Coming from another firm within the same tier level I found PRO to be not so different. Chargeability is key (I was led to believe otherwise) rather than delivering quality deliverables to the clients. It's all just a numbers game in the end.
I was also told that the firm was experiencing growth with so much new business coming in, but upon arrival found out that my position was actually replacing someone who had left.
Joining the internal audit group brings a risk of being boxed into that work unless you express very clearly that you have other interests. I had expressed a desire to work on other things besides audit even before I was hired; during my interview process it seemed that from the get go there would be other very interesting non-audit projects I could be placed in, but wound up getting assigned to an audit client from the start. It was a disappointment.
The firm encourages everyone to reach out and connect with people in the firm to "build your network" which I tried doing and was responded with silence. People at PRO appear to be stressed and spread too thin that they are too busy to connect; I felt like I was getting the cold shoulder. Additionally, with this observation it seemed apparent that work-life-balance was challenged.
There also seems to be a break down in communication between internal departments i.e. recruiting, HR, scheduling (talent management), etc. which will require you to constantly stay on top of your schedule to make sure that you are appropriately booked and that you will hit your hours or else be placed on the utilization variance report at which point will require you to fill out an extensive form explaining why you could not meet those hours even though the hours booked are mostly beyond your control and predictability of client work can be a shot in the dark. This had happened the first week I was there when the safe assumption is that as a new hire you are supposed to meet onboarding training and self-study requirements and charge those hours accordingly. Their talent management process should have anticipated this and plan / schedule accordingly, but it showed the process is a bit disorganized.
The firm touts that it is a "people first" firm, but with this experience it felt otherwise.
