PA Consulting Reviews

Pros

Very smart, capable and friendly colleagues. Good work-life balance. No expectation to work late but will do if necessary. Some very high-impact, important and interesting work. Lots of training opportunities available.

Cons

PA has a significant systemic issue in how it appraises its consultants. Due to the staffing model being almost entirely driven by partners rather than resource managers, consultants who are not yet partner favourites, such as new joiners, typically get much less client work. This issue is compounded by 70% of annual performance appraisal being dictated by 'utilisation' (how much client work you do). The result is a reward system of favouritism rather than performance. An additional issue at PA is the lack of separation between capability groups. Strategy consultants will be asked to do PMO work, business designers asked to do change management etc. The last primary issue is lack of commitment from line managers. Many line managers at PA view their job as simply being 'available' and that all consultants should essentially 'self-manage'. Although leading to great autonomy, this means that line managers will not be proactive at all in the relationship and will have to be nagged to complete basic responsibilities such as year-end reviews, promotion cases etc.

Pros

Very supportive and generally good people to work with

Cons

Is getting better at supporting flexible working but losing a lot of high quality female colleagues

Pros

If you work hard and perform you can be promoted to consultant within a year. Lots of great client projects you can get involved in company is not too big, so you can become well known by senior members of the organisation Office location is good long distance travel perks are As a female, the company runs lots of events to help women break through the glass ceiling in technology. The company are very good for that, plus its work with LBGTQ and BAME networks.

Cons

Long hours - but this is expected at consultancy firms Promotion should be done on merit, but it seems to be done on popularity and contributing to extra curricular activities such as socials. I personally was on an extremely difficult project and received promotion for the work I delivered and standards I set. However, others who were on less demanding projects were promoted also. This is something that will frustrate any new employee as management do not appreciate the difference in project difficulties or time demands. Therefore, i believe the promotion process is awful and needs to be improved. In theory you can get on an easy project and then find time to do extra curricular activities and still get the same outcome.

Pros

- Interesting work, with great exposure for junior members of staff - A great place to learn and grow - Time spent here will open up your career options later down the line - Generally positive bonuses - (Generally) lovely people, who are passionate and want to do the right thing for the client - Prompt promotion if you fit the bill, although sadly this has now moved to annually rather than twice a year - You’ll thrive if you’re a proactive person with passion

Cons

- Lip service to I&D, very few female or BAME partners and senior roles, most stop at PC level as the sacrifice to obtain sales targets are too challenging. Saying your diverse isn’t the same as being diverse. - Resourcing is who you know, not the experience or skills you have - Pay increases are apparently ‘capped’ at 10% when you get promoted, so make sure you get a high offer when joining- it’s the biggest salary rise you’ll get. - Really large sales targets which can be off putting e.g. 750k per year as an MC is standard, as you won’t get all the sales credit for the work you win, this equates to 1.5m+ sales every year, when the job you just had before had a sales target of £0, it’s a big leap. - Your ‘team’ or capability is likely to have 100+ people in it, as is your industry team. This makes it not feel like a team at all if you’re more junior, you’re a single person in a crowd. - Terrible, slow response to the pandemic, leaving employees with little understanding of whether the office is open and if you can go in.

Pros

Nice people to work with Relatively chilled out Not much accounting Office location is ok in Victoria

Cons

Poor non-wage benefits Overcrowded office Stingy expenses Boring clients Wage progression is quite low Bit of a hamster wheel