Vault’s Verdict

Applied Value Consulting is a firm where consultants can’t help but stand out—its boutique size and small team culture mean that every single person’s contribution can make or break an engagement.

If that sounds like too much pressure early in your career, then this may not be the place for you. However, if the thought of making an immediate impact, being staffed on projects from the off, and learning while doing (as opposed to formal training programs) sounds appealing, then Applied Value may well be worth checking out.

While compensation isn’t top-of-market compared to the consulting industry as a whole, it’s worth noting that this comes with two significant up-side tradeoffs: first, this is not a place that churns through consultants on a 2-year up-or-out cycle. And, second, Applied Value’s commitment to creating positive social impact means that the actual work is rewarding in a way that many consulting engagements (some of which have made unfavorable headlines of late) tend not to be.

Employee Reviews

Firm Culture

• “AV is the best consulting firm out there and feel blessed to work for such a great company.”
• “If you are comfortable with ambiguity and are a self starter that wants to learn a ton, this is the place for you!”
• “Strong focus on company culture and face-to-face experience with clients.”
• “There is no red tape and you aren't part of a team of 20 people, rather you are part of small teams where you contribution really matters.”
• “You have to really want to be here to be good at this job. There's no flying under the radar or doing the bare minimum. We are a boutique firm, so everyone has to work at their peak performance. This means you are going to be given responsibility early and often. It's important that you take those opportunities and run with them.”

Quality of Life

• “Definitely a lot of work given the smaller teams, travel to client sites can be tough. But the people at the company are all extremely close, which makes travel + long hours so much easier. We also do 2 offsites each year to incredible locations (Kenya, Iceland, Mexico City.”
• “It is very easy to request time off if you do it in advance, and once you have requested time off it is very well respected. You are encouraged to use time off since it is use it or lose it"
• "Travel requirements vary project to project, but across the firm, I think most people travel roughly every other week. The firm prioritizes travel and in-person time with clients, just depends on what clients want.”
• “Hours can be tough sometimes, but it is expected and never unbearable.”
• “I've never had more of a personal life than I do working here. They really value your time and allow you to actually go experience the cities you work in. For example, if I have a concert and we're supposed to travel I can come a few days late. If I have a prior engagement that's okay.”
• “Worst aspect would just be the pressure to perform. I think a lot of this is self-brought-on, but sometimes hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Career Development

• “Really values self-starters who can climb the learning curve quickly and are ambitious.”
• “Formal training programs aren't as structured as larger firms, but there are a lot of informal mentorship and training opportunities.”
• “The best part is the participation from partners.  This is a firm where there are literally no doors, the partners are always available to walk you through a deliverable or assist with sales.  It's really great to see so many people willing to help out and interested in your development. The area where we can do better is training topic selection.  We have a lot of different trainings available but the material isn't always spot on with what we need to learn.”
• “The firm provides a lot of opportunities for personal growth and development while on case, giving you a lot of responsibility early in your career.”
• “The firm values on-the-job training and ‘drinking from the firehouse’ a lot more than formal training.”

Compensation

• “I think the firm's salary has fallen behind industry standard since COVID, when other firms were doling out inflation bumps etc., AV did not keep pace.”
• “I was shocked at the jump I was given when I was recently promoted.  As I continued to talk to others they said it just gets higher and higher.  Really, really happy with what we have here. Worst aspect would be granularity on bonus.  No one really knows how it's calculated.”
• “Salary and bonus is great. Health insurance is incredible.”

Community Engagement

• “Have hired many women in leadership roles over the last two years, providing more representation for younger females.”
• “I feel as though the firm is making efforts in regards to diversity, and one area that requires special attention for sure is women in leadership positions.”
• “There is VERY little diversity in this company. Not sure if it's a product of hiring or just general culture, but not very open to different opinions or ways of thinking.”

Business Outlook

• “Employee morale is high considering we have not had as much staffing issues as other firms. Last 9 months we have been close to completely staffed and are actually hiring for some roles now as other firms are announcing layoffs.”
• “I think our smaller project teams and intense focus on quantifiable ROI for clients gives us a leg-up compared to other firms who sell softer projects with no direct link to truly improving a company's bottom-line."
• “Fully staffed and currently hiring. Lots of sales opportunities being developed by junior resources which is incredible.”
• “I'm confident we are on the up swing here and will continue to grow the business.  The leaders here are well aware of how to scale when times are bad and how to scale when times are great.  Overall really confident.”
• “Worst aspects, client diversity, we rely too heavily on one or two key clients.”

Hiring Process

• “Depending on the candidate the interview can take 2 weeks or it can take a month.  We want someone who is Engineering or Supply Chain Focused.  Someone who can understand the overall business as well as the details behind what's not making it work.  We also want someone with a sales focus who can become a partner here.”
• “Math test, 3-4 rounds.”
• “[We] seek future partners and people who will be able to hold their own in meetings. Expectation is everyone should be able to sell or help sell projects down the line.”

Interview Questions

• “Case interview.”
• “Tell me about your specific project experience? Why would you be successful at AV?”
• “There are a lot of different cases that we use but mine is personally around SKU rationalization and business process improvement. We ask a lot about your future and the skills you want to hone while at AV.”
• “We look more for cultural fit than other firms outside just pure analytical nature. We are a client-facing business and the expectation is everyone is socially competent.”
• “Why do you want to work at AV?"