Vault’s Verdict

L.E.K. shines for the high-impact work and rapid, predictable career growth it offers entry-level consultants. Insiders say its rapid case cycles help new staff build a lot of experience quickly, especially in the firm’s exciting due diligence and growth strategy practices.

That said, the quick turnaround on most of L.E.K.’s projects means that staff often feel the crunch. They report working extremely long hours from Monday to Wednesday most weeks, even for consultants, and complain that they can’t log off without permission from a supervisor. However, many believe the firm is making a genuine effort to alleviate this stress with its no-travel policy, its ‘Out by Six’ policy on Thursdays, and protected weekend hours.

Employees say that the firm compensates them well for all the hours they put in, with a high base salary and a profit-sharing plan that can provide high payouts when the company performs well. Although some insiders express frustration that high interest rates have stifled the firm’s performance in recent years, most expect strong growth as the economy improves.

Employee Reviews

Firm Culture

• “It’s a work-hard, play-hard culture. We’re definitely type-A, ambitious, and hard-working people, but we’re also humble and fun to be around.”
• “We are looking for people who bring a combination of grit and humility to the table every day. We want people who are hard workers, especially when the path is not clear, and take initiative. We also want people who are team players first and lead with humility and a lack of ego.”
• “At the associate level, there’s very little control over structuring your work-life balance. For example, we need consultant permission to step away from our desks or go work out in the evening.”
• “As a smaller firm, our leadership and partners are transparent with us about the company’s business outlook.”

Quality of Life

• “L.E.K. tries hard to make some key boundaries to protect work-life balance, such as ‘Out By Six’ (ObS) on Thursdays and Summer Hours (out by 3pm) on Friday. And weekends are almost entirely protected.”
• “The hours from Monday to Wednesday can be very long. It’s not uncommon to work until 11 p.m. or later.”
• “We do not travel as a firm, so I can have dinner with my wife five days a week, which is incredible. There are also lots of programs in place for working parents, including phased transitions back to the workplace.”
• “It’s easy to get time off, given that you’re sick or ask for leave in advance.”

Career Development

• “As an undergraduate hire, the promotion path is easy and attainable. My first two promotions are all but guaranteed, and my third promotion feels attainable because the firm always clarifies how I’m performing.” 
• “You receive more workstream ownership and management responsibility early in your career than at competing firms, which accelerates your professional development.”
• “The best career development opportunity is our SWAP program, where associates and consultants can apply to work out of an international office for six months.”
• “L.E.K. Consulting’s formal training serves as a good foundation, and it’s well-supplemented by informal mentorship opportunities. We have a lot of opportunity to learn from peers given our in-office culture.”
• “The firm has an underdeveloped performance review process that doesn’t contribute enough to learning. We get a review after every case, or about every four weeks, and receive that feedback two or three months later without a strategy to address the issues raised in the review.”

Compensation

• “The base salary is extremely high for consulting, but it’s very hard to reach your full bonus.”
• “The profit-sharing plan can provide you a bonus that’s worth up to 20 percent of your base salary, depending on the firm’s annual performance. However, it is dependent on economic conditions and comes in a bit weaker than advertised.”
• “It would be nice if L.E.K. could add a traditional 401(k) matching process instead of using the first 5 percent of its profit-sharing plan as its contribution.”
• “We have a really good health insurance plan that allows me to go to the chiropractor and dermatologist.”

Community Engagement

• “L.E.K. takes DEI very seriously across many areas of its business, from the schools it recruits from to the affinity groups it supports and the mentorship it provides to employees from diverse backgrounds.”
• “We have lots of targeted recruiting events for specific groups, such as veterans, women, and the LGBTQ+ community. It’s a priority in our recruitment funnel, and we try to track the outcomes and improve each year.”
• “We are better at hiring diverse people than retaining them and moving them up the ladder. We are behind our goal to promote women to the partner level and have just one Black partner globally.”
• “The firm has employee groups that try and promote health and wellness. It also allows time for staff to take short breaks, but senior leaders are not heavily involved in these initiatives.”

Business Outlook

• “We are well-positioned in our core strengths and leadership is planting the seeds for future products and capabilities. That said, it feels like the short-term will be slightly underwhelming.”
• “We live somewhat at the whim of interest rates and private equity deal activity because our growth and due diligence practices feel the pain when businesses are focused on cost-cutting and private equity volume is low.”
• “Our position as a strategy-focused firm is probably not ideal in a slower economy. But the firm has been building an operations and performance practice that is selling business and doing well, which is nice to see and encourages revenue diversity.”
• “I think we have strong growth potential as the economy rebounds because we are a leader in providing due diligence on assets, which accelerates in strong economic conditions.”

Hiring Process

• “Typically, we do two rounds of interviews for entry-level associates. The first consists of two case exercises with quantitative and qualitative elements. In the second round, you meet with senior leadership and expand on the case questions.”
• “MBA interviews provide you with a dataset that you need to shape and present to senior leaders. They also have a work planning exercise where they give you a hypothetical project scope before the interview. You’ll need to present and defend a workplan for the team that you’d need to execute the project.”  
• “The firm looks for super smart, talented candidates who are still humble. This is a clear pattern across all the staff I’ve met here.”
• “The hiring process was straightforward but very difficult. The process was remote, which I loved because I interviewed while studying abroad during my MBA.”

Interview Questions

• “The case studies used for interviews often focus on market sizing, profit analysis, and mergers and acquisitions issues. They tend to be very quantitative in nature.” 
• “What process would you use to evaluate the attractiveness of a hypothetical investment for a private equity firm?”
• “A hypothetical client—who we provide background details on—is looking to increase its topline revenue in a specific market space. How could they accomplish this?”
• “The interview is designed to make sure you can juggle a lot of information at once and almost overwhelm you. That way they can see how you perform under pressure.”