Pros
Decent social events outside of work including happy hours, team dinners and a holiday party. Good short-term advancement potential at the lower levels. Big reason, however, is that turnover is extremely high at the senior levels.
Cons
Scope of work is limited to a specific nice. When management says they're highly "specialized", they really mean they haven't been successful in winning projects outside of their narrow scope of experience. Stay here long enough, and you'll become a one-trick pony. Long-term opportunity is poor. It's no accident that most employees depart at the mid-seniority level because the grass is truly greener elsewhere. Fact is the majority of people who start any given year in a mid-senior level position (Consultant, Senior Consultant, Engagement Manager) don't stay through the calendar year because they don't see a future for themselves at the firm. Anyone can verify this level of turnover by searching LinkedIn. The compensation and benefits package is laughable for the consulting industry. Temps make more than analysts. Employees that have recently left for other boutique life science consulting firms increased their compensation by ~30-40% and have better work-life balance. Annual bonuses are capped at just above single digit percentages. 401K employer contributions fully vest after 6 total years because management knows no one will make it that long. FYI, no one ever has to date. Exit options are nothing special. There have been some good exists and some lateral moves to other firms, however even if yo want to join a biotech or pharma company, management will not support you in the transition. Upon delivering your 2 weeks notice, you'll likely be let go immediately or be forced to "quietly" transition out. The work culture is extremely toxic. Management only hires fresh graduates or those with limited experience because it's then easier to get them to drink the Kool-Aid and accept low wages for horrible working environment. Depending on the team, long hours are the norm even when deliverable aren't approaching. Sucking up is common, because well, it works. As long as you're in the good graces with management, you can do no wrong (even if you call another employee an idiot to their face). The problem with rapid promotions as a carrot for productivity is that you have good executors with zero management ability in positions of authority. Upper management habitually makes exaggerated and questionable claims. Some of these claims include having over 75 employees (there's about 30), being a strategy firm (it's market research), being the McKinsey of specialty (what?), etc. Further, employees - current and former - are constantly being lobbied to write positive reviews on Glassdoor. Sound familiar? There was recently a WSJ article about this. I doubt anyone will pay attention to this review, much like exit interview feedback. Regardless, this is my 2 cents.
