software engineer

system engineer

senior consultant

data scientist

associate

Booz Allen Hamilton

I joined BAH 7 years ago, and at the time it was an incredible company to work for - great benefits, a strong focus on ethics, etc.  They were one of the largest privately held companies in the world with a strong emphasis placed on their core values, such as honesty and integrity, and gave their employees a vast range of valuable benefits, attracting the cream of the crop.

However, after years of promising that they would "NEVER make the mistake of going public again", they went public in 2010, and things almost overnight began to circle the drain.  Benefits were slashed while sending out asinine E-Mails telling the employees that it was done for OUR "convenience."  (I wish I were kidding.  They took away 8 hours of PTO from every employee with an E-Mail stating it was for our "convenience.")  Even their 401K plan, the absolute cornerstone of their benefit package and something they swore would "NEVER be changed" has now be slashed to be uncompetitive.  Gone are the yearly parties, the regular meals with your career managers, the large bonuses for work done above and beyond, etc.  Their "benefits" are gone.  They're not even competitive with their weakest competitor anymore.

At the same time, notifications have come down stating that all employees MUST have 40 hours a week billable to a client, meaning any employee doing management, or contract proposal work has to be done on your own time.  (And is required if you want any sort of promotion, or to keep your job.)  All of this while they have "reorganized" the company numerous times recently - always a sure sign of a dying company.

We're now nothing but numbers on a piece of paper. The company that was once all about ethics and honesty routinely lies to their employees while repeatedly showing that ethics are not even on their list of priorities.  Recently we've been told that we'll be submitted for the I2S contract whether we want to be or not, and should we be selected, we'll be forced to leave our current contracts (some of us have been on these contracts for half a decade or more) and have to accept the commute to wherever we're told to go.  Or lose our jobs.

I've recently attempted to leave the company, only to find that my security clearance is so out of date - something BAH security is responsible for keeping updated - that no other company will accept me.  Booz Allen Hamilton's security team refuses to start the process for a periodic reinvestigation, stating that until I switch clients (within the company) that they "don't have to."  (A PR should be done every 5 years.  It's been over 8 since my last one.)  Essentially, my only option to leave Booz Allen Hamilton at this point is to find a company that will start a security clearance on me from scratch, or to take a significant pay cut in a job that doesn't require a security clearance.  I've held a clearance for 20 years now, and because of corporate greed, I may soon lose it.  Anyone in the field knows how devistating that would be to a person's career.

To say that BAH is circling the drain is the understatement of the century.  This company has already circled and is on its way through the tubes.  I can only hope that others are not lured in by its once-prestigious name.

Booz Allen is one of the biggest and most well known management consulting firms in the world, especially in the government market. This is for good reason. They hire some of the best and brightest people and demand a lot from everyone. The work environment is very fast-paced and competitive, but that is balanced with a very collaborative, team-focused environment as well and the firm highly encourages (financially supports) training and continued career development.

While the culture can be difficult for some and definitely often results in burn-out after a number of years, the atmosphere is very collegial and peers truly work together to help each other out and to achieve common goals. 

You also won't find a better place to learn the business of consulting. As a big company, you may not be able to get involved with all of the aspects of business development and contract management, but you will get some exposure, if you are vocal in your desire to do so. Additionally, you will have some opportunities to work internal initiatives, which are highly encouraged, but these efforts may not have the impact as those performed at smaller companies. But that is the nature of a big, $4B firm with over 25k employees.

Additionally, as a big firm, job security is very strong. Booz Allen has the ability, culture, and strategy to hire good people even if they cannot place you on a contract right away (e.g., for clearance or contract delays). They will put you on the "Beach" and have you work internal efforts or non-cleared work until they can place you. Even if your contract ends, Booz Allen can often find you an open spot on another contract (even if its not the position you really want) or float you until something comes along. Again, this isn't always going to be the work that you want, but management will work with you to find a match with the work you want to do and an open need (just takes some time - be patient).

