Pros/Cons of Working at Big R&D Consulting Firm? 41
pagalvin asks: "I'm being recruited for an 'R&D Architect' position at a Big 4 consulting firm in the U.S.
Does the community care to share its experience working as 'overhead' in a large organization that is most famous for its consultants working 60 hour weeks and billing 'til the fat lady sings? In such places, do non-billable R&D types get any respect? Is there a a long-term career path that sticks with the technology track?"
To answer your questions (Score:4, Interesting)
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For this is EXACTLY the type of responses you should expect from your fellow employees at this type of firm, at least until you have earned a serious amount of respect, and that ain't easy.
Good luck!
Re:To answer your questions (Score:5, Interesting)
Put me down for Yes, No, No.
BTW, The company will allow you to work yourself to death. In fact, the culture will setup the conditions for that career track.
Manage your work-life balance. When you find yourself coming in early and leaving late, it's time to take really long lunches. Not in the cafeteria, get a buddy of like mind, and walk to a restaurant across the street to get some exercise. Try to find something a half mile away or more. Flirt with the help, browse the local shops. It may be the only life you get.
Don't ever skip your lunch... Ever, just once leads to a lifetime habit, claim health reasons. When you can't manage your work-life balance. Stick to an eight hour day. Get a hobby that does not involve the PC, get outside and meet people.
Basically, don't let work become your life. Nobody ever regretted "working too little" on their death-bed.
The company won't value your time (the stuff life is made of). In order to save a few bucks, they'll cut back on resources, make you stand-by during the day, then work late at night. Of course this will be presented as an exciting challenge. Everyone else is "on-board", get with the program... NOT!
Hope I didn't come off as too cynical...
Oh Shit... It's Friday night, and I'm surfing /. At least I'm on vacation next week.
large organization may have lot of TPS reports.... (Score:2)
R&D at Texas Instruments (Score:3, Interesting)
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Hydrogen and oxygen faucets would have been cooler.
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From my experience (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:From my experience (Score:5, Informative)
Respect depends on success (Score:5, Insightful)
I learned in my 5 years there than I have in any other position, it was challenging and personally rewarding, looked impressive on a resume. Besides the cool tech stuff I learned, I learned to pay close attention to what is going on outside the job at hand. Pay attention to what customers are being told, or what they tell you they are being told. Cover your ass, if something isnt going to work, speak up even if you worry it will cost you your job since if your right and let it go eventually it will cost you your job anyway. Endurance and Dedication are admirable traits in a human being but are usually taken for granted in a corporate enviroment. Putting in the extra hours once in a while is great but do it to often and it will become expected of you. The way most companies see it your reward for hard work is getting to have a job the next day, remember that and any kudos that come your way after success will be unexpected surprises. Get out while you still enjoy it, if you keep going until burnout you will find yourself unmotivated to get back into that arena again.
R&D = Redundant & Dispensable (Score:4, Informative)
The important thing is to follow your heart and do what you are passionate about. If you do that, everything else you want will likely follow. Well, maybe not the girlfriend...
here's a personality test (Score:3, Insightful)
a) I like to do things right the first time
b) I like to dive right in with a trial solution, then continuously improve that solution until it becomes best of breed
c) If the customer says it works for him/her, then that's good enough for me.
d) If the customer says it works for him/her, we should sell them on our premium service offerings, which are interesting because they generate higher fees.
If you chose (a), you might not be well suited for a consulting firm.
If you chose (b), there might be a fit, but it remains to be seen.
If you chose (c), you're probably a good fit.
If you chose (d), take the job immediately.
I would skip it (Score:5, Interesting)
communicate. (Score:2)
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Microsoft does that? I've always imagined Microsoft Research to be a cool place researching cool stuff, whereas Microsofts products...
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http://research.microsoft.com/ [microsoft.com]
Microsoft Research (Score:2)
There is a fairly popular conspiracy theory that Microsoft Research exists to take the best & brightest research minds off the street, denying them to other companies and startups that might threaten Microsoft.
Like all conspiracy theories, this cannot be confirmed :-) It can be falsified, if/when we see results from MSR appearing in Microsoft products.
Caveat: lack of falsification does not mean it is confirmed. Intending to get products from a research group does not mean you will get successful tec
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What is an "R&D Architect"? (Score:2)
What does an R&D Architect do? Is it a technology consulting firm we are talking about or management consulting?
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Are generally referred to as 'the big four' consulting firms. They are not technology or management specific. They will happily sell you absolutely anything you ask for....
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The big 5 Accounting companies which had to spin off their consulting divisions after some court ruling (can't remember if it was a conflict of interest case or something related to Enron/ Sarbanes Oxley). Arthur Andersen died after Enron (check Wikipedia for more) and now they are only the big 4.
Deloitte & Touche --> Deloitte
Ernst & Young --> Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (CGEY)
KPMG Consulting --> BearingPoint/ Deloitte (depending where)
Art
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In general they had the reputation for talking a good system. The "up or out" mentality means everybody's doing a job they're inexperienced at.
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R&D Architect - don't take it (Score:5, Funny)
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I work for a big 4 now... (Score:3, Insightful)
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Sounds suspiciously like a pyramid scheme to me.
The only thing I can say about the big N is that I've worked with some extremely good alumni, most of whom got out within three years. At that point the conditioning starts to set in. There was some French sociologist (if anyone knows the name give me
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The hardest working people are the ones that make the most financial success. My dad was a janitor when I was a little kid. He worked harder than anyone I've ever met. He is now (20 or 30 years later) more financially successful then you and me put together.
Hard work gets you the
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sure you need to work to have money to enjoy life, but their comes a point where you really didn't need to work that whole weekend.
while it is true many successful people are hard working, i've found none of them are very happy with their life.
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