Cons – many of the drawbacks of working for a large public company: misaligned corporate policies, poor bonus structure, rigid pay bands and promotion schedules:
1) Strict comp and promotion schedule complaints seems to be a common theme in the con reviews at FTI—the incentives are poorly aligned by corporate. For example, once after a stellar mid-year review I was told I was currently performing better than individuals at the position above me, but that I had to wait 9 months until April 1st when corporate approves all promotions together. Then, once you’re promoted, you have to wait your X number of years until you’re due up again … there’s really not much incentive to work hard in a non-promotion year since you’re not really working for a bonus (see below). Another time, after another year of great reviews, I was told “your market rate is probably $X, but corporate does not allow someone of your title to make that much, so we had to settle for $X - $7,000”… again, what kind of incentive is that to perform well if promotions and compensation are set by corporate in a pre-determined schedule and not completely merit-based?
2) When you’re part of a corporation appeasing shareholders, there will always be some expense watching and profit sharing. Despite the fact that I was in a strong-performing group (FLC), there were other groups that were shrinking (Corp Fin, Tech), or constantly writing down millions in goodwill (Strat Comm). So when you hear your segment lead cheerleading “record revenue, record EBITDA, record growth!” quarter after quarter, don't expect to see that reflected in a record paycheck.
3) This is not banking, do not expect much from your bonuses. Part of the bonus structure essentially pays you quarterly overtime based on utilization, but since that is largely out of your control, it rarely ever works out. I can’t tell you how many times I got boned working long hours for 10 straight weeks only to sit on the bench for the last 2 weeks of the quarter because the client was away on summer or Christmas vacation and I wound up with nothing. Also, little petty things, like they refused to pro-rate or pay my bonus when I left to get my MBA because I was not going to be at the firm the day the checks were paid.... even after I earned it working until midnight every night and flew cross-country for a client project for 10 weeks straight. The other portion—annual bonus—is an absolute joke if you’re below management-level… let’s just put it this way: the signing bonus I received as a 21-year college student wound up being the largest bonus of my 5+ year career at FTI.
Overall, I would call the comp structure "reactionary"... your pay would usually lag the market or your value for a little while, and then their would be a correction to bring you back to about average.
