Pros
- Skillbuilding
Working at Capco was a great opportunity to develop fundamental business analysis (BA) and project management (PMO) skills. My managers provided frequent constructive feedback that allowed me to constantly improve. I've learned that if you keep an open mind, you will rapidly hone your delivery quality, flexibility, stakeholder management skills, time management instincts, and sense of urgency. I am convinced that these are valuable skills to leverage wherever I go.
- Willingness to cultivate you (if you push for it)
If you are willing to put in the extra time to meet key players in the firm (Partners, MPs, Human Capital, rapidly promoted individuals) and have clear learning goals, they will leverage available resources to help you. It might not be exactly what you ask for (and you might have to ask multiple times), but if you talk to enough people with a goal in mind, you will receive some resources. I know one consultant received tuition assistance for a Python course at NYU. Others have gotten staffed on projects in functional and subject areas they found interesting. This kind of networking is tough for AOs to do, but if you're willing to eat into your weekends or time after work, it can be very rewarding. I didn’t do this myself, but I saw the positive results for others.
- Attitude adjustment
Consulting requires humility. Capco hires kids out of top schools. They often have egos and high expectations for their post-graduation career direction and pace. I was no exception. I think this contributes to Capco's churn rate. However, you will hit a brick wall in your career if you don't learn to untether your ego from the type of work you do and the feedback you receive. It will stifle your willingness to learn new things and motivation to challenge yourself to improve. Depending on your project, the work could be tedious, granular, and esoteric in nature, so humility is make-or-break for your time at Capco. For me, it was a painful but rewarding adjustment. I survived by focusing on improving my BA skills instead of the specifics of my project work, which I didn’t find very interesting.
- Learning what you really want to do in the future
Regardless of what you end up doing, your time at Capco will help you find it. There is a ton of sector, technology, and practice area informational events/showcases that teach you about existing or aspirational Capco focus areas. For example, there was a highly successful Initial Coin Offering event with impressive guest speakers. Something might pique your interest there. You might meet interesting people you want to collaborate with. I definitely benefitted from the broad exposure that these events offered.
It can also help if you're doing a project you don't want to do. I spent much of my time at Capco concerned about the opportunity cost of each day I was at my project versus other roles that might cultivate me more efficiently. I made the absolute most of it and grew exponentially, but I was still convinced that it wasn't enough for my learning and career targets. As a result, I was highly motivated to figure out what really inspired me and what opportunities were out there.
Cons
- Aggressive project staffing
I was selected for a project before I even started the two-week training program. I didn't feel like I had a choice because I was informed by colleagues at many levels that it is a very bad look to turn down project roles, especially at the Associate level. I mentioned this to HR three months into my first project and HR informed me that this is not the culture they are trying to cultivate. By this time, it was too late. It's not easy to arrange to roll off of a project and I was told by my coach and colleagues that it complicates performance reviews and a smooth promotion schedule. While it's flattering to know that people think you'd be effective on a project with an immediate staffing need, it can lead to a lot of frustration and missed opportunities that I experienced up to my final day. I hope they're making changes to this shared tacit assumption that I observed within Capco’s culture.
- Insufficient expectation management of prospective AOs
I perceived this as the biggest con. Elements of this con encouraged me to begin a passive job search which led to my eventual departure. Check out the Advice to Management section where I break down the issues and how they could be resolved in the future.
