Strategy positions - Excellent career kick-starter
Pros
- Ability for Strategy Analysts to interact meaningfully with people at ALL levels of the organization. This was a major plus for me, though some may be intimidated by the quick leap from starting to working with C-level executives. - Company culture is, in general, very laid back. Some have commented on how this can be a negative, but I took it as a positive. - Very good work / life balance. - In general, a very collegial work environment. Sure, there will be a very rotten apples, but they certainly do not spoil the bunch. Analysts (and others) will generally spend time hanging out together outside of work. - Good facilities. A nice, clean workplace with sufficient access / privacy. Also, onsite softball field, basketball courts, racquetball courts, and gym make it very easy to get in a work out before or after work. - Great early career move for those looking at top MBA programs - Former Strategy Analysts have gone on to acceptance at most of the country's top schools. Granted, they have had excellent backgrounds and abilities, but I'm sure that their experience at CarMax and relying on that on their applications helped out a great deal as well.
Cons
- Lack of clear career development opportunities - The standard annual review process is typically not very helpful, though it does vary quite a bit from manager to manager and some were very good about providing advice. - Compensation / benefits - A number of mentioned that the compensation, for the Strategy Analyst roles, is a bit less than it is for similar roles at other companies. While this seems to be true, keep in mind that this is a trade off for the work / life balance and culture of the company. If you aren't comfortable with that trade off and want the max money, this might not be the place for you. That having been said, the benefits could've been better. - There are some silly issues. For example, HR came out with a teleworking policy, but then promptly said that the company wasn't ready for people to telework when people inquired about it.