Again, Booz is a great place to start your career, if you can get a job early your career. Advancement is usually relatively fast the first few years. Often strong employees rise from Conultant to Senior Consultant in 1-2 years. Making Associate takes a bit longer, but is obtainable in 3-5 years (ranges based on team and contracts). Beyond that, advancement becomes more tied to team performance, opportunities, luck, and internal politics. Not knocking the company, but worth considering. At this point in your career (a seasoned Associate or Lead Associate), often it's worth looking for other opportunities externally, as this can accelerate your career. Not to mention Associates and Lead Associates really do bear the brunt of the work and responsibility as they straddle the line between front-line client delivery, project and contract management, team/employee development, and business development. They are the backbone of the company.

When I started with Booz Allen in 1999, it was privately held and was an excellent place to work. Not only did they have interesting consulting projects at the senior and junior levels, but they held all employees to high standards of professionalism, attitude, and service. It was very difficult to get promoted to senior management, and everyone who did needed to be exceptional at personnel management, client service, and business development. When Booz Allen became publically-held a few years ago, it began deteriorating in reputation, internal management, benefits, variety of work, and opportunities for mid and senior-level staff. Which is to say that it is now an ordinary place to work, which is a major let down for those of us who "grew up" in an excellently run firm. Nevertheless, the firm is usually perceived positively by new hires.

For new professionals -- especially those who are ex-military or ex-Government -- the firm does provide a lot of opportunities for impactful work and relatively fast-paced career and salary growth. The majority of new hires in my office are junior-to-mid level with a background (but necessarily a bachelor's degree) in military-related operations, IT, cyber security, data analytics, or project management. The hiring process is not as selective as most firms, and there is often a stronger emphasis on visual appearance, oral communications, and "soft" skills rather than on talent or expertise. Consequently, Booz Allen hires individuals who may otherwise have difficulty getting a similar job in the defense/government industry.

The management is primarily composed of business developers rather than strong leaders, technical experts, or skilled personnel managers. Promotions beyond the junior levels are based primarily upon political relationships rather than merit, which is not unusual for a large company. This atmosphere results in a culture that is very cut-throat among those who are trying to move up. In contrast, since incentives for good performance are minimal, competitiveness in technical jobs is also minimal and consequently the culture for those who just want to do their job is relatively friendly and relaxed. Nevertheless, employee turnover is in the ballpark of 20-30% per year.

In conclusion, Booz Allen is a good choice for some individuals and less good for others. It is typically not a good choice for a hard-core techie or business-oriented person, but opportunities are available for those who can get along well with all types of people, quickly learn new skills, and be flexible in adapting to a variety of assignments and work environments.

Was supervised by Subcontractor manager other than the two manager interviewers; military government manager client switched me to a different team from the one I was assigned to on my first day (this is a red flag); Booz Allen junior level associate was assigned to train me and assign me tasks vs. the government manager client who is supposed to supervise and train the contractor – not Booz Allen; Booz Allen junior level associate has an ego problem and thinks he is smarter than everyone else; military government manager client bragged about how he fired the previous Subcontractor employee in the job because she did not seem very smart (this is a red flag); Subcontractor manager put me on a performance improvement plan because he thought I am not very smart – he asked me to send him all the emails coming from Booz Allen junior level associate; Subcontractor manager came to realize via those emails that Booz Allen junior level associate was in fact the cause of the problem; Subcontractor manager could not get an in-person meeting with military government manager client easily and had to really press for that. Subcontractor manager kept trying to get performance feedback from military government manager client via email and got no response; Subcontractor manager asked me to send him an updated resume and he put me on the “no-coverage list” so I could move to a different contract. He told me Booz Allen took the job back, but the client did not have any problem keeping me. Subcontractor did schedule many interviews to try to move me to a different contract, but I was turned down for all the jobs I interviewed for. One job was actually canceled and the Subcontractor recruiter had to remove it from the career job listing.  The job I held at Subcontractor that was “taken back by Booz Allen” is still listed on Subcontractor’s career website and has not been filled yet. Although I came to the job with four government manager client awards from my previous job, I was not considered to be smart enough by Booz Allen junior level associate who is responsible for very high turnover in this job. I left Subcontractor in good standing and the Subcontractor manager is a reference, but the management team here is very weak. Also, it is best to work for Booz Allen and not the subcontractor.

