Vault’s Verdict

If you want to leave academia but don’t want to leave your academic mindset behind, NERA Economic Consulting is a great option to consider. The firm requires its consultants to stay up to date with the latest economic concepts so they can apply them to client problems.

With more than 60 years of history, NERA has had plenty of time to fine-tune its culture, but it hasn’t grown stale. Insiders at the firm say that they love being trusted with difficult problems early in their tenure while being supported by a modern onboarding program. It doesn’t hurt that the firm has kept its compensation updated, too. Most staff agree that the compensation plan is generous, and virtually all love the bonus plan that rewards a combination of team and individual performance.

Overall, the firm offers a great opportunity for consultants interested in applied economics. Whether you want to stay to build a career or develop for two years while looking for a great exit opportunity due to NERA’s extensive network of high-profile clients, this firm is worth a look if you have an economics background and statistical programming skills.

Employee Reviews

Firm Culture

• “The firm provides personal autonomy, and people leave you alone and let you work. There are few meetings, good pay (especially considering the hours), great relationships with team members and managers, and opportunities to quickly learn new skills and practice them”
• “We have an amazing culture and colleagues, with a high level of expectation for responsibility and work products, with the ability to influence and be part of decision making as an entry-level employee.”
• “Management is very supportive and cares about our well-being.”
• “The firm provides strong support from entry-level positions to senior partner positions, with no glass ceilings.”

Quality of Life

• “Seniors are respectful of work-life balance, and I am often told to go home early. They are also respectful of PTO and do their best to make it work out. There are little to no travel requirements aside from taking a short train ride down to the NYC office occasionally. Obviously, as a consulting firm, a lot of times it is out of my managers’ or seniors’ hands to determine how many hours we work, but that’s an expected part of this occupation.”
• “The best aspects of the firm's quality of life are respecting time off, not making the researchers travel, and usually doing a good job about communicating the hours you will be working. However, by the nature of the industry and working with lawyers, the hours can be somewhat sporadic and dependent on when counsel has a request or an update.”
• “It is easy to take time off. It is sometimes hard to leave at a reasonable time (before 7pm) and I don't always feel like I can count on having my evenings to myself.”
• “Hours can be unpredictable at time, with some weeks featuring low amounts of work, and others requiring you to stay up late into the night. PTO is respected when booked in advance, but weekends can often be impacted by project needs.”

Career Development

• “The firm has a lot of different trainings available, and growth and development is highly encouraged. A lot of our development comes from practical experience, but the culture is very supportive in a way that questions are highly encouraged, and new hires feel supported in their learning process. The formal training can be a bit bland, though helpful, but informal training and mentoring is great in all aspects.”
• “NERA has a large amount of onboarding training and planned professional development opportunities. Junior-level employees are given a lot of responsibility and learn quickly on the job, often being mentored by their managers.”
• “NERA has strong training programs and promotion opportunities. There are a lot of opportunities to discuss career development with senior staff members and partners. The promotion process is transparent, and feedback is frequent. NERA could improve by increasing your ability to work temporarily in other areas to develop a new skill set and learn more about other lines of work.”
• “The best part of the career development is that I get to consistently work with people who are my same level as well as people who are more senior than me. There is a strong in-person culture which allows me to improve my skills. The firm has a mentoring program available to everyone, but it's not as strong as the informal mentoring I received in business consulting.”

Compensation

• “Salary progression and bonus potential for junior employees are generous. The office provides a wide variety of snacks and beverages, plus a weekly catered lunch. We do not get other benefits like gym pass or discount codes.”
• “Junior employee base-pay is slightly below the average at peer firms and bonuses are tied more closely to group performance than individual performance. That said, incomes scale quickly and relative to work life balance the compensation is comfortable.”
• “Compensation is fair and pay raises are frequent and substantial. The bonus pay adequately compensates for our work.”
• “The great part of our compensation plan is that we get equal base salaries, but our bonuses are commensurate to both company and individual performance. However, the process to determine the bonus is a bit opaque.”

Community Engagement

• “In my experience, everyone has equal access to work and promotion opportunities, but we do not have high levels of racial diversity.”
• “I think our firm does a good job hiring people from various backgrounds. It's great having international colleagues.”
• “The firm is very much a meritocracy. It does not appear to proactively target hiring of particular groups, but is very welcoming to anyone with ability.”
• “We have access to lots of resources for health and wellness, including firm sponsored trainings about stress and managing your health. When we are sick, our teams encourage us to take the time off we need to heal. I had to take 6 weeks of medical leave this year, and my supervisors were incredibly kind and supportive while I healed.”

Business Outlook

• “We are well-positioned in our industry and have a number of leading experts in highly relevant areas.”
• “Particularly in antitrust, the current level of enforcement means fewer deals but the deal flow is always relatively consistent.”
• “Staff get regular updates on business strategies and branding, which positions the firm well for future business.”
• “NERA is the industry standard for economic consulting.”

Hiring Process

• “The first round is a general behavioral interview, and the final round is a super day with behavioral, technical, and case interviews. We are looking for someone with a strong understanding of economics, technical skills (experience with data analysis), and an interest in doing quasi-academic work like reading published economics papers.”
• “The interview and callback process are very straightforward. I had great communication from HR. The ideal candidate is knowledgeable about economics and data analysis. They should also have a relatively easy time explaining economics and their work. A background in data analysis, particularly using R or Python, a strength.”
• “NERA is seeking candidates that are extremely detail oriented and well versed in Excel as well as another programming language of their choice (Stata, R, Python, or SAS usually). Having a background in economics is a huge bonus but not completely required for success as a junior employee at NERA.”
• “NERA seeks undergraduates with economic research experience, knowledge of computer programming, and strong evidence of a drive to succeed.”

Interview Questions

• “If you have a bucket with 40 balls in it, made up of four different colors, with 10 balls of each color, how many balls do you have to remove to ensure that you get the same color twice (going one at a time without replacement)?”
• “Be ready to discuss an actual case. Candidates will be asked how they would do the analysis, mostly oriented towards economic concepts.”
• “Please share a time that you worked with data. What programming languages do you use, and how would you go about answering question X from dataset Y. Tell me about a time you had to work under pressure. Tell me about a time that you had to think creatively about a problem.”
• “Explain your analysis methodology for previous statistical software based projects."