Vault’s Verdict

A growth-stage life sciences boutique, TRINITY offers consultants rapid, C-suite-level exposure to some of the most innovative and exciting biopharma clients in the industry. A myriad of formal and informal mentorship opportunities helps to mitigate a steep learning curve and ensures that new employees can hit the ground running.

While the echelons of middle and upper management seem to be comprised of long-tenured TRINITY employees (indeed, nobody is in a rush to leave), this firm is perfectly suited for consultants at the top of their careers, looking to learn as much as possible right away. If anything, it’s good to know that every door is open to you: a long and fruitful career at TRINITY or a range of exciting exit opportunities.

The firm is well-positioned to thrive in the age of Covid-19, thanks to innovative and transparent leadership that instills faith in its people as well as its niche focus on an industry in such urgent demand. All in all, people are excited to work here, their excitement buttressed by robust total compensation packages, a tight-knit culture, and easy access to development opportunities.

Firm Culture

• “Firm culture is a huge positive at the company. The consultants are tight-knit at all levels, and this contributes significantly to my satisfaction at the company.”
• “I think the one factor that sets Trinity apart is its dedication to its employees on its work/life balance and the different offerings Trinity has to offer clients.”
• “The people who work at Trinity really set it apart from competitors. Everyone is extremely approachable and wants you to succeed. It's not just coworkers -- these are people you become good friends with. The culture is really what stands out to me at Trinity. The work is also extremely interesting, and the multiple staffing method allows you much more exposure to clients and different project types than single staffing.”
• “Trinity is a great company to work for, with really smart people who go out of their way to help one and other.  True team environment. There are other companies they own but working for headquarters is a great experience.”
• “Our culture. We have a very flat culture where it is encouraged to ask questions and not every meeting/conversation has to be 'buttoned up'. As a result, across levels people openly solve problems and form deep friendships.”
• “Innovative ideas are given a voice; people respect each other and most don't take work too seriously or let it consume them; there is broad respect for family life and breaks.”

Quality of Life

• “Of course, with consulting, hours are expected to be longer than the average 40 hour work week. But, at Trinity I have found that my coworkers are very flexible and encourage us to take personal time when needed. Everyone has each other's backs if something comes up. No to limited travel is great and definitely reduces burnout.”
• “TRINITY's leadership has a focus on work/life balance. This still is a services-based industry, so your hours can be unpredictable, but by and large, we work very hard to ensure that our staff leads a balanced life.”
• “The travel requirements [pre-Covid-19] are generally minimal as compared to other firms. Usually, on-site visits are reserved for workshops or deliverables, so the travel requirements are kept to a minimum. Even if travel is required, most of the travel is in the Boston area or in the Northeast region. It is very doable. Hours can be tough, but that's true of any consulting firm. The company has a multi-project staffing system, and one flaw of this is that people who do well on projects will get staffed on more projects. But managers are receptive to feedback on project staffing, and there are multiple checks in place to make sure people don't burn out. This includes auto-flagging weeks with excessive hours for managers when timesheets are submitted. Additionally, the company facilitates pairing of mentors in addition to all the other resources, so there are multiple safety nets. Relative to other consulting firms, I think TRINITY does a good job in trying to encourage a livable work/life balance between efforts to try to manage hours where possible and promote unlimited vacation. The culture at the firm is also hugely important to making long hours manageable. I love working with my co-workers, and there is a strong sense of camaraderie. The people at the firm are the best aspect of the job! ”

• “Counseling is available via telehealth, flu shots are offered in-office, and there are many wellness initiatives (wellness week, current quarantine wellness challenge) with significant buy-in and support from leadership.”
• “TRINITY has an unlimited vacation policy (though we are asked to aim for roughly 20 days each year), which I believe is incredibly accommodating. Management very much encourages staff to take vacation and facilitates coverage of project work so that vacation can be restful and generally work-free.”
• “Management has recently encouraged us to take more vacation time. The amount of time needed must be balanced against workload. So, everyone is not guaranteed to get the time off they ask for, especially in cases where several in a group ask to take vacation at the same time.  That said, I haven't heard of people not being able to get the vacation time off they want, as long as they ask for it in advance”

