Smart People, Dense Culture, Poor management
Pros
There are a lot of smart people here, and the hallway conversations are generally enlightening and interesting.
Cons
Where do I begin? The company has a focus on hiring very young and "growing their own", and there is a lack of trust for experienced personnel who did not gain all their experience in-house. The dedication to a "flat" management structure borders on parody and frequently results in emotional decisions that make the culture seem a lot like high school, with popularity playing a large role in assignments rather than client service. (I was literally told that socializing more within the company would help my prospects for getting plum assignments -- at this point I had depth of experience that many of the 'in house' talent did not). While I shared many of the political viewpoints which were touted as company goals, I did not feel comfortable with the openly dismissive treatment towards those who did not, and in some instances the lack of life experience of the majority of the staff was on display. The maturity level of the organization seems lacking, and, oddly for an organization that prides itself on using intelligence testing and other such hard metrics in their hiring process, politics reigned supreme, even thicker than I have seen at partnership based firms where everyone is kissing up to try to become partners. Lastly, their stated goal of increasing "diversity" in the field seems to supersede the idea of, for example, creating a welcoming space for persons who may not share their political viewpoint or who may have a different experience. This leads to a very un-agile workplace, ironically, where towing the company line is more important than fomenting discussion, even when facts and data disprove the majority opinion. Oh, and yeah, for the privilege of feeling part of the collective, you can be underpaid - I earned 25% more working elsewhere, but was told the terrific lifestyle and benefits would more than make up for that.