Lead Associate - Associate Booz Allen Hamilton Employee Review

4.0
Jul 24, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

I consistently feel like I work with the best and brightest. The diversity of employee backgrounds brings rich value to project work and to the client. If you need to augment your team's skill set with something else, you will absolutely find it either through your network or resource management. I also consistently feel that the work we do is making an impact.

Cons

The company has changed a great deal since going public a few years ago. Pressures on utilization have increased greatly - the amount of people getting a "lack of work" notice has increased. People are not given adequate credit for all of the extra proposal/BD work they do on top of billable work... the pressure to be billable is higher, yet the expectation to do BD work "in your free time" remains the same. This makes work/life balance challenging at times. Additionally, the higher you are promoted, the more "expensive" you become... which makes it harder to stay billable (you will no longer be considered for certain roles, given your cost as a resource). It seems a strategy to pressure senior leaders to grow their teams, if we are over-hiring then letting people go a few months later. Benefits have changed dramatically for the worse and pay increases are nowhere near what they used to be. The retirement plan and healthcare benefits are MUCH worse than they used to be (albeit still better than many other firms.) You will be lucky if you get a 2% increase, so it does not keep pace with inflation certainly. There are no bonuses. The firm is an extremely political place to work. Your success is highly dependent on having a strong set of advocates and a big network. There are many overlapping "sandboxes," so you must be careful not to anger the wrong group of people.

Explore other reviews about Booz Allen Hamilton

5.0
Apr 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

They treat their people well

Cons

Pay isn't the highest at Booz

3.0
Mar 7, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Booz Allen used to support people when they were between contracts. It was a good time to grow your skills while you were looking. There are also many contracts and projects that it is possible to work on, so it’s a good place to start your career and get some experience before finding another role elsewhere.

Cons

Since 2025, the government contracting cycle has been disrupted and there is no longer any patience for down time between contracts. Always Be Billing! Also, the company is trying to market themselves as a tech company that develops its own products, and they do have some products, but for all of the talk, most of the work is still government contracting. So, any R&D efforts for most will come after 40 billable hours for the week plus any other company service you do. I don’t know how many have the energy to do this over a longer period of time. It’s definitely subject to office politics, as any large corporation would be. There are inside groups and outside groups on the bigger contracts. If you’re not in the in-group, you’ll have to fend for yourself. At least the company name looks good on a resume for an external job search! Ditched the DEI efforts as soon as the Trump administration said that was the condition for receiving federal funding. I get why they did it, but it makes some of the company’s stated values ring hollow.

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