Vault’s Verdict

If you want to build a long-term economic consulting career in the nation’s capital, Bates White should sit near the top of your list. Insiders say the firm’s use of formal mentoring, career paths for people with and without advanced degrees, and the structure of its impressive compensation package position it not only as a fantastic place to start a career but also a difficult one to leave.

The firm’s culture emphasizes collegiality and professional growth, and many insiders make close friends from among their coworkers. Although the firm follows a hybrid work model, its office provides snacks and meals, plus an on-site gym. Expectations for work quality are high, but taking time off is simple and travel is minimal. Additionally, outside of busy periods, weekly hours hover around 45, maintained through a central staffing function, which helps the firm offer better work-life balance than many other consultancies.

Promotions are available every six months for entry-level employees but then shift to a yearly cycle at more senior levels. The firm’s high base salary is also standardized for employees’ first three years; however, bonuses are not available until an employee’s fourth year. This eases concerns about billable hours early in your career, say insiders, who love the firm’s resistance to recessions and long-term growth prospects.

Employee Reviews

Firm Culture

• “The best aspect is the entirety of the firm’s culture. There is a strong focus on completing quality work for our clients under conditions that provide employees with a healthy work-life balance.”
• “The best part of our firm’s quality of life is that they put intention in making our day-to-day pleasant with breakfast and a snack provided each day, a beautiful office, and hybrid work flexibility. The worst part is that hours can vary significantly, but that is just the nature of consulting work.”
• “Many of my colleagues are my friends. We see each other outside of work, often having BBQs, movie nights, or watching kids sports. They are so great.”
• “Mentorship is engrained in the culture of Bates White. From assigning every employee a sponsor that helps steer their long-term development, to staffing projects with a close eye on mentorship availability and opportunities, to a suite of trainings and supplemental offerings that can be tailored to best suit an employee’s needs no matter their level, Bates White puts a lot of time and energy into making sure its staff has the mentorship and resources they need to grow and develop.”

Quality of Life

• “Hours are good, can range anywhere from 30 hours a week to 60, but usually at 45 hours/week. There’s a relatively good work/life balance, but of course your workload depends on how busy the firm is with a given case, which fluctuates very often.”
• “The firm is committed to maintaining a good work-life balance for its employees. The staffing of all employees is done centrally so that an equitable balance can be maintained. The travel requirements for the job are manageable easily. It is very easy to take time off.”
• “The firm has a great approach to PTO. There is no formal approval system, and notice does not need to be given far in advance. The firm trusts its employees to use their best judgement and communicate with team members about their plans. All my time off has been respected and encouraged.”
• “BW allows for a lot of flexibility. There are two WFH days weekly (three coordinated in-office days). PTO is generous. The ability to rearrange calendars or work remotely for other commitments, vacation, etc., is freely available and widely used. Senior leadership practices this as well. Like all consulting work, our hours can be unpredictable or driven by client demands. There is also additional substantial non-billable commitments that drive this up.”

Career Development

• “Bates White provides an excellent formal mentorship structure, where we are assigned more senior staff that are focused on our development and ensuring that we are meeting expectations. I also appreciate the rapid pace of promotions and raises for more junior staff. The worst element is probably that moving around to different practice areas is somewhat difficult. However, it is possible, so I don't weight it too heavily.”
• “Career paths and upward mobility, regardless of educational background, is a big positive. Most firms in this industry require a PhD or advanced degree to move up, but Bates White values and appreciates contributions from non-PhDs, and I have not felt like a lack of degree has limited my opportunities to grow.”
• “The best parts of the firm’s career development include training for quantitative skills, such as R, Stata, and Python, for early in career individuals.”
• “The formal feedback process is regular, structured, and transparent. Everyone is automatically considered for a promotion annually and entry-level individuals are considered semi-annually.”

Compensation

• “Base salary is great, but entry-level employees are not offered any bonuses. I don’t mind this since I’ve talked to consultants at peer firms and they feel stressed out about getting enough billable hours throughout the year to get their bonuses. I just have to be communicative about my hours and it’s up to our staffing committee to ensure I am well utilized. I and my cohort also work uniformly fewer hours than basically all other economic consulting firms, so I think that my compensation is fair given the work-life balance.”
• “Pay is very competitive and salary adjustments happen often. There are multiple incentives to stay at the firm longer like a sign on bonus that need to be paid back if one leaves the firm before 18 months and a cliff in 401(k) contributions after several years.”
• “Bates White pays very well. I feel as though I am well compensated and have plenty of financial freedom. Bates White ensures equal pay across its entry level employees, so we are assured we are valued the same by the firm. This avoids any sort of awkwardness between young employees around salary. Additionally, the firm devotes time and resources toward letting young employees know the road forward. Multiple meeting a year are dedicated to explaining salary changes, how they increase with promotions, and where you can end up down the line.”
• “The firm allows monthly reimbursement of health and wellness related expenses up to $100. There is a gym in our building. They contribute $1,200 to an HSA if you choose a high-deductible health insurance plan. There are health and wellness competitions almost monthly.”