Advice to management:
Do not put an award-winning employee on a performance improvement plan. It makes no sense that I did a great job for my previous employer, and your manager thinks I am “not smart enough”. Employees with 35 years of experience and two graduate degrees are very smart. The Subcontractor managers should investigate the problem and not assume it is the employee’s fault. I had a very difficult time getting another job as a result of my short tenure with Subcontractor and I was fully assuming I could stay throughout the remaining 3 years of the Subcontractor contract. Booz Allen still has not filled the job.

I would never recommend working here to anyone. For profit=great salaries and nothing else. No mentors, no communication, managers are horrible and not supportive. Most of the time never present to assist when concerns arise. Ethics hotline does not work, even though firm has a no retaliation policy, retaliation in the firm still exists. Huge disconnect between employees. If you want to learn about writing proposals so that the firm can increase their own profitability and presence on the stock market, this place is for you. If you don't mind being insecure in your job and notified that you can be terminated at anytime, go for it. Some of the major things you don't learn about this firm and consulting firms in general: 

FIRST DAY: ONCE YOU ARRIVE ON YOUR FIRST DAY YOU ARE "ON THE BENCH" UNTIL YOU EITHER FIND YOUR OWN PROJECT OR SOMEONE WILL ASSIST YOU (WHICH NEVER HAPPENS). If you don't find a job you are given a termination letter. Human Resources is not human resources, you can never get directly in touch with them and you can never FaceTime with them on site anywhere. You can call the help desk to put a ticket in for every single thing that goes wrong which takes up to 3-5 days for a response, and most of the responses are not what you are looking for. 

COMPANY 401K MATCH: Not a match folks. You can contribute as much as you want every month, but you WILL NOT receive a match until the end of the year in one lump sum from the firm. If you leave the firm in November or December, or are given a termination letter, forget about it. You will not receive the 10-11 months of match due to you, which can be typically tens of thousands of dollars. RIP OFF. 

EDUCATION: Tuition reimbursement is 5,000 per year. You can go to any government agency or not for profit and negotiate or take advantage of their more effective programs. REMEMBER THIS: You have to stay with the firm for 12-18 months from the date you receive tuition reimbursement or you have to pay back 100% of the reimbursement in full.

HEALTH INSURANCE: Horrible. Like most companies. You are "self-insured." Pay your huge deductible, copayments, and then insurance starts kicking in. If you are healthy and don't need doctors appointments, well, think of another option instead of paying out thousands of dollars to the firm that you will never use. 

TURNOVER RATE: Huge. People come and go in this firm like I have never seen before. Great for college kids, and Senior Associates who love to swear on client sites, put people down, and fight with clients in general. Not a great environment if you looking to feel good about what you do. Trust me, there are better jobs out there than working at this firm. You want to go here, you will remember this post and you didn't hear the warning signs.

To start off, I will like to thank Booz Allen for the opportunities that they gave me and the opportunities I got to meet some great people at this company. That being said this company is not good to work for at all. I came into this in IT to become a Help Desk Tech mostly because I was looking to get into security, however when I started at the company, it was right when the pandemic started and I was working from home since then. When I first started everything was fine and there was always work to be done. The work here was not the problem, the work was the easy part. My issue is with management and how they run everything and how they take forever to do anything.

