Company: Deloitte
Date: 2019-09-12
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Junior

Federal Markets Advisory
Pros: Working at Deloitte provides a great opportunity to work with a lot of knowledgeable people. Perks (not always compensation) are great, and the company is very supportive of training and personal development. I can definitely say I've learned a ton about the business of consulting. Big 4 experience definitely provides a lot of value in this aspect. Even though I list my cons below, I would say the experience is worth having if you are in the industry.
Cons: Management Style - In my experience Senior Managers are either very disconnected from their Managers and Senior Consultants or like to Micro Manage. There are very few who understand balance. Many Sr. Managers also don't believe in much work life balance (see culture below). It's not uncommon to be receiving late night "quick turn" requests. 

Work Culture - It's not uncommon for projects to be very demanding of your time. They want people who are willing to stay in the office late in the evening at a moments notice to work on PowerPoint decks or join phone calls. It's an unwritten rule that if you're going up for any promotion you will be working 50-60 hour weeks unless your specific project has hours caps. This also don't include time writing proposals, networking or attending company events. This type of culture is more the norm than the exception. 

Politics - Moving up in the company or getting new projects requires playing politics and more politics. They  say you get promoted to the next level by performing at the next level, but this isn't really true. 

Broken Promises - You will be promised things that will never materialize. This could be project experience, exposure or work schedules. You may agree on a 7am - 4pm schedule, then management wants 8am - 7pm. You could be promised a telework day per week and get none. This happens all the time to get new hires or new staff on a project.  I was a high performer and denied a Manager promotion because the Sr. Manager chose to not support me after he told me he would.  It was surprising since my role WAS Manager for over a year, and was the only FTE in the Manager labor category. Unfortunately, this situation is also very common. 

Quality Opportunities - Currently, quality opportunities are hard to come by. Due to the size of the firm they generally go after larger scale projects that can support multiple FTEs across different task orders. Unlike  commercial consulting, many  expenses can't be charged to clients and wrap rates are a key factor in winning new work. This can result in the firm taking on staff augmentation (delivery) focused work vs traditional consulting projects.