Vault’s Verdict

Within the government contracting field, there may be no firm with a stronger focus on employee wellness and work-life balance than Censeo. Which, as our rankings typically attest, put it pretty close to the top of the field for working conditions across the consulting industry as a whole.

While there are certainly opportunities to earn more at some competing firms, insiders are typically satisfied with compensation and benefits—which remain generous by most standard—particularly in relation to the firm’s more relaxed culture and standards around work-life balance.

Add in the relative stability of government contracting (there are rarely recessions in the public sector), and you have a pretty compelling proposition for those seeking stimulating work without the hours and pressure common at other shops in the industry.

Employee Reviews

Firm Culture

• “A deep and genuine commitment to supporting the professional development, growth, and overall well-being of all staff.”
• “Being consistently challenged with interesting work while being supported, included, and introduced to exciting opportunities.”
• “Early Career: This is a great place to learn the ropes, to feel valued, and to make connections.
  Mid-Career/Advanced Career: This could be a great place to take a breather and be in a positive environment, if you were previously in a toxic company. This is a great place to get away from the rat race and feel supported. If you are trying to climb higher, this could be a place for that, but you will need to be extremely self-motivated, as opportunities are not easily provided.”
• “I left a big consulting firm to be part of an exciting small company that does amazing work and actually cares about its people.”
• “The people are wonderful and committed to making the government and our society even just a little bit better. Plus, the environment is understanding and flexible, with a good work-life balance.”

Quality of Life

• “Best: Censeo promotes equitable hours and ensures there is time dedicated to professional development and contribution to internal efforts such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and business development (BD). Additionally, they operate using flex time, which allows us to adjust hours based on personal needs and circumstances that rise. Worst: With little to no in-person client interactions, we are limited to virtual meetings. This particularly makes it difficult to have whiteboarding or strategy sessions.”
• “Commitment and follow through on maintaining work-life balance, adhering (when as much as possible) to 9-5 or 9-6 schedule; however, hours are flexible if needed. For example, errands and doctors appointments are more than understood. Time off - paid, unpaid, and sick leave - are very flexible, and the culture of time off is very encouraging and understanding.”
• “Quality of life is a major priority. Junior and mid-level consultants are not expected to work beyond 45-50 hours per week.”
• “The emphasis on work-life balance makes life working for Censeo very hard to beat compared to other consulting firms.”
• “We are required to do five days/month in the office, which helps with work/life balance. The leadership also looks at individuals’ hours to see if they are working too many hours, and they try to make adjustments if heavy hours - which can happen sometimes on critical parts of a project - become too frequent or consistent. It is easy to take time off and coworkers try to leave you alone when you are off. Occasionally business development needs might intrude on time off since government RFPs have specific timeframes during which we have to respond.”

Career Development

• “$4000 annual professional development stipend for employees.”
• “Best—access to senior managers, associate partners and partners who are very friendly, generous with their time, open and willing to listen and mentor junior staff in terms of career development. The firm consistently engages in DEI activities throughout the year, although staff are stretched having to do both consulting roles and administrative tasks related to DEI. variety of training opportunities at firm and with our external HR partner. Promotion process is generally clear except there is some subjectiveness and inconsistency when it comes to determining whether staff is ‘meeting or exceeding expectations’ in terms of developing technical expertise as this depends on how long you are with the same project or client for.” 
• “Censeo's professional development begins with regular PD chats with our managers that are distinct from project-related meetings. Each of us also has a Reviewer who can support us in our career development, and we have an optional mentor program. Our competency matrix describes expectations for each career level, and our review process helps us to identify those competency areas where we should focus our development. Consultants do say that they would like more transparency in the promotion process, and the firm is working on that.”
• “Junior and mid-level employees are offered mentorship and regular meetings with senior leadership, via an organized mentorship program. New employees also receive peer mentorship. Professional development both within project work and on personal time is encouraged and subsidized.”
• “The firm provides lots of formal opportunities to have mentors and others who are invested in your professional development help you grow. The caliber of people at Censeo and their personal commitment to growth also promote a culture of effective informal mentoring as well.”

