Pros
The people (especially the younger consultants) are extremely bright and hard working. You learn from your colleagues every single day. There are some opportunities to get staffed internationally
Cons
Where do I start? - Extremely unethical organization. There is an attitude of "get the project done at any cost". There were multiple times when I was asked to overstep my personal moral boundaries and at least once that I was asked to overstep the firm's contractual/legal obligations. - The one client per industry is simply not true. The company accepts work from direct competitors (see the first point above). They do however advertise this to clients and it's the consultant's job to make sure the client doesn't find out. - Mars likes to pretend that it is a boutique competitor to the Top 3. It is not. It does not have the brand or relationships to compete with the top 3. Nor does it have the alumni network to bring in new business. - Just about all projects are CPG or CPG-related. Almost all involve competitive intelligence (which is a fancy way of saying - call up former employees of your client's competitor and see what you can find out). As such, you don't get the diversity of experience most generalist firms offer. - With a few exceptions, most managers have no management or leadership skills. There is no training and no culture of mentorship, so this is unlikely to change. - Bad management translates into horrific project management and even worse work-life balance. Mars work-life balance is bad even by consulting industry standards, where hours are typically long. - Fear-driven culture, with face time a very strong reality. Long hours are glorified and working all through the night or all through the weekend is seen as a badge of honor, rather than yet another result of bad management. VPs will yell at their team and use personal insults. This is seen as normal. - The org structure is somewhat odd. HR/Admin reports up to Paris, rather than the heads of individual offices and exists to enforce the will of the CEO, not support the consulting practice. VPs have no say in staffing, expense reports are often questioned, admin has a surprising amount of influence on promotions and bonuses. - There is ZERO transparency in promotions and bonuses. Reviews happen irregularly, if at all and you don't know where you stand in your career path. One day, an envelope appears on your desk with your bonus. You don't know why you got what you got or whether you did well. - Everyone is miserable. People talk about how much they hate their job every chance they get.