Vault’s Verdict

As a publicly-traded firm in an industry dominated by private-label players, Huron has considerations (the need to keep shareholders happy) that simply don't exist at rival firms. Despite this, it manages to compete with many of those rivals for both talent and business, and is generally acknowledged as a positive, friendly place to work. 

While the firm is growing, some insiders have expressed a degree of concern over innovation—specifically related to technology—which may be due in part to the firm's public standing. Compensation, while generous by most standards, came up as a source for concern among some consultants—although benefits, including 401(k) matching and long-term incentives, generally met with approval. However, insiders do note that the firm's training tends to be useful in the early stages of a consultant's career, and they also approve of the opportunities to tackle different kinds of, problems on the job, which translates to further career growth in a very stable environment. 

Firm Culture 

• "Everyone I have closely interacted with is incredibly dedicated, hard-working, and full of integrity. My co-workers are totally reliable (for the most part). I don't think it is like that everywhere."

• "Great company, easy to fit in. Respect shown to all. Very interesting, challenging work. Lots of opportunities for growth and development. Very nice benefit package."

• "Huron is not just a consulting firm, but also an implementation firm that customizes our methodology to each client we encounter. Once confirmed with the client, we will take what we recommended and actually work with the staff to implement and sustain the changes. One thing we find common is that not only are clients not able to implement the changes themselves, but they are also unable to easily rework the recommendations. This is where we come in—we can tailor each recommendation to create a more efficient and sustainable atmosphere."

• "I believe the work we do is mission driven and improving healthcare in this country. This is hard to find in consulting. I also believe there is a culture of kindness and collaboration in which people are kind and supportive; higher-ups do not disparage or disrespect lower level staff, and are supportive and elevate them."

• "You're consistently surrounded by people who are not only incredibly motivated, dedicated and intelligent but who legitimately care about you and want to see you do well and progress in your career. There's none of the backstabbing and withholding of information that a lot of firms struggle with—we've managed to achieve a culture that is truly collaborative."

• "They are truly committed to ensuring their employees have the best possible experience. Understanding the stress involved with being on the road and the consulting lifestyle, they do all that they can to support you and provide quality of life." 

Career Development

• "At one time I felt the firm offered us multiple career development opportunities, both internal and external. Now, it seems the external opportunities are not supported as they once were due to cost or the lack of 'business case/need'. Growing and educating and continuing to educate your SME's is crucial to the ongoing best practice for Huron and our clients. To be the best, we need to have the tools and education readily available to us."

• "Best: Huron is working to integrate and consolidate all of its various business practices into a culture of One Company. It's exciting and there are opportunities available for those who are salaried within the firm

  Worst: The company is working very hard to incorporate all aspects of its business, but in doing so, may miss opportunities to communicate and involve those parts of its firm that are NOT salaried, a.k.a. hourly consultants."

• "Excellent trainings—both in-person and online (through Huron's Academy)—and supervisory support. The mentoring approach is in its infancy at Huron. Huron's promotion approach feels about as transparent as it can get."

• "Huron's diversity policies are excellent and I am especially happy that Huron receives a 100% score from the Human Rights Campaign for workplace equality for LGBTQ people. Worst aspect is that there isn't much consideration of or discussion of work-life balance."

• "I think that the promotion process is fair and we provide comprehensive training. I think consulting in general struggles to find the right balance for people with families, particularly women, and I think we could do a better job recruiting a more diverse staff although in our recent recruiting classes I have seen more diversity."

• "Promotion process is very transparent and well-documented. All staff have full access to the evaluation criteria and methodology in order to align their performance and self-review documentation around these as they see fit."

• "The training opportunities are vast. Huron has a dedicated internal University in place to offer in-person and online trainings to all employees. Diversity is a key issue and the firm is working to improve for the future in this area. Promotional processes seem rigid and only happen once a year as far as I know."

 Quality of Life 

• "Company is very flexible with taking PTO. We have a policy of unlimited days and leadership is very encouraging that people use as much as they need. I've never had a situation where my requests were turned down and I regularly take over 20 days/year."

• "Having a job as a consultant you assume that travel is a part of it. Huron does a great job of looking out for the team and making sure that we achieve as much balance as possible. Self care, reimbursement for fitness etc. are a part of the culture as is working together to serve our communities."

• "Huron definitely has a work-hard, play-hard culture. Consulting work is extremely demanding at times, but usually ebbs and flows. There are times during a project when people are staying up working until 1a.m.—and then there are slower times in the project where you leave the office without evening work. Even though we work a lot of hours, Huron is very flexible and supportive. We do very well at working remotely. We work from home every Friday and typically have full work-at-home weeks every few months. We leave the client office around 5-6 every day and do our evening work from the hotel after grabbing dinner or working out. […] The job is fun. The culture is fun. Great people work here. Typically folks that work here end up becoming best friends. For example, my wedding had over 30 Huron people."