Let me start off by saying that I was hired through an agency, so i was a subcontractor to start off for a year and that year went by fast and I had no issues. When I hit a year and about 2 months the PM of my project reached out to me and asked if I would like to be an official Booz allen employee, and of course I took it because it came with a pay raise so why not, I didn't want to stay that long but I might as well get as much money from this company as I can. So I get hired on as an official Booz Allen employee but a month into me being an employee, they started making changes, They forced me to be the Lead tech because the lead tech at the time had to go on leave for an undetermined amount of time, so what they did was they made me become the lead and this came with no pay increase. So I was doing the extra work of a Lead tech while getting paid the same as the people that I am training. that was the first red flag. 

When I asked for a pay increase they told me that this isn't means for a pay increase this is just "temporary". So when I asked how long am I going to be a temp lead, they said we dont know yet. Months go by and I am still the "temp" lead and when I asked again about my compensation they denied it and said it's part of the job. That's fine I don't want to be help desk anyways, I asked if there were any security positions open since I had a few certifications. I ended up talking to the lead ISSO and they hooked me up with an ISSO position. That was great the only problem was that I was getting paid the same amount as the Help desk while I was doing the work of an ISSO and the average pay for an ISSO in MD is 120k, while for helpdesk it ranges from 50k-70k. So I kept talking to my career manager about a promotion because I dont think it's fair that I am doing the work of someone who gets paid 6 figures while I am only getting paid 65k. I kept getting strung along with the promise of a promotion but after 2 years it never happened. after I did everything I needed to do, they kept pushing my date back for me to get my promotion. So I left got a position as a security engineer and am getting paid double what I was making in Booz Allen.

I've been at Booz Allen for several years, been promoted, received awards, etc. Even before Covid, my role allowed for a lot of latitude when it came to work location. This may change now that people are going back to offices and my role has expanded. It remains unclear on what my team's plans are for return to work, but being able to work remotely pre-pandemic was a huge plus for me and added to the work/life balance.

I haven't encountered a situation where I've been denied a leave request, and it's not often that my work bleeds past normal working hours (this is either my own choice to get a bit ahead with my workload, or if there is something major that requires a quick turnaround, like proposals).

Booz Allen is really big on networking and using that as a means to find different projects. I understand the thinking, but it was a huge adjustment for me, being an introvert. Times between projects can wear one down if they are looking for a new project and trying to meet with 3-5 relative strangers per day. That's the biggest con I feel -- there were times when I would go through multiple round interviews for an internal position, and I couldn't help but think I could be doing the same elsewhere and getting a pay increase out of it.

That aside, you're surrounded by people who range from pretty smart to absolutely brilliant. At my previous job, I was the big fish in a small pond, and at Booz Allen I sometimes felt I barely qualified as a fish. But this is a good thing - I want to be surrounded by smart people. And because of that, I feel like the work I'm a part of is superior and, at least in my part of the company (Civilian Services - Health), the work we're doing matters a great deal.

I feel like - and who doesn't feel this way - that I could be making more money than I am now for the same job, but part of that is my fault for staying way too long in an underpaid position. The benefits are generally good, but not the best I've ever had.

Overall, if you can get with all the networking and internal hustling you occasionally need to do. If you can manage to surround yourself with good, smart people who are excited to learn and help others learn, it's a fantastic place. The professional development available is really great as well.

The biggest pro that BAH offers are the career mobility to pivot to a different role or government contract. But you definitely need to work to find one. Another pro is that the company is telework friendly and is flexible with time off if you get sick or if an event comes up in which you won't be able to work.

The company benefits are some of the worst of all the big government contracting firms in the area. The Aetna insurance plans are expensive yet have significantly higher deductibles than other High Deductible healthcare plans offered by different firms.

The firm always mentions very good financial results in the most recent quarter, yet refuses to give end of year bonuses and gives miniscule yearly raises. I was promoted for consistently good performance, and the raise I got was laughable. The firm is also not transparent about what you're getting paid versus what the salary range is for your role and what your coworkers are getting paid.

