Level5 Strategy

Vault’s Verdict

Level5 Strategy insiders can’t say enough about their firm’s culture. It comes up over and over again in their comments, with employees highlighting the firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity, flat and transparent structure, and highly collaborative way of doing business. They love how the firm empowers them to work with leadership and take ownership of projects early on, all while offering an excellent quality of life with reasonable hours and strong flexibility.

Two aspects of the firm’s culture that insiders love in particular are its commitments to diversity and community. They believe the firm genuinely lives its values regarding DEI, fostering an inclusive environment backed by hard metrics and data. They also love being able to participate in community and charity events, plus their leadership’s emphasis on maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

In fact, the only thing that might turn people away from Level5 is something that might draw others in: its size. Insiders say that international opportunities are limited, and that sometimes the firm has less organizational infrastructure than its larger peers, but most see this as nothing more than part of the trade-off they make to work somewhere with a strong, distinct culture. If that sounds like something you’re looking for, Level5 Strategy is worth a look.

Employee Reviews:

Firm Culture

• “Level5 has an inclusive team that is open to diverse thoughts and encourages everyone to speak up. We are always open to new ways of doing things and encourage people to run with ideas.”
• “Mentorship is always available, whether formal or informal, at all levels of the organization. We are very small and have a very flat hierarchy which allows those at lower levels to connect with partners and principals in a way that I don't think you would be able to at other firms.”
• “Our office culture is fantastic and is highly collaborative. The consulting team and leadership always strive to make themselves available to help other team members, even on different project teams. Leadership has an open-door policy and has recurring coffee chats with the consulting team to maintain strong relationships across the firm. It’s the best collaborative culture and atmosphere I have ever worked in.”
• “The firm's culture is second-to-none. It is an unbelievable place to work, with amazing people who genuinely care about wellbeing and quality of life. The hours are a bit longer than corporate, but less than the average consulting firm. Travel is limited, too, which makes it possible to be successful in the firm while balancing a family and young-parent lifestyle.”

Quality of Life

• “Level5 provides a high quality of life, even during busy times. The team culture is strong, and you feel like a part of something bigger than yourself most of the time. The firm also has a good vacation policy and wellness policy, with lots of opportunities to make use of it. There’s little to no travel, which is great as you build strong relationships at the office you're based out of.”
• “It’s easy to take time off and everyone respects vacations. Leadership respects your need to unplug. The firm also provides wellness days that are specifically dedicated to recharge, not just for illnesses. During the summer months, we get an additional day off during long weekends for extended breaks. Our limited travel requirements help us stay closer to family and we have the opportunity to be remote as required, with no defined in-office policy.”
• “We generally prioritize the health and well-being of our employees. Hours are manageable and, as is typical, flex up and down depending on project requirements. Leadership actively seeks to support highly utilized staff.”
• “We don't mandate how many days you must come into the office, which allows for tons of flexibility. The firm's culture is unmatched. Everyone is very friendly, social, understanding, and compassionate. Obviously due to the nature of the industry, there are some days where late hours are required, but I've never worked very long hours for a prolonged period.”

Career Development

• “The firm offers merit-based career development. There’s no bureaucratic two-year timeline process, for example. Junior consultants get strong exposure to the c-suite and executives, with lots of responsibilities that allow you to stretch and grow. The firm provides regular, consulting-specific tailored training to ensure your skills and capabilities are up to scratch, and it holds monthly best practice meetings for peer-to-peer learning.”
• “We're a small firm, which creates limitations for things like international travel. However, it creates massive opportunities for internal mobility, creating net new products and services, and generally creating the career path that you want. We aren't forced into defined paths due to our size.”
• “Level5 has lots of opportunities to step outside of your role informally and get experience to develop. Promotions are merit-based, not metric-based. There are lots of opportunities to work directly with leadership and learn from them, and they take an interest in you and your growth potential.”
• “There is clear outline as to what skills to work on in order to progress, along with a notification system in place to know if you are not performing well.”

Compensation

• “Level5 has a great compensation-to-work-life-balance ratio, plus a very good benefits package and a good performance-based bonus. As part of the consulting team, we also can share in revenue for successfully bringing in project revenue. However, there is no pension plan or retirement savings match.”
• “They do a great job incentivizing people to act like owners and compensating well. We are paid fairly, and everyone is eligible for commissions on sold work.”
• “Every employee receives a decent salary increase each year, and most have also been awarded bonuses consistently over the past few years”
• “The firm offers good salary progression and yearly increase, but big pay raises seem to come mostly through promotion.”

Community Engagement

• “We have a DEI committee that proactively seeks to educate the firm on the latest developments, firm efforts, and diversity commitments. The firm also conducts an annual survey and DEI scorecard, which it transparently shares back with staff to create accountability and open discussion about the progress of the firm's efforts on this important topic.”
• “We are advancing on DEI as a strategic focus area. There are challenges as a smaller firm with changing our composition and becoming more diverse at leadership levels. That said, we're making progress and demonstrating commitment.”
• “We have a DEI team and target having at least 50 percent women and 30 percent visible minorities on staff. It's hard in consulting, but generally we are successful in promoting and retaining the balance we are looking for. We also have people on the team with disabilities, and we create accommodations to ensure they can flourish in the firm.”
• “The firm provides a lot of opportunities to seek professional help via our benefits program. Leaders promote active lifestyles by candidly sharing their own routines and how they manage their own health in a client-facing environment.”

Business Outlook

• “We have had a strong year in a time when many other businesses have not. Our team is agile and often looks for new ways to bring in revenue outside of traditional means.”
• “Firm outlook is very positive. Even during uncertain economic times, the firm has continued to do well and thrive. Our team is excited and committed to our work, our clients, and our collective personal and professional growth.”
• “We are a strong, nimble firm that can capitalize on opportunities as they arise. Our limitation is the scale at which we operate. As a smaller firm, it's harder to have slack in our workforce that can account for large project influxes.”
• “We are flexible and adaptable to customers’ needs, which makes them like working with us and turns customers into repeat accounts. This positions us well moving forward.”

Hiring Process

• “Our firm typically receives around 200 applications per round and usually only hires one to two candidates. We offer feedback calls to all unsuccessful candidates who make it past the first round of interviews and beyond. We have a set of values that we live by at our firm, and we look for candidates who model those values.”
• “We review initial applications: including your resume, cover letter, and transcript (for on-campus hires). Then the first-round interview consists of an interviewee-led case, a behavioral interview, and a partner chat. Next, we notify candidates if they've been selected for the final or eliminated, with a 30-minute feedback call. The final round interview consists of a coaching call, a one-week research test and presentation, and a chat with the firm’s president. Again, after the final round, we offer a 30-minute feedback call to everyone.”
• “We have a very personal approach. Our consulting team leads the interview process, which means that it's your colleagues who are driving the process, not a disconnected HR team. Our ideal candidate engages with our culture and is driven to deliver excellent client results.”
• “We are seeking candidates who are able to self-regulate and are mature, as they will be in-front of clients earlier than they are at other firms.”

Interview Questions

• “Most of our cases are business viability testing. Behavioral questions are often based on experiences, learning from failure, and catered to specific candidate experiences”
• “Level5 uses a variety of cases in its interviews. At times, we use cases that provide interviewees with actual, public-facing data and ask them a to assess the data to figure out how to better serve a particular market segment.”
• “What is a company do you think has developed an innovative strategy? How have you effectively and constructively challenged others in the past? Tell us about a time you failed.”
• “On a scale of 1 (smart) to 10 (hardworking), where would you place yourself? When have you failed successfully?”