• "On a corporate level, high value is placed on having a good work-life balance. This bears out in an uncapped vacation policy (simply need approval of project manager and career coach) and a flexible work from home norm. Increasingly, project teams are re-evaluating the Monday-Thursday travel schedule. Cash benefits if you hit a certain number of nights on the road in a quarter. Hours and travel requirements vary across project and practice."

• "Travel requirements only come into play with specific clients, otherwise it is very relaxed. The culture of the firm is that of a start-up, giving freedoms to each individual office to develop a culture that best suits those employees."

• "We have a flexible and easy to use vacation policy, very good. There has been an effort to have more work at home weeks in the recent years, however I find that when you are staffed on a project it can be almost impossible to have any time at home that is not a vacation day. This is something that continues to push out people with families, particularly women, and many of our projects may not have a real need for full M-Th onsite staff but culturally that is the expectation so we do not think critically about onsite time." 

Outlook 

• "Great culture but still figuring out how to integrate practices - I'm hopeful current model will actually work. Developed an innovation center but not sure how effective it will be; still feel like innovation isn't really encouraged as we spend so much time on execution for our clients that it leaves little to brainstorm on how to best adapt."

• "Healthcare practice has struggled. Life sciences had a weaker year of business. Higher education is hitting its stride."

• "Huron has completed several major acquisitions of complimentary and strategically important firms over the past two years. Significant time and resources may be required over the next few years to align cultures as well as develop shared goals, visions, and paths to fulfill these. This does raise some concerns about overemphasis on inorganic growth but leadership has made efforts to fully explain each acquisition and how it will fit into our existing structure, offer new opportunities, etc."

• "I think Huron is positioning itself well in the market, particularly in cloud software for higher educations (Oracle Cloud and Workday). Our deep industry expertise combined with skilled, quick-learners will only provide us with opportunities to advance in cloud space."

• "The worst: A couple of rough years in healthcare in terms of overall performance. The best: A change in leadership and a new organizational structure are already helping to turn the tide in 2017." 

Compensation 

• "Our salary ranges are transparent, the bonus calculations and the different factors going into overall compensation is shared with our people, and our HR department compares our ranges to the market every few years and makes appropriate adjustments. I feel my salary is fair and I feel rewarded for my performance. We also have amazing benefits. I had breast cancer last year and had chemo, mastectomy, etc. The insurance benefits and disability benefits were great."

• "Compensation is very competitive and communication surrounding raises and bonuses is transparent. Overall benefits package is substantial, particularly for employees with dependents and spouses."

• "For every quarter, we are awarded a $750 gift card if you fulfill the minimum number of travel days. This is a great benefit and shows how the firm acknowledges time spent away from home."

• "Huron has a strong 401(K) match program in comparison to what I have heard from other consulting firms. I have been very pleased with my compensation and annual increases each year.

  Huron recently updated for additional time for the paid maternity and paternity leave policy."

• "Compensation philosophy emphasizes that we make enough to allow us to forget about pay as a critical factor of our employment satisfaction. Personal achievement and company achievement are recognized as part of the bonus/incentive plan."

• "The 6% 401(K) match is incredible in today's market. The $750 quarterly travel bonus for those away from home more than 25 nights in a quarter is a nice perk for being away from home. Medical benefits are reasonable and the plan is quite good." 

Hiring Process

• "First round is typically a behavioral interview and/or recruiter screen, followed by a second round consisting of one behavioral and one case interview. The final round is an office day and features two or three in-person behavioral/fit interviews and a Q&A session with a panel of peers."

• "Job candidates are able to get personalized feedback on their interviews, which is extremely rare and a nice service. The company also does not belabor case studies during the interview process, and seems interested in understanding both the analytical capabilities of candidates as well as their interests outside of work. I believe the company is seeking people who are able to jump into ambiguous situations, interpret data efficiently, and maintain positive, 'human' relationships with clients as they navigate change in their clinics/service lines."

• "We are looking for critical thinkers who are fast learners and have an open mind to adapt to new issues/problems."

• "We are looking for the best. Strong vetting process including psychological assessment. We always communicate where you are in the process and share feedback if you weren't selected."

• "We seek employees that are free-thinkers and can adapt easily to situations. We do not place emphasis on pedigree. Some of our best developers do not have formal college educations." 

Interview Tips & Questions 

• "Please talk about a time when you had to step outside your comfort zone—what was it, how did you handle the situation, what was the outcome, and what did you learn from it?"

• "Behavioral questions based on past experiences to indicate future performance. Case questions seek to assess the analytical and logical thought processes of candidates."

• "Coding challenges and case studies to examine what information you think you need to properly evaluate a potential consulting project."

• "How do you spend your first and last hour of the day?"

• "Share an example of how you managed a difficult conversation."

• "There are three light switches in this room that are linked to three light bulbs in the other room that you cannot see. You only have one chance to go see which light switches go to which light bulbs. How could you tell which switch go to which bulb?"