Pros
I've read many reviews here, mentioning that the work is monotonous/ the company is a glorified call center - nothing could be farther from the truth. In my honest opinion, this mainly comes from a few disgruntled junior associates who couldn't cut it. - You get what you put into your work, if you own your development, you will end up learning a lot of real-world soft and commercial skills, which are transferrable to general management, commercial, and account management roles - Cold calling is a part of the job (just as other BD/ sales rep roles at different companies), but you're essentially building the skillset of lead conversion and ultimately knowing who to target for any opportunities (essentially what you would do in any commercial role) - Associates are often involved in account strategy/ team operations and are given several responsibilities such as training and building and owning client relationships from an early stage in their career (unlike most companies) - You have the opportunity to network and engage with several C-level executives as experts as well as talented clients within blue chip consultancies and investment firms (the onus is on the individual to benefit from these opportunities) - With their latest compensation structure, upon success and exceeding your KPIs - you stand to gain great bonuses on top of your base (overall compensation is competitive within the market) - Collaboratively work with a young, diverse, and driven set of people who all share similar traits (the way AS hires its people is truly best in class, having been involved in the recruitment process) - Given the industry-agnostic focus, you end up learning the basics of multiple industries and understanding how things gets done in the real world (if you're truly curious and a generalist, you'll appreciate this) - Introduction of policies such as MBA sponsorships and sponsored examinations such as the CFA, CPA, etc.
Cons
- Long hours, and often it's hard to separate work and personal life given the work intensity (this is probably true for the entire ENS industry) - Misaligned practices and compensation structure for middle management versus the associate role - there is a heavier focus on the associate pool as they're the firm's revenue drivers (while this makes sense in practice, it's not a sustainable long-term practice) - Need for an improvement in the firm's shared centers in all regions to reduce the load on associates and managers - Lack of flexibility compared to other firms (especially when it comes to WFH policies or the number of ALs taken in a row) - this is due to a high focus on employee productivity - High turnover given the industry nature, which can often be demoralizing for the wider associate pool given the slow training cycle