Inclusion

• “The firm has several employee groups and cultural events aimed at inclusion. For example, the firm has a robust women’s network, makes concerted efforts to recruit from underrepresented DC colleges, and hosts frequent cultural events related to international holidays and cuisines.”
• “Bates White is a very welcoming place. At Charley Bates’ semi-retirement party, he and others commented on how an early value of the firm was to listen to people with a wide range of perspectives to arrive at better decisions. Despite pulling most employees from a field (economics) that is still very far from gender parity, the company has many female principals and partners and has a thriving internal Women’s Network that organizes events and engages in community initiatives. So far, I’m not aware of any complaints of unequal access to opportunities within the firm.”
• “The firm hosts a women’s network and international network with events and initiatives that foster inclusion. It donates to organizations that support women, LGBTQ+, etc.”
• “I have never seen or heard of any sort of discrimination at the firm. There are employee groups for women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and more.”

Business Outlook

• “We get work from diverse sources and that is a strength. Much of the work we have now has been in the pipeline for some time. There has been some consolidation in the economic consulting industry, and this has shaken up several firms, and some experts have moved to different firms. I don’t see this as having any negative consequences for our firm in the long run.”
• “Bates White has made huge strides incorporating new data science tools into its repertoire. I believe Bates White is well positioned to thrive in an age where data efficiency is crucial to success. Additionally, the staff of experts and upper management has a great reputation in industry and academia. I believe the demand for their expertise will persist for quite some time.”
• “We are basically recession proof. Even when the firm is ‘slow’ we are bringing in more revenue than we ever have before. We thrive on controversial cases and that’s why our decisions have been in the news for pretty much the entire year.”
• “I do believe that, due to shrinking of the government and shift in priorities due to the new administration, our government work is smaller compared to what it previously was. However, I have complete confidence in our leadership, especially as we have moved as a firm to diversify the kinds of work we do and are known for.”

Hiring Process

• “As far as economists are concerned, hiring proceeds as follows: 1. Virtual interview; 2. Flyout, with job-market talk, discussions over meals, and one-on-one interviews; 3. Job offer. Bates White seems to value candidates who are excited about economic analysis and its real-world applications.”
• “Interviews are fair and straightforward, a case and behavioral and a lunch for a vibe check. The firm looks for a very specific personality—curious, analytical, and humble. We want high achievers who also want to stay out of the spotlight.”
• “I think the ideal candidate has great quantitative skills and good experience flexing that ability, either through course work or real-life experience. Beyond that, we look for someone who is genuinely interested in economic consulting and Bates White specifically. We want someone to do their research and understand what makes Bates White different than its competitors and why the candidate would apply here. Also highlighting team experience and being able to lay out one’s thoughts clearly is a highly sought after skill!”
• “Firm is responsive; at least they were when recruiting me. The firm is seeking academically strong students who are coachable and like to work on teams.”

Interview Questions

• “Case interviews are built off of example cases (e.g., anticompetitive behavior, insurance). They include brainstorming, calculation, and discussion questions. Behavioral interview questions include background questions on interest (why econ consulting, why Bates White, types of analyses they’ve done before) and situational questions (what to do if faced with a common workplace situation).”
• “Questions about my job-market paper: Tell me about your job-market paper. Explain [x] about your model. General questions: Why are you interested in Economic consulting?”
• “Teach me a new skill. How have you collaborated on teams in the past? Why do you prefer economic consulting over management consulting?”
• “The firm conducts two case interviews. Usually, they involve setting up some sort of economic dispute and asking the candidate to evaluate the impacts of certain parts of the case. For example, what are the possible impacts of Supplier X entering into Market Y? How would you go about assigning a numerical value to this effect if you could have data on all relevant factors?”

Uppers

• “The friendly people, the emphasis on analytical rigor, the good work-life balance.”
• “People are smart, engaged, easy to work with, and committed. Highly collegial environment. Work content is extremely intellectually interesting. Fast-paced work environment makes work so much more enjoyable.”
• “The culture is incredibly welcoming and collegial. The compensation combined with the work-life balance is very fair.”
• “The people are great, the pay is strong, the cases are interesting, the location and office is great, people are connected beyond a surface level, mentorship is great, management is generally great.”

Downers

• “It’s not as easy as one might like to work fully remotely for long periods of time.”
• “Variable hours. Some weeks you are working 20 hours and other weeks you are working 60+.”
• “Demanding clients, need for precision every day.”
• “Hours can be long, only one office location in Washington, D.C.”