you have to "take responsibility" for managing your future projects and research/apply to other partners so to find projects to maintain your utilization ratio.

I didn't quite realize just how much of an issue this is.  But, what can happen is that if you're not careful, and don't manage it way-out there in advance, you'll end up being assigned to a funky project and/or something that you can't totally slam-dunk.  ...If that happens, you could find it more difficult for future gigs (which again you'll have to spend night & weekend time to dig-up), and eventually if you have more than 2 weeks of non-assigned time at some point, you're at risk.