Interesting global work with smart colleagues and fast advancement
Pros
Oliver Wyman organizes around global industry or functionally based business groups. Though some enter as generalists, the will eventually be asked to specialize within one group. The upside of this model is an accelerated career path relative to similar firms and more chance to work around the world. Of course, Oliver Wyman offers the same career and skill upsides as any top management consulting firm -- the chance to work with great and diverse people, to learn great analytical and communication skills, and access to many follow-on educational and career opportunities. The business structure also tends to create more of an entrepreneurial spirit with more freedom for the different business units to vary their approach
Cons
The downside to this business structure and a function of the history of the firm is much less of a "one-firm" culture than in competing firms. Within the context of any particular office, this means artificial barriers between colleagues that reduce the opportunity to benefit from the experiences of those around you. It also results in some fragmented infrastructure and support services and differing approaches to compensation. In some cases this supports the superior performance of some business units but it also allows stagnation in other areas and inhibits application of best-practices. Oliver Wyman is not a partnership, it's ultimate parent is a publicly traded Fortune 500 company. This has benefits and drawbacks. It gives the firm access to capital to grow and expand through investment or acquisition. However, it also requires the firm to provide a certain return to its shareholder. This effectively means that in order to provide the same compensation as firms formed as a partnership, OW must generate larger margins. In fact, the firm does generally generate higher margins but not always sufficient to match (after shareholder return) the margins of partnerships. The net effect is a smaller compensation people. This primarily impacts those at the Partner level and it is partially offset with certain forms of long-term compensation and a certain reduction in career risk. Of course, as with most management consulting jobs, the hours are long and intense and travel can be extreme.
