Vault’s Verdict

Consultants who call Arthur D. Little home see a lot of positives in their firm. From a cultural standpoint, they love its combination of freedom, flexibility, and entrepreneurship. The same is true for the firm’s flat hierarchy, its emphasis on teamwork, and a compensation plan for partners that incentivizes doing right by junior staff.

The firm’s complex and rewarding projects also contribute to making it a great destination to grow a career. Arthur D. Little insiders say the firm trusts employees to take on key responsibilities early in their tenures, and that those who succeed can fast-track to promotion in as little as six months. The firm also offers the chance to transfer between its international offices, so consultants can gain international exposure.

To support early responsibilities, promotion cycles are run every 6 months (unlike other firms where annual progression is the norm). 

While the pursuit of excellence at Arthur D. Little can come with challenges—namely, work-life balance, a complex compensation plan, and a still-maturing DEI program—the firm has a track record of strong business results. If you’re looking to build international experience and take ownership of your career, the firm may be a good fit.

Arthur D. Little insiders love the quality and complexity of work on offer at their firm, as well as the early responsibility and opportunities to work internationally that often accompany them. A firm that is entrepreneurial by nature, ADL offers consultants the chance to make their mark internally, with a flat hierarchy contributing to an environment in which everyone is encouraged to think and act as a leader.

Unsurprisingly, the firm’s culture is frequently highlighted as a positive by insiders, with a particular emphasis on collegiality and a supportive environment—even if hours can sometimes be on the long side, and internal structures not as developed as they might be elsewhere in the industry. However, the pursuit of excellence comes with its challenges, notably in work-life balance and long hours. All told, the firm represents a solid choice for a consulting career, with an opportunity for the most ambitious to carve a lasting path through the firm.

Employee Reviews:

Firm Culture

• “You can learn from the senior members of the firm on a daily basis.”
• “The firm provides flexibility and freedom, and it is very entrepreneurial.”
• “We’re looking for someone who is curious, personable, and able to work in a team.  Arrogant consultants are not welcome. ADLers are typically brilliant but humble, and that’s the cultural fit we like.”
• “There is a fair process managed at a global level for setting each partner's bonus. This includes a strong behavioral component relating to how they treat junior staff, which is very positive.”

Quality of Life

• “The firm cares about quality of life and is very flexible when it comes to hours so long as the job is done. For example, everyone accepts that sometimes people need to go pick their children up from school in the afternoon. There is no culture of being in the office for the sake of it. As normal for the industry, hours can be variable, especially if you’re working with colleagues or clients in different time zones, but this is quite manageable.”
• “I really appreciate our policy of being able to work two days per week from home. The firm is flexible regarding when I can take the time off, if I communicate in advance. I feel like I have time to meet friends and be with my partner. I almost never work weekends; it has only happened a few times over the three years I’ve been at ADL.”
• “The hours are on par with the average for consulting, but leadership takes care of its people by giving time off after a difficult project.”
• “The best aspects of the firm’s quality of life are the manageable hours, relationships with senior people at the office, and the firm’s culture.”

Career Development

• “ADL offers lots of freedom and even encouragement to manage your own career journey in the firm, for example, by working abroad. I've experienced it myself, having worked for years in Asia. However, if you just sit at your desk and hope for the best, you will see your peers doing things that you're not.”
• “The career development and promotion process is rigorous and fair. It involves anonymous 360-degree feedback from multiple nominated colleagues, both junior and senior, as well as a lengthy self-assessment.”
• “ADL has six-month fast-track assessment opportunities that motivate staff. Promotions are based on strictly merit-based performance evaluations that are rooted in business results.”
• “Some of the best aspects of the firm's career development opportunities include international opportunities, the challenging nature of the work, the variety in projects and thereby experience you accumulate, and the pleasant culture that reinforces these opportunities. However, the firm could do more to offer development opportunities outside my job function, such as voluntary work (or at least making us more aware of its existence).”

Compensation

• “As a partner, there is no cap on total compensation after bonuses and a very attractive dividend policy. However, our compensation system is complex and sometimes difficult to explain to candidates.”
• “The salary and progression are good, but the bonus mechanism is low for entry-level roles.”
• “In general, the pay is good. However, [some] other strategy consulting companies appear to pay more.”

Community Engagement

• “We have a global DEI network that supports underrepresented groups, and our management has supported several initiatives promoting women in the firm. However, it’s one thing to hire women, and another thing to retain them. We are still far from being 50/50 women and men.”
• “Although I believe we can perform better in terms of DEI, I do find that the company is actively trying to make progress on DEI performance.”
• “The firm reflects the gender diversity of the consulting industry at large and has a strong desire to encourage a more even gender mix, particularly at the more senior levels. With offices around the world, globally the firm is extremely ethnically diverse.”
• “The firm offers extensive mental health programs (such as webinars and trainings). In terms of physical health, the company supports employees by offering a discounted rate for gyms and similar venues. However, in terms of nutrition, I think the firm offer more healthy snacks.”

Business Outlook

• “We have been outgrowing the industry average and the top five average for over a decade, but we’re still not where we need to be in terms of scale.”
• “Some of our strengths are the company’s resilience to slow growth in the consulting industry, the firm’s leadership and commitment, and how innovative we are.”
• “We have a committed partner group, a strong shared aspiration to grow over the medium term, and a plan backed by concrete development initiatives to achieve this. However, we need to improve our name recognition in some markets.”
• “We have cash reserves that would cover enough annual revenue to weather any downturn, which allows us to consider growth options if needed.”

Hiring Process

• “The process consists of three steps. First is a prescreening call with a minor case. The second is a series of three interviews focused on case solving. Third is a partner interview. We’re looking for analytical candidates seeking early responsibility in a smaller company.”
• “The firm's interview and callback process is very strong. The company is committed to providing individualized feedback to candidates. We’re also flexible with candidates on interviews (for example by offering the interview online vs. in-person). The ideal candidate has a critical and analytic mindset, has a proactive and strong work ethic, and is pleasant to work.”
• “The candidate profile is the classical strategy or management consulting profile. However, we do look past the CV in certain cases since we are interested in individuals with unique backgrounds a bit more than our competitors.”

Interview Questions

• “We ask applicants to prepare a presentation based on a client scenario that we provide to them. They typically present it to senior team members, then answer questions about it. This is not adversarial, but intended to help the firm gauge the candidate’s ability across a range of core skills. There may also be a quantitative case study and a more general interview.”
• “Every interviewer brings their own questions and cases. We don’t do brainteasers, though.”
• “Expect to see strategy cases that cover the “Why, What, and how?” of our clients’ core business. We take most of these cases from our actual work.”
• “How would you address the volatility in renewable energy generation, given, for example, base load demand? How would you help a coffee shop more effectively target high revenue customers? Should Company A acquire Company B?”