Vault’s Verdict

From the selection of employee comments you'll read below, it is clear that Infosys is still finding its way in the consulting market—and there's a definite split in opinion between employees who believe that the firm will get there, and those who don't. On the plus side, you've got the firm's footprint and relationship with its parent company. On the downside, there's the fact that the Infosys name remains synonymous with technology outsourcing for many in the European market. 

From where we sit, the firm bears all the hallmarks of an outfit that is trying to work its way further up the value chain—and, while there are signs that it is making progress on that goal, it is undoubtedly a project that is progressing slowly. All of which leaves the potential jobseeker with a choice: join a firm where there's the potential to make a real difference—albeit with some hard work required—or focus on other opportunities. 

Firm Culture

• "If you are junior, the firm can get you exposed to a wide range of projects and let you get closer to the 'core' of the projects and programs than the big/prestigious ones. But don't expect great mentoring. If you are very experienced, looking for a wide range of projects to choose from and are not in need of constant recognition of your work then join this firm. You will enjoy it here."

• "Young and motivated teams. Ability to enable innovation and fulfill customer needs best. Leveled to drive project related tasks."

• "We have a direct affiliation with Infosys Limited, providing a strong backbone to design world-class solutions at a significant discount to our clients."

• "Highly innovative in digital transformation and IT with excellent know-how in India at Infosys where more than 80 000 people are working offshore."

• "Team spirit with strong collaboration and no internal competition amongst colleagues, development opportunities in terms of getting a higher amount of responsibility faster than at other companies, we are truly an international work force, offices worldwide are collaborating and not forming local kingdoms." 

Quality of Life 

• "Not enough formal training and having to go into roles that generally don't help with the consultant's long term career aspirations. There is a general culture of body shopping still and also getting off a project in an agreeable way is very difficult. Generally you will be locked into roles that your practice offers only, going cross-practice is pretty non-existent."

• "There is no visible policy around hours, and recognition for working beyond those hours is hard to achieve. The time tracking relies on nominal hours and is not able to properly record weekends, antisocial hours etc. Time off in lieu is on a 1:1 basis, often on manager-designated days and difficult to take in practice if one takes one's client and firm commitments seriously."

• "Great flexibility with working hours being a working mom."

• "Project commitments do make vacation planning a challenge, as it is not always easy to plan well in advance. This is, however, dependent on individual projects. Apart from that, working from home does improve quality of life and ability to also handle the challenges outside work, such as paying bills, car repairs etc."

• "Work-life balance is good. As expected in consultancy, travel is part of the job. Hours are according to the project status, but the human aspect is taken into account."

• "Firm is not really taking care of the work-life balance of our employees. Weekend work for proposals or projects is normal and is literally an obligation. Vacation is not respected, but employees are involved in work during free days. Additional work is put on top of full time (and more full time) projects without really asking the employees. Employees are split over different locations and therefore have double traveling time (in certain cases). When choosing the project, the travel investment is not taken into account for the decision. Travel time of up to 8 hours which is a full business day happen." 

Career Development

• "The promotion process is haphazard, inconsistent, skewed to year-end, not properly documented, explained or auditable."

• "Worst: I have received no formal training in 3 years working at Infosys Consulting. Promotion process is not clear. At the moment, there doesn't seem to be any overall strategy for the company (strategy seems to change every day). Best: I have the possibility/freedom to do things as I want them to do, if I see things/processes I want to change/improve, I can do it."

• "Training could be more formalised, e.g. a training budget of x days, which are then not questioned by management. Also, greater visibility on career opportunities."

• "The career development opportunities within the company are very good. You get the change to develop and pick up topics which can improve personal development. Also the promotional process is clear and honest. Training is possible via an internal program and a yearly budget on external training."

• "Training needs to be fully embedded with the performance evaluation; lack of diversity in career opportunities; good signs of improvement on these aspects over the recent years."

• "Excellent opportunities are provided in terms of choice of what you want to do. Proper training and learning opportunities are available. Support of leadership for career growth and changes in your primary focus areas is provided. Sometimes too much stress is given to just retaining you on a particular account."  

Compensation

• "Absolutely happy with the current situation, anticipating future opportunities for promotion and salary increase."

• "Lack of good perks offered by the firm, lack of clear salary structure, only a small fraction of the potential bonus is paid even though the company's results have surpassed expectations and targets."

• "The salary compensation is aligned with industry and is good on my country (Portugal) but as I'm working always in international projects my salary is much lower than other European or American colleagues."

• "Worst Aspects: Salary progression is below the average market value. Medical coverage is below the average market value. No other perks exist besides the medical coverage Best Aspects: There's a partial compensation for home office internet cost."

• "Very good compensation but very poor salary progression (both within same career level but also after promotions); no clear regulation for compensation of extra work (extra mile) on quantitative basis (if at least firm earns extra money on top employee should get an extra rate proportional to this)."

• "Infosys has a lot of good people, but the general culture and the way employees are treated still seems to be more in line with a large offshore IT operation than a consulting firm." 

Outlook 

• "Vishal Sikka is a great CEO, I hope he can continue to get the 'old guard' senior leadership behind his vision for Infosys. The early signs are that they are aligned with him."

• "Very limited sharing of information and solutions even within account teams. The larger organisation is not geared up to collaborative working: across geographies, practices, with our parent organisation."

• "The business outlook is good overall. A weakness is the influence of the Indian office during discussions with the client. The process is in some cases negatively influenced because the sales are mainly managed out of India instead of in the local market. This could be improved and is part of the integration which is currently in progress in the company. Employee morale is good."

• "Strong and complete business view along with great forward thinking. Worst is some aspects of communication and capacity to integrate management consulting with supporting activities."

• "Consulting practice is getting promoted in a huge way. A lot is stress is given on providing solutions to client problems and going beyond. New markets and geographical areas are being added and new business model being adopted. Still too much stress is given on technology delivery, consulting only plays a minor role in getting the client on-boarded."

• "Comment regarding leadership: I trust the country leadership very much. EMEA leadership still to be proven. My confidence into the global leadership is very low as I do not see that they understand the current consulting business not they have vision which is convincing." 

Hiring Process 

• "The ideal candidate is a dynamic Consultant who is flexible to travel and has a lot of individual responsibility."

• "Candidates will depend on the role. We are looking for strong individuals with good interpersonal and technical skills who can stand on their own in front of a client."

• "The interview and callback process is well structured and keeps the candidate well informed."

• "Interview and callback process is very fast and efficient. The complete hiring process from interest, multiple interviews and signing took three weeks."

• "Recruiting department is well structured and they are doing a good job. The candidates get a fast feedback and a clear picture about the process."

• "They have several interviews, starting with telephone interviews and then three interviews in the office at the same day. Callback and responses were very fast." 

Interview Tips and Questions

• "Case studies of market penetration, competitor benchmarking, roll-outs based on firm's current and past clients."

• "For your second interview in the office you have to prepare a case study, which will be send to you two days before."

• "Process is not standardized. Some improvements recently."

• "Why did you leave your last position?"