Please note that this point of view is based on working in Advisory/Consulting in the UK bean counter competency (if you don't know what that means it doesn't apply to you).
1. On joining the firm make sure you are happy with your grade and compensation package, as there is a good chance you will not get a pay rise or bonus for the next five years.
2. Expanding on the above - you are judged every year on utilisation, developing others, extra time you spend on developing collateral and what you've done to raise the firms profile e.g. Charity work in the community, article in the paper, etc. NO ONE will tell you this explicitly when you join the business. Working on a project and hitting your billable hours a year is only a small part of it. You are judged against the ENTIRE competency on a 1 - 4 scale, with only 1s and 2s getting a pay rise every year and even these numbers are bell curved. Meeting your util target will get you a 3 at most, if you haven't worked the extra ours to cover the other areas your performance is reviewed against.
3. People managers hold your career in the palm of your hands, they are the ones that attend moderation on your behalf and argue your case. If you don't have one that cares, then your career is over. Also unless your PM is a high flier you are going no where. Last year I asked my PM what I had to do to get at least a 2. I worked my socks off and did everything he told me - we had regular monthly catch ups to make sure I was on target. Then it came to year end and I didn't get a 2, whereas the other 2 people he managed got 1s. I was livid, how could he not even benchmark my year against the others? I brought this up in my appraisal and all I got was a pat on the head and better luck next time.
4. Despite what they tell you Partner and Director sponsorship is everything. If you aren't "in" with a clique you are going no where, usually your PM will get you into theirs but it doesn't always work that way. In this firm alone there is the ex-Dolittle gang, IP boys club, FS master group and R&C mafia. If you can't get into one of these areas and get Partner and Director support enjoy the no pay rise and bonus years.
5. In my area the firm scores 0 for diversity, all the Partners are WASPs aged between 40 - 60. This is a fact and whilst they are trying to change this nothing has happened since my time here.
6. Good eggs with great experience and technical knowledge are leaving in droves or moving to other areas within the firm. The lack of progression from C to SC and from SC to Director has caused this. There have been too many broken promises and false starts, is it any wonder that of all of the Big 4 this firm have had open recruitment during all of the lean years?
7. Due to how the business has grown, some people have joined the firm without going through the promotion process at a higher level than they were previously at. I am constantly amazed at how little content these people have and just talk their way through meetings, not realising that they are out of their depth.
