Job Responsibilities
As an Associate, my responsibilities include business
development, client realtions, administrative responsibilities
(employee reviews, project staffing, and the like), and project
work. The unspoken expectation is to spend approximately 40 hours
per week on billable client/project work and then whatever
additional time - which can range anywhere from 10 - 20 hours per
week - on business development (i.e., marketing, proposals) and
administrative duties. Not every Associate has Administrative
duties. I have found this to be very team and tenure specific,
but it is an indication that you are on your way up in terms of
career path. It is possible to minimize the work performed beyond
the 40 hours; however, it is not suggested if you wish to advance
professionally in the firm. In other words, they espouse and
support work life balance, but at a cost.
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Job Requirements
There are two ways of looking at education at Booz Allen. The
first is what it takes to get you in the door. For this, advanced
degrees and certifications are a big plus. Approximately 90% of
the people on my team of 70 have advanced degrees (MA, MBA, PhD),
so you're definitely rubbing elbows with intelligent colleagues.
You can expect to enter the organization between a Level II and
Level III with a PhD depending on experience and which team
you're applying for. I would highly recommend not letting ego
drive your negotiations in this department. If you are offerred a
position at a lower level than what you think you deserve, there
will be plenty of opportunities to prove yourself and advance
quickly (which also means respectable raise of up to 10%). Coming
in at a lower level than expected can also ease the learning
curve. If you are planning on coming in at a Senior Associate
position (level IV), plan on hitting the ground running -
particularly regarding business development.
The second perspective of education is what to expect when you
get in the door. Booz Allen is extremely developmentally
friendly. They have a variety of internal training - all
competency based - to facilitate your training by level and skill
area. The quality of the training is ok, not great, and is often
used more to 'check a box' than really change students behavior.
BAH generously supports external training and certification with
up to $5000 per year in funds available for each employee. The
bottom line is that there is ample opportunities to stay current
with - or even advance - your credentials. The real challenge
comes with trying to find the time to do this, but if you're
determined, it can be done. Most managers I know are respective
of employees leaving work for an evening class or two, but expect
this to potentially slow your career advancement until you can re-
engage.
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Uppers
The best things about my job are all around support. BAH is a very team-oriented
environment, diverse environment. This lends itself nicely to different
perspectives and broader based solutions. This is particularly useful given the
variety of clients or client issues you may encounter. Additional support comes
from knowing where you stand developmentally. A very well-developed annual 360
appraisal for all employees provides a thorough snapshot of what you do well and
what you need to improve upon in order to meet your professional goals (note that
I did not say advancement, because it is not up or out philosophy). Managers
listen to what your needs are and try to find the right fit. However, it is
ultimately up to individuals to navigate their careers. People generally want to
see you succeed - just not necessarily at their expense.
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Downers
The biggest downer for me came in the form of organizational
values conflicting with career development. One of the core
values is teamwork. As a matrix organization, this is practiced
religiously and reinforced often. The conflict comes with career
progression. On more than one occasion, I have witnessed
colleagues individually taking credit for business development
that was a team effort knowing it would reflect favorably on
them. If your style is not one that is self promoting - at times
at the expense of others - you may find others getting credit and
advancing for your efforts. It's not so much a watch your back
environment, but if you wish to advance, it can be competitive.
And that competition is not based on what you know; rather in
large part who you know and what business have you brought in
lately.
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Lifestyle
It is possible to have a robust social life outside of Booz Allen. In fact, it
is also possible to have a robust social life with the help of Booz Allen. There
are countless groups and forums for new employees to get involved in. The
challenge is finding the time. With this, there are usually trade offs. Do you
want work-life balance, or do you want career advancement. There are tales handed
down from generations of employees that tell of people who have experienced both,
but I have yet to meet those select few during my tenure.
On the government side of Booz Allens consulting, there is limited business
travel. What little there is is project dependent. Even then, managers try to
take employee preferences for travel (or not) into consideration. I personally
traded off salary for travel and work-life balance when choosing BAH over
competitors.
In terms of dress code, be prepared to dress well. BAH recently instituted
casual friday's, but there is an unspoke addage: you are what you wear. Outside
of the McLean HQ, dress tends to favor the client's dress code on a day-to-day
project basis.
As for social events, the McLean HQ has three: a bbq in May, picnic day in Sept
(they rent out Great Adventure theme park for the company) and a Dec holiday
party. You cannot bring spouses or clients to any of these.
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Compensation
I came in as an Associate with 6 years experience and in the
completion stage of my dissertation in the $70K salary
range...considerably lower than I thought I was worth. I got a
signing bonus, but that is very team specific. Ultimately I think
that bonus cost me in longer term salary, but if you need some
money for new suits, it may be something to consider. I was told
that if I got in the door and proved myself, the dollars would
come. In my opinion, salary increases have come at a respectable
pace. After four years, I'm in the low $90Ks...about a 25%
cumulative increase. Increases are primarily performance based
and there are no opportunities for bonuses until you reach Level
IV (Senior Associate), and then it is largely based on your
business development.
Benefits are respectable with the best benefit being the
companies equivalent of 401K. They don't do matching, but they
are kind enough to annually place an amount (usually 10%) based
on your salary into a retirement account whether you contribute
to the account or not.
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Advice to Jobseekers
In order to even get your foot in the door, your best bet is to
enter via referral. That is the majority hiring source. Once you
get the rest of you in the door, network, network, network...and
did I mention you should network. No matter how smart and capable
you are, if your colleagues, peers, and most importantly
leadership does not know how good you are, you will be extremely
limited in terms of project opportunities and especially
advancement. If advancement is not one of your goals, be sure to
communicate that as well. But if it is, you will have to engage
in much self promotion (and be willing to invest some long hours
for business development.
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