Vault’s Verdict

As a boutique firm, DayBlink offers a hands-on experience where even entry-level employees get lots of opportunities to contribute alongside partners early on. While the firm faces some typical challenges of a boutique, such as limited project diversity and limited back-office support, insiders praise the firm for punching above its weight, with robust promotion policies and strong compensation. 

One aspect of DayBlink’s culture that insiders love in particular is its commitment to giving back to the community. While staff typically work remotely—a few even wish they got to see their colleagues in person a bit more often—the firm brings them together for fundraisers and volunteer events. Two examples are its wellness challenges, with one March fundraiser that encourages gym attendance and another in September, where employees raise money for charity by competing to see who can log the most steps throughout the month. 

In terms of business outlook, DayBlink has a lot to look forward to. While insiders say that, as a boutique, the firm is somewhat subject to economic conditions, they feel confident that their leadership has a path to success. They also love the firm’s regular business status updates. All in all, if you’re looking for a truly boutique experience, DayBlink has a lot to offer. 

Firm Culture

“Culture-wise, I love working from home full-time and enjoy the in-person culture events the company holds to keep us connected. I get paid time off specifically to volunteer and participate in several company fundraisers and volunteer events throughout the year.”

“I get incredible support from everyone on the team. Everyone is very likeable and personable. However, being fully remote it’s hard to get together in person, both for work and outside of it. That said, we have been great with in-person volunteer opportunities.”

“We are looking for self-starters who can succeed in the remote work world. We are looking for consultants who bring excellent communication and presentation skills, as well as those who want to grow our small but mighty firm.”

“Leadership's solution to most problems is to work harder. While you are often rewarded for late nights and weekends, it leads to a sometimes challenging place to work.”

Quality of Life

“We have a remote work environment, but it has enough virtual and in-person social events and gatherings to build relationships with colleagues  However, client projects can be quite demanding and being fully remote gives less structure to the boundaries of the work day.”

“DayBlink has a good work-life balance. The firm gives 20 days of PTO yearly, plus numerous federal holidays. I would like to see the company enact a winter break or summer break policy, like other major consulting companies”

“The firm doesn't have travel requirements, and most clients only ask us to travel occasionally, so it's great to be able to work remotely. It's also fairly easy to take time off. However, the firm expects us to do a lot of internal work, which people would usually be able to get done between client projects. The issue is that just about everyone is billable 100% of the time, meaning most internal work gets done after hours or on the weekends.”

“I have a good work-life balance. The hours I work are very reasonable. I don't travel for work, though I potentially could if a client needed it. I am also able to take time off easily.”

Career Development

“The promotion structure is fair and based on your performance. Because it is a small company, there are less projects to choose from and less mobility. On the other hand, the size of the company means you get lots of visibility and support from leadership.”

“DayBlink Consulting is a boutique firm, but we emphasize training and career development. We have no ceiling or quotas per level, plus no up-or-out policy.”

“Because we are small, formal training is harder to implement. However, informal training is great. My higher-ups highly value my professional growth”

“Promotions are based on merit and not on any pre-determined timeframe. Promotions can happen every month.”

Compensation

“DayBlink's compensation package is very competitive. Employees are compensated through salary, performance bonus, and an internal contribution bonus. We are also eligible for profit sharing on projects we help sell. I would like to see DayBlink consider raising the base salaries on a yearly basis to align with inflation, though.”

“The compensation package is fair and the pay is appropriate. While the firm hasn't provided cost-of-living adjustments in a few years, most people are being promoted each year anyway and salaries remain competitive. Also, everyone at the same title makes the same base salary no matter their experience or degree.”

“Each promotion includes a meaningful salary increase, of about $10,000. Bonuses are around 20percent of salary and maxed out by almost all staff, with clear, well-documented criteria.”

“DayBlink provides 100 percent health and dental coverage (including an HSA), access to mental health resources, and multiple health and wellness challenges to get staff moving and promote healthy competition. We also have informal workout and Peloton groups, plus a monetary bonus for annual wellness visits and preventative doctor visits.”

Community Engagement/DEI

“DayBlink definitely is open to and interested in in diversity, but the company is still majority straight white men. As one of the few women at the company, I have always felt that I am treated equally and fairly and am included in culture.”

“As a small firm, we are always looking to increase our diversity. While our current makeup is less diverse than it has been in the past few years, we have active programs in place to continue to diversify our consulting staff and leadership team.”

“DayBlink feels strongly about fostering diversity and is one of the top goals of the firm.”

“There are two initiatives each year that motivate the team to be active while donating to a good cause. We do gym rats in March, which incentivizes the team to do some form of exercise for 30 minutes a day. In September, we compete to see who takes the most steps over the course of a month. Both initiatives raised a few thousand dollars for charity last year.”

Business Outlook

“As a small firm, we are able to be flexible in how we support our clients. They value that and see us as critical parts of their organizations. As such, we are confident in our outlook for the next 12-24 months. However, since we’re smaller, we are hesitant to aggressively hire consultants onto the bench, which constrains our ability to grow.”

“DayBlink Consulting has thrived over the past few years despite the economic turmoil. The firm continues to be positioned well with an ever-expanding client base.”

“We provide services that are in high demand, which should position us well. However, a large portion of revenue comes from a few anchor accounts, which creates risk if macroeconomic trends cause those accounts to reduce their consulting funds.”

“The overall industry outlook is not ideal at the moment, but leadership provides good visibility into our current status and is consistently confident about a path to success.”

Hiring Process

“The hiring process starts with a screening interview with HR. Then comes a test with HR that includes developing a PowerPoint presentation based on prompts, then presenting it to some of the staff, who ask you questions. Last, in the third interview, you meet with other members of the staff and get to know them.”

“We hold a panel interview that includes consulting staff, HR, and a partner. We are seeking candidates with a management consulting background and an interest or experience in cybersecurity, applied automation, or the cloud.”

“We aim to complete the hiring process as quickly as possible, with everything from contact to interview occurring within about a three weeks.”

“DayBlink has a long list of criteria, but we’re ultimately looking for team members that want to have a positive impact on the world, are great problem solvers, are pleasant to work with, have a strong work ethic, and are excited to be management consultants.”

Interview Questions

“We give candidates an hour to read a case question and put together a deck with a project proposal. Then, they give a mock presentation and respond to questions from a panel of interviewers.”

“In our interviews, we request interviewees to complete a case study that involves strategic thinking and analytics. They must use PowerPoint and Excel to create a client-ready presentation that they then present to the evaluation team.”

“Our case problems typically include both quantitative and qualitative analysis and frequently change.”

Uppers

“Culture, work-life balance, and type of work.”

“People, compensation, early exposure to clients, and partner exposure.”

“Compensation, promotion policies, and benefits.”

“The best thing about working here is the continual challenge of growing professionally while also having a great company culture.”

Downers

“Lack of diversity and work-life balance.”

“Small size sometimes limits the opportunities.”

“The volatility that we face as a boutique.”

“Some formal support structures are lacking,”