The Brattle Group APAC

Vault’s Verdict

With a relatively small footprint in APAC at present, Brattle insiders note that brand awareness can be a challenge for their firm. While its experiences in North America and EMEA suggest that it is only a matter of time before the firm is recognized as a go to source for anything related to economic or litigation consulting, a lot of work will be required—both internally and externally—to get to that point.

Not that that’s a bad thing: if anything, it presents opportunities to play an integral role in building out the firm’s capabilities and positioning in the region. Add that to a positive working culture, flexible hours and solid compensation, and Brattle quickly starts to look like a firm where someone with economic chops could build a very nice career.

Firm Culture

“Actually has a great working culture unlike many companies that just claim they do.”

“Early responsibility for interesting project work surrounded by a supportive team.”

“Interesting work, good culture, and great compensation.”

“Sheer variety of work, with endless opportunities to move around.”

“The Brattle Group offers comprehensive training and progression opportunities. There are many areas in which you can develop your skills and shape your career.”

“The Disneyland of economic consulting.”

Quality of Life

“Best: Open and honest expectations of requirements to meet short-term deadlines. Worst: Opaque process around requesting and taking leave.”

“Lots of flexibility.”

“The best aspect is the flexibility of hours and the relaxed culture around taking time off. The worst part is that the culture varies depending on your project team.”

“The hours are reasonable overall but very stressful towards project deadline. Unfortunately, I think this is industry-specific. Most project managers are understanding if I want to take time off. The firm also offers numerous benefits to improve my quality of life.”

“There is minimal travel requirement.”

Compensation

“Best: Open and clear method for calculating bonus.

Worst: Unclear how base salary is expected to progress over time.”

“Competitive salary, large bonus, lots of perks.”

“The base salary seems average compared to the financial sector, but the bonus scheme is relatively generous.”

Career Development

“Best: Transparency in policies and expectations.

Worst: Lack of clarity around 'standard' or 'preferred' path.”

“Lots of responsibility and opportunities to learn.”

“The best part is being able to structure your own development through expressing preferences over the skills you learn and the cases you want to work on. The worst aspect is that, being part of the Sydney branch of an American firm, it can be difficult to get visibility with US-based colleagues.”

“The promotion for entry-level staff is straight-forward which minimizes unhealthy competition. The firm offers a lot of trainings and mentorship to ensure I'm on-track with my promotion.

The bad aspect is that it is relatively difficult for entry-level staff to transition into mid or senior, there's a lot of emphasis on post-graduate requirement which in the context of Australia, is less relevant.”

Community Engagement

“Company implements specific programs to ensure acceptance and offer equal opportunities to all employees.”

“I think so. There are specific chat groups inside the company that empower and make visible those individuals.”

“The firm is highly committed on inclusion, diversity and equity. The firm promotes a vast range of activities to make visible these collectives. Employees that belong to these collectives face the same promotion opportunities.”

“We have a dedicated DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) [team] and members of management group paying attention to this topic.”

Business Outlook

“Like all businesses, the weak economic outlook has an effect.”

“Strong market position with little local competition, plans to expand.”

“The Brattle Group has performed well through the pandemic and is planning to expand its Sydney office in the coming years.”

Hiring Process

“Ideal candidate: Motivated, hard-working, proactive and curious. With initiative.”

“The interview process is well structured and transparent. The firm is generally looking for curious people who are willing to learn and thrive in an interesting and challenging environment and have a background in quantitative/economic subjects. Willingness and the ability to work in and as part of a team is also important.”

“The firm really promotes its culture and is looking for whole individuals who have lives outside of work and can work well and relate to other people. Strong candidates who are intellectually curious while not being afraid to say they don't know something.”

“Typical interview process begins with a phone or video call screening to ask about personality questions and qualifications, followed by a full day of interviews with various rounds asking about past experience, soft skills, and a case study (if applying for entry level Analyst) or a presentation of a past publication or public work (if applying to mid-level Associate).”

“The recruitment process is very quick, and there are opportunities to speak with people at each level.” 

Interview Questions

“A case study that tests knowledge in statistics, Excel and attention to detail.”

“Standard questions.”