Pros
So, I recently left Summit. Departure, much of the time, suggests some unsatisfied end. Worse, my sense of glassdoor.com and other review sites is that they are mostly a place where people vent. I am hoping this post is a counterweight to that negative bias, as I love Summit. Here is why: 1. Summit’s greatest strength is the people that work there. I developed friendships, mentors, and that rare group of folks who you aspire to be more like. Though I wasn’t always the easiest person to manage, I even liked my managers! 2. The work was fulfilling…I got to work on interesting projects with social implications involving heath care, fair-lending practices, and low-income housing. 3. Following from the first point, Summit culture, especially given that it is a consulting firm, is amazing. I have gotten to work at a few (5, as I recall) start-ups/companies that are in a high growth stage. This is not unlike my time at Summit, where the organization emerged from the 8(a) business development program, a program that buoys small government contractors. Generally, that intense growth changes a company’s culture. While Summit culture did intensify, the Principals and HR listen. Thus, despite a period of growth, intensity, and a few corrections, Summit has found a way to offer work-life balance! That’s not to say there won’t be some long days, but those are exceptions! 4. Let’s talk money! I have read a few reviews that seem to suggest that there is a trade-off where a Summit employee trades some potential income for the culture I just mentioned. I will dispute that in fewer characters than a tweet. Summit makes it rain! While Summit aims to be among the world-class consulting firms, it is a false equivalency to compare Summit to McKinsey, PWC, or Deloitte today. Summit is growing! Not to say those companies aren’t, but they are standing still in relative percentage terms. Your relative difference in pay is thus partially due to the company’s current mandate, to manage high growth smartly. However, this, in my mind, is a form of compensation. Here’s why: you get very good pay, for an employer with contracted clients, i.e clear and stable cash flow, and you get to partake in the growth without the entrepreneurial risk. This last point is crucial, if you are hired at Summit and you work hard, your responsibilities, title and pay, will track with the company’s growth. I wouldn’t be surprised if you took the average age of a Summit manager or director and compared it with the equivalent role at Deloitte and found that the same transferable skills were occupied in a Summiteer, on average, ten years younger. (I have not backed this up with data, but check out these mugs - www.summitllc.us/team).
Cons
As a New Yorker, when someone is as positive and encouraging as I just was, I ignore them. It’s generally a good rule. For credibility sake, let me inject some context as to why I left and make my one criticism. I left to finish a PhD. Thus, I am not saying you should move to Jersey while I take up residence in New York. Summit is New York in that metaphor! Had I not been invested in school, I would have positioned myself for a long Summit career. My one cautionary comment will only manifest once you take the job. That is, the structures they have in place, to put you in control of your career path, do not always follow the same timeline as the company’s growth. Let’s say they hire you and you’re consulting your “you-know-what” off. You take on goals at the beginning of the year, and meet them by the end of the year. Well, that will correspond with a bonus and, sometimes, a promotion, but the real opportunities for advancement come when the company takes on new work. New work emerges out of long bidding process, track record, and relationship building. The business development process isn’t always salient to the employee. However, have faith! While Summit may be able to figure out a better way to align company growth with an individual’s goals, Summit is lean, efficient, smart, and diverse. The work will come, as those qualities are rewarded. Good luck.