Career Development

• “TRINITY has an extensive training program, especially for campus hires beginning as associate consultants. Intensive training in the first two weeks gives way to regularly scheduled trainings during the first month, including a project simulation exercise, presentation practice, and introductions to all aspects of the job. Training continues throughout the first year, with regularly scheduled progress check-ins and ample time to discuss successes, challenges and future aspirations. TRINITY is dedicated to ensuring its new hires are successful and grow as consultants and people.”
• “There is extensive mentorship (both formal and informal) and great training programs throughout the year. The POD structure helps break up the company into smaller units and helps ensure mentorship and connectivity to leadership team.”
• “Trinity makes it very easy to tailor your own path to success, allowing for informal specialization in certain therapeutic areas / project types as well as more formal specialization where you can join one of our Center of Excellences to specialize in one of our specialty project types.”
• “Lots of opportunities for promotion.  Many who are in leadership positions today started out in entry-level positions not so many years ago. Lots of formal and informal training opportunities. There is a whole group within the company devoted just to training and education.”
• “Best aspects include mentoring opportunities, both formal and informal. Colleagues are all amazing and smart, and I genuinely enjoy spending time with them at work and outside of work.”
• “I think Trinity does a great job at positioning employees for new opportunities and exit positions - the leadership here primes employees to move to the industry/client side, as well as prep for graduate school opportunities as well. I've even seen leadership help "place" our employees for "externship" or "on-site" client opportunities for long term projects.”

Compensation

• “TRINTIY pays well and its bonus is always paid out. We recently conducted a statistical study to see if there were pay imbalances by gender and there were not. I feel well compensated at TRINITY.”
• “Our salary is fantastic for a starting job, and bonuses are part merit-based, and part company-based, which encourages people to continue working hard year-round.”
• “Total compensation is great, with fairly large annual bumps even without a promotion in that year.  I do wish more of the total compensation were a part of my base salary. ”
• “Salary and bonuses are a major perk.  At management level, you are getting 45-50% of your salary as a bonus, which is great relative to other companies. Annual compensation increases based on merit are also very rewarding.”
• “Have received a bonus every year that I have been at the company.  This is more than I can say for other companies I have worked at who promised bonuses, but there was always an excuse for not delivering.  LOVE THIS COMPANY!”
• “Sign on bonus could be slightly higher and given at time of signing instead of within the first paycheck that way people who are moving etc. will have the money for a new apartment. A huge perk for the health insurance is that Trinity covers almost all pregnancy bills and covers 50% of the deductible which I think is great.”

Diversity

• “As a member of the LGTBQA+ community, I have felt nothing but acceptance and encouragement at Trinity. I feel like an equal among my colleagues and I have never been made uncomfortable for my sexuality. Trinity is actively trying to grow our LGBTQA+ presence and I have really appreciated all the work and being a part of our LGBTQA+ affinity group.”
• “Women are encouraged and uplifted at TRINITY; many women are in leadership roles and it is clear they are equally valued. Overall, TRINITY has many initiatives to help uplift typically underserved groups.”
• “TRINITY specifically conducted a statistical study to determine if there were differences in salary by gender. TRINITY has an expansive "Perspectives" program, which incorporates gender, LGBTQ, and racial considerations. As a minority, I have never felt constrained at TRINITY.”
• “Trinity allocated internal resources to analyze the pay equality between men and women and determined that (when normalized by role) there is no gender disparity.  I was very impressed by this!  We have several female members of the leadership team and I am confident there is no discrimination due to gender, race, or sexuality.”
• “Company is committed to diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, and certainly LGBTQ.  Still, there are very few [Black people] at the company – honestly not sure why that is.”
• “At this point, my projects have been managed by more women than men and I see multiple women in power at my organization. I don't feel that being a woman will compromise my ability to go far in this company at all. When it comes to fostering diversity more broadly, I don't think TRINITY does anything specific to hire/mentor minorities, but as a woman/racial minority I actually appreciate that TRINITY simply treats us the same rather than offering lots of talks about diversity but then not giving people the same opportunities (the way I see at other consulting companies). I also REALLY appreciate that, through the hiring process, TRINITY never asked for my nationality (all other life science firms I interviewed for did) and they have not hesitated to sponsor me for visas at no cost to me. One thing they could improve on is hiring students from a more diverse set of undergrad institutions – I think they're a little stuck on only looking at big name schools in the immediate vicinity of their offices or where they have staff from.”

