Pros
1. Emphasis on Staff Development 2. Quarterly Firm-Wide information meetings, which include actual v budget 3. Quarterly firm-provided local Happy Hour or Entertainment opportunities to meet our fellow consultants and develop relationships 4. Work/Life Balance--This is my fourth consulting firm in my career (including EY), and Bridgepoint is by far the best when it comes to trying to accommodate all aspects of an employee's nonwork life 5. For "variable full-time employees" (the consultants are so classified), we are paid our rate for all hours billed. Work for 50 this week, get paid for 50 hours next week. 6. For weeks where you are not billable, the company pays you for 15 hours which you devote to professional development, relationship building with potential "hire the consultant" decisions makers, and networking. This is not as good as being deployed, but it's (a) better than nothing and (b) the only firm I am aware of who does pay a minimum for variable employees [to make sure you are paid enough to cover all of your weekly benefits-related deductions] 7. Payment of a quarterly bonus three weeks after the quarter ends. The bonuses are not large, but they are nice to get 8. As an Addison Group company, we get to participate in a 4,000-person group when it comes to benefit plans. I don't use the health insurance (covered under my spouse's plan), put I know from Open Enrollment meetings that we have four comprehensive plans to choose from, including at least one HDHP, and we have every other conceivable benefit provided. 9. The best onboarding experience I have ever had at any company in any industry. By your second day, you feel like you are part of the family and are asked to reach out and talk to the top leaders of the firm. In my second week with Bridgepoint, I had 30-minute one-on-one meetings with every person in Leadership at Corporate and all six locations (Austin, Houston, Dallas, Dencer, Boston, Atlanta); 21 Teams sessions in all. 10. The Firm has a "Culture Club," with one respresentative from each office plus three from HR and management, whose purpose is to actively broadn and improve the experience of working at Bridgepoint. The Company proactively tries to make things better for its people.
Cons
The only con is potential extended unassigned times when your pay drops to 3/8ths of the standard 40-hour amount (which also lowers your quarterly bonus). The firm does its best to prevent this from occuring, but timing factors do sometimes come into play.