Limited Opportunity for Entry into Operations Consulting
Pros
The people who shape the day-to-day environment are the best asset and aspect of the company. Unlike companies where culture is dictated by leadership, people shape the company at each office with their grass roots ideas like a boutique consulting firm. The focus on digital transformation is a step in the right direction to help the company focus. Joining an operations consulting company can help you become strategic in leading IT implementation projects. Due to keeping expenses low for clients or to win bids for IT projects, most consultants don't travel outside their hub city. In theory, the company's core values nurture fun and teamwork. If you perform like a star, you're likely to benefit from training and networking at their chateau in France.
Cons
Leadership is too busy trying to sell just about anything that they don't care what most employees want in terms of the types of projects to work on and career development. They'd rather employees work on client sites five days per week instead of fighting for letting consultants work in the office on Fridays to build a community culture. So many employees get stuck with project management office (PMO) support that you might as well work for the client and get higher pay, benefits, and better culture. Some VPs will praise some consultants and then blacklist others. The politics of VPs fighting and backstabbing each other is infamous due to the misalignment of incentives without fostering collaboration. Start with the general practice in order to figure out which VP to align with or else you may be trapped in a unit where you can't move up or out. As a result, some units have less than 50 people to truly add value. Unlike bigger consulting firms, staff with graduate degrees aside from MBAs are valued for thought leadership and other firm-building contributions at the big 5 firms to learn the clients' business whereas Capgemini Consulting only hires people to hit the ground running with what little they know and without the ability to leverage their global resources. Thus, business is generally sold based on relationships, not the content of the proposals for unique points of view and approaches that are tailored to the clients' problems. Nonetheless, the new CEO is working to improve collaboration between the parent IT consulting firm and its operations consulting arm. Perhaps, one day it will truly be a strategy and transformation arm or merge with the parent company's Innovation & Digital Services. Until then, go wherever helps achieve your goals by taking a deeper look into the management styles of leadership, the people in the unit that you'll work for, the types of projects, and the culture.
