In the Southeast Advisory practice diversity is non-existent. There are very few minorities in leadership positions across the region even in predominantly black cities like Atlanta. In recent downturn (2006-2009) the minorities largely impacted by the layoffs very disproportionally across the region.
The promotion process is nebulous and a well kept secret. Atlanta Leadership does a good job trying to make it look like fair but everybody knows that it is all about who you know and who knows you. I've seen cases where individual's bonuses were upgraded after the formal process was concluded just because the right partner called the right HR person. This happens all the time.
Getting assigned to projects is a key aspect of growing a career at KPMG. Strategic project opportunities and skills development opportunities are far from being distributed equally. If you are close to a partner in a larger office then you have "some" chance of getting into an important project and/or initiative that can help advance your career. Otherwise, if you are located in a satellite office you are on your own and never have access to anything major. So avoid getting into regional offices unless you want your career to be restricted to unimportant assignments.
Overall KPMG is a very politicized place. Meritocracy died there several years ago. With expection of the new hire level where what matters is the quality of your deliverable, for more experienced people It is not about what you do and what value you drive to your clients. It is about who you work for and how big that person's stick is. You may be spell checking or carrying the travel bags of a big partner and still move up faster than someone who is handling a large complex audit engagement.
Finally, beware of the internal segregation that exists within KPMG Advisory in the Southeast region: consulting engagements are "cool", sexy and prioritized over the audit work that is the alma-matter of the firm and carries most of the profits globally. As a result, the moment you are tagged to the uncool work your career stalls and you are for long regarded as less capable and therefore kept out of opportunities on consulting engagements, even when you are obviously better qualified than others who have the "right relationships".
