Vault’s Verdict

Collaborative, noncompetitive, friendly, and analytical—insiders use these words to describe the atmosphere at Cornerstone Research. The firm focuses on developing people and immersing them in its culture, though a variety of programs. New consultants start their careers at the firm in an orientation program with large cohorts, enjoy access to formal and informal mentors and structured programs for training and networking. The firm offers a clear path from entry-level to the pre-partner level, and insiders say they take on new challenges every year they spend there.

Hours at Cornerstone Research tend to range from 40 to 60 per week, with occasional spikes around deadlines. Insiders appreciate that the firm provides some flexibility around remote work and lets them largely set their own hours and work from any city in which it has an office. Work-related travel is limited, and senior consultants can choose to go part-time if their life circumstances change.

The firm’s reputation as a top economic consulting shop with excellent work product drives a strong long-term business outlook, with the firm seeing steady growth even in economic downturns. Insiders advise the firm pays a high base salary, with consistent pay within levels of seniority to drive equality. Bonuses, however, are performance-driven and follow a transparent formula. The firm also offers additional perks, such as a wellness stipend, a transportation benefit, and catered food at its offices.

Employee Reviews

Firm Culture

• “Informal mentoring is incredible and is pervasive, and there is a culture of development at Cornerstone that is inherent in everything we do.”
• “My firm is very good about promoting a noncompetitive atmosphere, while also being keen on instruction and immersion into the role.”
• “No travel helps with work-life balance. The firm encourages people to take time off and has a strong, friendly, and supportive internal culture. Hours can be volatile but average less than much of the industry.”
• “Everyone is collaborative, friendly, and analytical. Very little office politics; a lot of encouragement and mentorship.”

Quality of Life

• “Travel is not a routine requirement of the job, but the firm is flexible about working remotely or working from offices in other cities when traveling. Hours are generally predictable and only fall outside the 40-60 hour/week range once in a while. The firm respects time off as long as it is planned in advance.”
• “The firm tries its best to ensure we have the ability to enjoy their lives outside the office, especially when it comes to weekends. If you plan ahead and are very responsive regarding availability, the firm is understanding. Given the nature of litigation timelines and client demands, there are times that late-night and weekend work are unavoidable.”
• “The firm offers strong flexibility and work-life balance, with the ability to work from home about half the time, no travel requirements, and generally flexible hours. The main downside is the high variability in workload driven by case deadlines, which can make hours unpredictable at times.”
• “Very flexible with hours, very accommodating of work location and leaves, and managers are very intentional about not overloading with work.”

Career Development

• “Career growth at the firm is clearly defined and openly discussed. Expectations for each level are transparent, and people who’ve been promoted are good about sharing how they got there. There’s also a strong culture of informal mentoring—senior staff are approachable and willing to give career advice or feedback.”
• “Strong mentor program both formally and informally. Interactive and robust orientation program with all of new hires made the firm felt like a strong community. Able to move freely between offices and have lots of say in staffing decisions.”
• “Cornerstone is focused on promoting continuous growth among its consulting staff. There are opportunities to grow your responsibilities each year. There are structured programs for formal training, internal mentorship, and informal networking for employees of every level.”
• “The mentorship opportunities at Cornerstone are unmatched. The firm operates around a generalist model for the staffing of analysts, which allows for a variety of different workstreams. Additionally, the advisor, buddy, and cohort systems enable conversations with colleagues from all levels of leadership and specializations.”

Compensation

• “Salaries are generous and consistent across levels, and bonuses are substantially performance based so I'm confident there are not any pay equity issues. There is a LOT of attention paid to fairness, consistency, and accounting for firm values in setting compensation systems.”
• “I think that the pay is very good, and I appreciate that Cornerstone is transparent about pay and the fact that all consultants (under officer) are paid the same base. While performance bonus can vary, the fact we are all paid the same creates a collegial environment that supports helping rather than stepping on others to succeed. Cornerstone does offer compensation for working extraordinary hours, but it is nothing compared to traditional overtime.”
• “They pay us a lot, and the progression of our salary is clear. Additionally, they lay out the bonus from the get-go, so you know how much you will get at least.”
• “Cornerstone Research provides a plethora of health and wellness efforts. Every day, food is catered from notable restaurants that are extremely health conscious and full of nutrients. On top of this, the office includes a wellness room that can be used at any time, and we are given a wellness stipend of $1000 for the year. Moreover, there is a 50 percent discount on city bike memberships, and we get free mental health app subscriptions with the likes of Headspace.”

Business Outlook

• “Cornerstone leads the field of economic consulting by providing high-quality service based on innovative techniques. Employees take the firm's rigorous quality seriously and understand it takes effort across the board to deliver the best products.”
• “The economy may be in a difficult position right now, but we do not at all feel threatened that our jobs or work could be compromised. This is very reassuring.”
• “The firm has seen steady growth for a decade, and I do not see this changing. Securities litigation could always slow down given rules and regulatory changes, but it has been consistent for a while. AI will change things, but we are adapting AI tools to our workflow.”
• “Strong market share in economic consulting. Very aggressive about implementing AI into workflows. Great experts that are affiliated with the firm. Confident in business outlook.”

Hiring Process

• “The firm has a two-round process, the first having two interviews and the second having four. After the second round, decisions are made but can take different amounts of time depending on the firm's hiring goals, competitiveness of the candidates, etc. They seek someone who is analytically minded, able to think critically, a team player, and generally a top performer in all aspects of their life.”
• “I think the firms process is really strong. Through six case interviews (two first round and four final round), candidates really can see what being a CR consultant is like and evaluate if they want to work here just as much we evaluate if we want them here.”
• “The firm quickly gets back to candidates on whether they have an offer or not. The firm looks for candidates that can think quickly on their feet and have potential to learn quickly on the job.”
• “We look for someone who has an interest in economics and an understanding of basic econ/finance principles and math. Also, someone who is motivated and who has research experience.”

Interview Questions

• “Here is a case that I worked on. Can you tell me how you would have approached this case and help me design a research plan, please?”
• “Depends on the candidate, particularly for postgraduate candidates. For undergraduate hires, typically, an example case of rule 10b(5) class action is part of the interview followed by something from either antitrust, consumer fraud, healthcare, or valuation. For postgraduate hires, there is a high expectation of understanding how the relevant academic literature and models can be applied to relevant case work. Behavioral questions are important too.”
• “Typically, interview/case questions are organized around basic econometric concepts, where the questions are modeled after real life litigation cases. As such, there were many exhibits and charts that were provided and the interviewer would often probe the interviewee on assumptions, data sources that could be examined, and other avenues of analyses that could be conducted for the client.”
• “Tell me about a time that you worked on a team. Tell me how you would manipulate this data to make it clean.”

Uppers

• “Compensation, interesting casework, good people.”
• “Very welcoming and fun culture. The work is high-stakes and interesting. The benefits (free food, etc.) are very convenient.”
• “The people are genuine and want everyone to succeed. Everyone works hard and accepts the challenge of solving some of the most difficult problems with a team-first approach.”
• “Compensation and social culture.”

Downers

• “The stress that comes with extremely high standards.”
• “Like all consulting firms, hours can at times be unpredictable and demanding.”
• “Work-life balance, hierarchy, slow career progress.”
• “Industry is very niche.”