Great Community; Job is what you make of it - Research Assistant ICF Employee Review

4.0
28 Mar 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

My Manager is brilliant, cares about me as a person, asks me if my work is rewarding/challenging enough, and is extremely supportive of my innovative ideas. My team hits the perfect balance of working hard at the office and having an enjoyable, amiable atmosphere. My team is also social and fun outside of the office. My work is rewarding, often cutting edge, challenges me, and well managed. The system is incredibly flexible about work schedule. I can work from an office in New York or Beijing if I feel like taking a vacation to there and if I need to work from home for a day, I'm not slapped on the wrist. I set my own hours too.

Cons

Pay is MUCH lower than other consulting firms. They fill this middle spot where they get ivy league kids who have too much heart to work at Booz Allen but want to make a little more money than the non-profit world. They get away with it because they know so many people want to save the world AND develop corporate resume credentials and ICF is a great place to do it. There is no initial training when you first get there. They just kind of throw you in and see what you can do. Lots of overlap in expertise between "LOBs" but they often aren't aware of it. Any additional training takes away from your "utilization" and so you feel an immense pressure to work on billable client projects as opposed to educating yourself on a new excel feature, etc. Less than intelligent people don't get fired.

Explore other reviews about ICF

5.0
9 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great culture, friendly staff, and lots of internal support

Cons

Government contracting, takes time to get to Director and VP levels

5.0
23 Jun 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Awesome training and good benefits.

Cons

I cant think of any.

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