Outlook

• “TRINITY is growing and growing aggressively. It is not reliant on just its core business (strategic advisory services) but is increasingly branching out into new adjacent offerings for our clients. This will be a challenge as we learn to integrate, but I have faith that we have the right people on board to push us forward. Most notably, I have always had tremendous faith in TRINITY's leadership, both in their ambition, their competence in meeting that ambition, and their drive to grow in a sustainable way.”
• “We have an innovation team, and specific groups internally focused on improving our core capabilities, operations, and building new capabilities. We also have struck a nice balance of new clients, and depth at existing large clients to sustain growth.  I think the increased focus on specialization has been further evolve our offering to clients.”
• “The firm has handled the COVID situation very well. It has not impacted business at all so far. The firm had a great work from home policy before this happened, so most employees were prepared for this. On a company level, TRINITY has made several acquisitions over the last couple of years that have significantly expanded the offerings for clients. We are still in the process of incorporating the various functional groups, but the company is definitely growing quickly. The leadership is transparent about when we hit our revenue targets, which is always. I trust the leadership to make the right decisions.”
• “In light of coronavirus, our leadership has held weekly meetings to discuss any changes they foresee in business, the broader healthcare industry, and to check in on employees. It feels like they are actively taking all precautions to help up weather the storm while keeping teams supported during this time.”
• “I think Trinity is well-positioned to have a good year, even given the impact to the business resulting from coronavirus. Our growth has been significant but also well-planned and has positioned us to be able to continue bringing in new work during the potential slowdown. Our recent focus on building out Centers of Excellence within the Strategy Consulting group is helping to further differentiate Trinity from competitors, as Trinity can increasingly act as an agency of record for clients. I think this keeps our clients coming back and is helping us to maintain significant growth.”
• “Our leadership team is great and transparent about where the company is headed. We have a lot in the works in terms of innovative ways to do our work and offerings for our clients.”

Hiring Process

• “For applicants right out of college, Trinity does two rounds of interview. One set that involves either two on-campus interviews or two phone interviews. Outstanding candidates after this first round may receive an offer. If you do well in the first round, then you are invited for two interviews and dinner at the Trinity headquarters. Trinity is looking for people who are hard-working, team oriented, and most importantly passionate about the life sciences.”
• “For undergraduate candidates, Trinity is seeking highly motivated candidates that have a proven interest in the life sciences and a desire to understand how drugs make it to the market. We also focus heavily on cultural fit. Enjoying the time, you spend with colleagues is very important and Trinity recognizes this and pays a lot of attention to how candidates may fit in with the rest of the organization. So much so that many people at the firm develop genuine long-lasting friendships - go on vacations together, living together, attending each other's wedding, etc. This aspect of the candidates that Trinity is seeking is just as important as the more traditional educational background.”
• “Three rounds of interviews. The first two are over the phone or skype. The third is in-person and involves ~5-6 interviews combining behavioral questions as well as case component.”
• “Ideal candidates are hardworking, smart, and inquisitive. We typically have a phone interview followed by 3-4 interviews in the office. On campus interviews may have a meet and greet session with on-campus interviews followed by offers or invitations to interviews in the office.”
• “They are very quick and informative and willing to answer any question you have about your potential role. This firm is looking for dedicated workers that are ambitious to learn with some experience analyzing data.”
• “Ideal candidates are intellectually curious, fun to spend time with, willing to "do what it takes," and genuinely interested in the pharma industry.”

Interview Questions

• “Cases are presented to potential hires and they are asked how they would approach the research problem.  It is very open-ended, so you get to understand how the person thinks and how they approach research problems.  Uncovers their level of experience and their knowledge of methodology.”
• "Consider a mid-size biotech company, which is developing Product in X in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Product X is a one-time gene therapy that could stop the disease progression of MS. For reference, MS is a progressive neurological condition with many treatments available that are considered disease-modifying. However, therapies must be taken for the rest of their lives. Given this, how would you describe the opportunity for Product X in dollars?"
• “For commercial analytics, we send a case study home with the candidates and have them present at the final round. We also do functionally specific mini cases on the phone screens.”
• “There are certain client situations that our firm will test, and case study questions will invoke the type of study to conduct, the type of research same, methodology, and questions to ask for a given therapeutic area.”
• “Typically interviews consist of behavioral questions (e.g., tell me about yourself, why life sciences consulting, tell me about a time when ___) and a case. Cases are typically real projects that the interviewer completed where we are looking to the candidate to walk through their approach to the problem.”
• “Interview has a behavioral/fit portion as well as a case for each interview round. Case questions focus on the life sciences space and involve market sizing as well as other dynamics of the biopharma industry such as indication prioritization and planning, clinical trial development, and pricing.”