Pros
A great place for young people looking to learn the search business to start. Great new associates training, and a great group of young people early in their career.
Cons
Where to start. Once you are a producer, the place is a total snakepit. Don't let the Ivy League veneer fool you. You are competing with other firms but also each other....and the firm encourages that. It is soulless at the higher levels. A lot of this is driven by tenure and the completely amorphous compensation system. A lot of the folks LOVE to be around wealth and act like being a headhunter is like being a McKinsey or a Goldman Partner. Lots of backstabbers on the Exco. they pretend that the "black box" compensation system is better than a quantitative model. basically, this is an opportunity for the Exco to take more than their fair share from the lower levels. This place is fully prepared for 1969 when the firm was founded. Lots of turn over very little diversity, but a "stage front" of legitimacy. Off limits and shared candidate rules are not good for their clients, but they are great for the Partners of Russell Reynolds, who are happy to take their clients money. Good luck in the digital age RRA...