Compensation

• “A couple of years ago the firm shifted compensation for junior staff so that they had more in their base comp and reduced the bonus percentage in response to a desire for higher base comp. I think that was a positive shift. In general, year-end bonuses seem fair and the computation has been explained to us.”
• “I could earn more money elsewhere at this level - though I would have a less favorable work-life balance, less exposure to the client, and fewer opportunities.”
• “It is a high base salary compared to most other places I interviewed at coming out of undergrad. The bonus is allocated in a sound, fair way based on performance and your contributions to helping with internal firm needs. I also love the mid-year and end of year review cycles and how they're structured.”
• “Strong comp package, especially considering lower hours versus many other consulting firms. Bonus structure is actually paid at full value. All pay is based on levels and performance ratings so is setup to ensure equity and equality.”
• “The compensation package is everything I would want - strong base salary with ongoing progression, great annual bonus structure, 401K match, stock options for Associate Partners and up, excellent health insurance coverage, and paid parental leave.”

Community Engagement

• “Censeo ‘walks the talk’ with regards to DE&I. We have a DE&I internal working group and have events, newsletters, and other engagement channels to ensure DE&I are crucial considerations in every decision that is made across the firm.”
• “Censeo is greater than 50% female staff and is quite diverse overall. Many LGBTQ individuals, the firm actively promotes the ability for everyone to be able to openly be their best selves. DEIA committee is staff-led and empowered to raise concerns and drive change with full leadership support. Many diversity-themed events and activities throughout the year.”
• “Our firm has established a firm contribution group for DE&I. They create trainings and host various events focused on encouraging education around various DE&I topics or issues. I believe all employees have equal access to high-quality work and promotion opportunities.”
• “There are lots of events targeted at promoting DE&I - though I can't be confident I would notice if there were major issues because of my identity.”
• “We have a volunteer DEI team who works with leadership and Talent to create programming and safe spaces to share, educate, and empower employees so that we can be our authentic selves.”

Business Outlook

• “Best—employee morale, wellness first in all regards. Okay aspects—some internal processes are not as well documented in one place, and this is partly because we are a growing firm and staff have to play both consulting and admin roles.”
• “Censeo has doubled in size over the past three years and has a very solid foundation to continue growth. We have a wide variety of large long-term contracts which provide a strong probability that we will be able to sustain our recent growth into the future, and we are investing in our people, partnerships, and operations in order to continuously improve.”
• “Firm is committed to growing and has a very clear vision for this growth, which has been openly and clearly communicated firmwide. Censeo could grow faster, but the growth plan is throttled to a manageable annual growth rate in order to ensure that the positives around culture and morale are maintained along the way.”
• “The company is small but growing fast. Morale is high, it has strong relationships with clients, organic BD is strong.”
• “We have a strong outlook based on the BD we've done with several key federal agencies. Our leadership knows the industry and knows when to lean on others when it comes to conducting BD efforts.”

Hiring Process

• “Candidates may go through up to 4 interviews, doing case studies. Talent typically calls/emails them with notification of the next round. We look for thinkers - people who bring new perspectives but are poised, articulate, and independent.”
• “Censeo hires smart, well-educated, nice people. We have a good group of introverts with a helpful sprinkle of extroverts to keep things interesting. Cultural fit is very important, so we are unlikely to hire people who don't align with our collaborative, ‘one-team,’ supportive, accountable culture.”
• “Fairly straightforward interview process, usually consisting of three rounds. I think the ideal candidate is someone they can tell is smart and adaptive enough to learn about the industry. You don't need prior knowledge of government consulting for the entry-level positions.”
• “Junior staff are a mix of traditional consulting background (ivy league, recent graduate, econ degree) and nontraditional (e.g., non-profit experience, former teachers, or public policy background). It is nice that the firm is open to hiring smart, cooperative young people with diverse array of experiences.”
• “Self-motivated individuals seeking a fast-paced work environment in which to grow.”

Interview Questions

• “A screening interview, followed by a case interview about a federal agency's operations, and then an interview with the potential hiring manager to assess the fit.”
• “All of our case questions are scenario based where an applicant is briefed on a 'story' and is asked to conduct basic math calculations to understand revenue, loss percentages, and potential opportunities financially. They are also asked questions to understand how they think critically, such as ‘How would you look at options to determine if offshoring was appropriate?’ ‘What key decision elements would you consider?’”
• “For my hiring, I had to do a case study that included regulations, schedule, cost, and stakeholders. I was impressed.”
• “Please describe what attributes you can bring to the firm and make a positive impact. Please describe a time you were challenged at work and how you overcame the challenge.”
• “We typically use a mix of case-based and behavioral interviews to understand a candidate’s problem-solving skills as well as their experience and leadership qualities.”