Pros
Work-Life Balance: While West Monroe is a consulting firm, I would say that my work/life balance was above average. With paid holidays and unlimited time off, I found it easy to take time when you need it to re-charge and accommodate your personal life. Pay & Benefits: During my tenure at West Monroe, comparable pay to the Big4 was always a discussion point. While there was often alot of complaints, I never had any issues with the pay, bonuses, or benefits. In fact, I found those at West Monroe to often be better than other offers at comparable consulting firms or industry roles. Company Culture: It can be both a pro and a con. Those employees who are in an office location and embrace the firms culture really enjoy all things West Monroe. If you aren't totally invested in the culture then you will likely find the culture to be over the top and potentially even annoying. All in all, the firm is doing way more than most to keep work fun and people engaged.
Cons
The company isn't the West Monroe of old anymore. There is a continued push on growth and being a digital consulting firm. Despite the continued recital of our values, they often are not seen in practice in the day-to-day, such as: Career Opportunities - Meritocracy During my time, and including myself, I observed a lot of good talent leave the firm and pursue opportunities elsewhere. Almost all of those times that talent could have been kept at West Monroe, but leaders either did not recognize the talent or didn't think the talent would leave, or people would leave because of frustration with a broken performance management process. While good talent was leaving, average and below average talent continued to stay at West Monroe and float on without any issues because culturally we do not give hard feedback or bad reviews. Role Expectations At each of the levels you are expected to maintain a balance of Business Development, Practice Development, and Project Delivery. I've worked closely with a few different Senior Managers and Directors that had <25% utilization, minimal sales, but were involved in a number of different committees and practice development initiatives. Even though perceived higher performing peers were maxed out on utilization and sales, those individuals were rated lower than those that are involved in every "club." Cliquey Atmosphere The firm can often feel very cliquey or like "the good old boys club." While efforts have been made to improve inclusion & diversity, the firm is still majority middle aged white males. If you are new to a team or a minority you can feel like you're on an island. Projects While this can be practice dependent, not all projects are interesting and enjoyable. At the end of the day, the firm is a business and needs to make money. It isn't uncommon to be on a project that is either under scoped, one that West Monroe doesn't have the skills or expertise to deliver on, or one that gets little to no management support.