Pros
I love working at BCG. I do work hard--no doubt--harder than my friends in any other industry but investment banking and private equity, and about the same as my friends that work for other consulting firms. Here is what I love: - I work on really fascinating projects--strategic efforts that are at the heart of the client's senior management's agenda - I work across a bunch of functional topics within the industry I focus on - The teams I am on have access to the CEO. Literally every project but I have been involved with in the last 3 years has had regular contact with the CEO, and the one that didn't had access to the U.S. country manager - The people I work with are talented and focused, yet also interesting and surprisingly down-to-earth. - We have a terrific administrative support staff and now, with our new office, pretty much the nicest office facility I have seen in the industry - Awesome benefits. Incredibly low co-pays for insurance, which matters a lot when you have kids - Flexibility. If I get the work done, it doesn't matter if I get home for dinner with my family then get back online, or work from home on a Friday afternoon, etc.
Cons
I can't lie: I do work hard. I am compensated very well, but I have no doubt that I could go out and make a decent living by working fewer hours. At the same time, i recognize that would come with a cut in pay and having to do work that is much less interesting and much less laden with variety