I had my share of experiences with many non-contributors on the contract but also worked with many hired folks who simply had no idea what they were doing despite being in the role for a long time. I had much more positive experiences working with the subcontractors than with other BAH employees.

BAH's recruitment practices really need a significant improvement, as they ignore qualified candidates and always end up picking the incompetent ones.

Everyone also has a "Career Manager" that is supposed to support your career goals and advocate for you for promotions after consistent good performance. Mine was difficult to reach or contact throughout my time at BAH, and it felt like he simply didn't want to be a career manager.

My experience with the program managers at BAH are that they are toxic and not people you'd want to work with. They either have massive egos and will seek getting revenge towards anyone who questions their authority or are simply unqualified and don't really know what's going on or what they're doing. It doesn't help that they are given ultimate power to hire or remove people from the government contract with little to no oversight.

Booz Allen used to be a good place to work when it was a privately held company because people were more valued and the benefits were very good and better in comparison with others in their field.  If you want work life balance, forget it.  This isn't the place for you.  Also, as far as working from home or off-site, it depends on your manager.  I worked on a team where some staff worked from home a lot, all the time, or rarely and it depended on your direct report.  It certainly wasn't fair and still isn't well received on that particular team.  If you want to feel valued, you may want to reconsider working here.  It's a large company and you will probably be just a number.  Again, being just number may not be bad for a career move but, if you are looking to be valued enough for pay increases or advancement, you will more than likely be disappointed. When staff realize this, they usually leave the firm and find better jobs elsewhere.  Also, management will not tell you when you are hired that you may never ever get a pay increase or any promotion, and this has happened to staff I have known for over 4 years.  If you are not a Senior Associate or a Principal level, you are not deemed important and you will be expendable.  They conduct a lot of their business via the phone because so many people work off-site.  The hardest part of the job is getting information from so many people in such a large firm to do your job.  People are maxed out on their workloads.  Also, pleasing the many leaders in this organization is almost impossible.  Several are former military and seem to complain a lot.  Again, if you need to feel valued and don't want just a paycheck, and want advancement, look elsewhere.  It can also be cutthroat depending on your team.  People seem to thrive on throwing people under the bus. The most enjoyable part of the job was my work and my coworkers, not management.  Management cares mostly about themselves.  If you go here, find a few mentors and hang on to them for dear life.  You will need people to get you elevated.  Several peers have left for advancement since they couldn't get it here.

I've been with Booz for 4 years in October.  What can I say, the industry is changing and Booz has had to change with it.  They don't offer the robust retirement packages that they used to, but they do give you something.  Excellent if you're entering the work force from college or military.  If you don't make Lead Associate in 5 years, it's time to move on.  Think of it as a stepping stone; but absolutely put everything you have into it.  It MAY "pan - out" for you; as it has for many of my colleagues.  If you have a skill or passion for something that higher management deems a "new business vector," GET INVOLVED!  Volunteer to write proposals and do what it takes to get new business.  You can promote in as few as 3 years is you are ambitious/ have skills in the right thing.  

That said, don't walk in with hopes that are too high.  You might be very disappointed.  The "Senior Associate" echelon is hit-or-miss.  I am very lucky to have a good leadership group now.  My Senior Associates before June 2014 were absolutely terrible and actually performed administrative tasks within the Booz "People Model" that sabotaged my potential for advancement (i.e. defining my skill set [sort of an internal resume that doesn't change] without consulting me - such that I have not performed a task aligned with my official role since August 2013) because they needed to fill their "down-eche" roster with people aligned to their business case.

All-in-all, the close-knit Booz fraternity that used to exist before 2010 is entirely gone.  It's basically on par with any other administratively (very) top-heavy cleared contracting firm, except they don't let you keep any of the rights to ideas that you come up with; so keep your ideas to yourself until you promote or leave.

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