Cirque Analytics

Vault’s Verdict

While Cirque Analytics works on high-profile litigation and regulatory cases for clients around the world, a word that you might not associate much with the legal system comes up again and again in its employees’ reviews: informal. 

Insiders at this boutique economic consultancy generally love how their firm empowers them to learn on the job, learning alongside world-class experts, and its inclusive, high-performance culture. They also laud the firm’s flexibility. Cirque consultants manage their own hours, and whether that means taking time to go surfing or skiing before work in the morning or working from home as needed, they appreciate the autonomy and independence the firm provides. 

Of course, Cirque’s small size and relaxed culture might not be for everyone. The firm does not have a formal DEI program due to its size (although its consultants say the team is very diverse). If you stick around and do a good job, you’ll move up in the organization, but there aren’t formal metrics to track your progress. 

Altogether, Cirque is a strong firm to consider if you’re looking for a truly boutique economic, statistics, and data analytics consulting experience with a growing firm. 

Employee Reviews

Firm Culture

• “It is very easy to move from area to area and get promoted if you put in the effort.”
• “The firm values input from all employees at all levels. It’s very much an open-door policy.”
• “In the Jackson Hole office, the firm supports taking time to ski in the mornings during winter. The ski resort is only about [eight minutes] away.”
• “From a business standpoint, Cirque seems to be super flexible and dynamic in relation to other companies in the industry.”

Quality of Life

• “Our office has a hybrid schedule, which has definitely had a positive impact on my quality of life. It allows more flexibility in hours as long as the work is being done to satisfactory levels. Our time off is also always accommodated. We are rarely contacted unexpectedly when taking time off.”
• “I appreciate the flexibility offered to me if I need it. It has been no problem at all to work from home when I need to and work modified hours. Taking time off is also very easy as long as it isn't around a project deadline. The only downside would be that sometimes there will be large swings in workload, where I will be very busy working extra hours one week, then not having much to do another.”
• “Quality of life is pretty good. Weekends are largely free, and there haven't been that many late nights. Across the year, I think I average about 45 hours a week. Time off is usually pretty easy to take.”
• “Once above entry level, employees are given great flexibility. Employees are not micromanaged but expected to be available after hours or on weekends occasionally, maybe a few days a year.”

Career Development

• “The firm offers lots of support to help people grow in the areas they choose. We have lots of experts to help mentor and teach you. However, it is challenging because there is an expectation of very high-level performance.”
• “Consultants generally can work in their areas of interest. We don't have much in the way of formal training; we learn by doing, always with strong mentorship and open doors around the firm. The work is varied, interesting, and often quite challenging.”
• “The career development is almost totally informal. There are no established mentoring or career development programs. Most training is done on the job, which is not necessarily bad. The promotions process is mostly informal, as well. If you stick around and do a decent job, you will be promoted, but there are no metrics to meet or way to track your progress.”
• “Due to the newness of the company, there are not established career progression paths for development, which can lead to feeling stagnant—especially regarding raises and promotions.”

Compensation

• “The total compensation is pretty good because the bonus has been sizable, 30 percent or more of base. A lot of your salary (20 percent) is paid into a SEP-IRA, in place of a traditional 401(k). If you want full access to your entire salary, that's a downside. I don’t mind it. Salary progression seems to only come with promotions, otherwise it has been a flat cost of living adjustment.”
• “I’m generally satisfied with the compensation, bonuses, and benefits. While I would like to have some choices regarding health insurance plans, I like that the premiums are currently 100 percent covered by the employer.”
• “The firm provides more-than-fair compensation between base salary and bonus. Free lunch each week is also a huge perk!”
• “The pay is pretty good, and the bonus is nice. However, 20 percent of your salary goes into a mandatory … retirement account, and I wish that percentage was a little lower.”

Community Engagement

• “While we don't have any specific diversity programs that I’m aware of, it feels like we have a reasonable amount of diversity across our company. I don't feel like any people are being excluded from opportunities based on their demographics. In fact, some of our highest-level employees are from minority groups.”
• “Hiring decisions are inclusive and made without regard to race, ethnicity, gender or other identities. However, I do not think there are any intentional DEI efforts or plans, likely due in part to the small size of the company.”
• “The firm doesn’t have overt discussions about DEI, but its workforce is very diverse.”
• “DEI is not generally an objective in our firm's hiring practices. We have high degree of diversity, but that is just a function of interviewing and selecting the most qualified candidates.”

Business Outlook

• “Economic consulting is a continually growing industry. As a new and relatively small firm, we have some areas that are underdeveloped, like recruiting and training, but we have a strong core of people and open-minded leaders. It's not really an area where innovation counts for much. Good, well-grounded, thoughtful work is what gets us noticed.”
• “Our firm has been growing at a rapid rate since inception and seems like it will continue this way.”
• “We have quite a lot of projects on offer, which is great for the success and expansion of the business. The company’s strengths are its projects and connection to law firms that give us continuous work due to our product quality, making us very competitive in the industry.”
• “The company is growing, and we seem to be bringing in more work alongside our increasing headcount.”

Hiring Process

• “After reviewing multiple resumes and letters of interest, the hiring committee selects several candidates for initial phone interviews. A few promising candidates are then invited for in-person interviews for an open position. Candidates get a chance to meet everyone in the office and talk to all the mid-level and senior staff, as well as most of the junior staff members.”
• “I had two rounds of interviews, one initial screening video call interview and one in-person interview. The whole process took a month or two since the company required a bit of time to finish up interviews and then come to a decision.”
• “The interview process is informal, but has generally followed this format: First, you have a 15-minute screening call. Second, you have a one-hour interview with a couple senior members of the firm. Third, you have a longer interview that rotates through most members of the office.”
• “The ideal candidate is dynamic and able to adapt quickly in accordance with different case requirements. We need someone who is detail oriented and can produce high-quality work in a consistent manner.”

Interview Questions

• “What are your coding languages? Can you learn how to interpret and modify code in languages that you are unfamiliar with? What experience do you have with data manipulation? If you received a new analysis dataset from a client, what are some checks you would run? Can you convert data between file formats?”
• “It is common to give interviewees a hypothetical case we have experience with, then ask what their initial steps would be and what kinds of things they may consider. This allows us to learn how willing they are to ask for help and how they think on their feet regarding economic problems.”
• “The most difficult aspect of the interview process is a technical challenge in which a consultant has to recreate a table using Python, Stata, or another statistical coding software. Otherwise, the questions are more about the candidates’ experience and fit.”
• “Expect questions about economics, statistics, and data analyses.”