Booz Allen Hamilton: An insider guide - Gymkhana

crafted. “Now you can drive as hard and as fast as you want,” says a recruiter.“How quickly you progress is up to you.” The typical path to partnership takes6 to 8 years. As for what gets you promoted, an insider says, “It’s differentthings at different levels. At early stages, it’s about delivering the work. As youget more senior, it’s about managing the team, then about managing the clientand delivering the business. There’s a minimum hurdle you have to surpass. Youcan’t be a super communicator and a poor deliverer, but people who play toone area or another are recognized.”As you rise through the Booz Allen ranks, you’ll have the opportunity to play arole either in content leadership (which means you’ll sell projects and workclosely with clients, managing relationships with them) or in thought leadership(which means you’ll become an expert in an industry and share your knowledgewith others in the firm). This flexibility allows people with different skill sets tofind a place within the firm.The WorkplaceBooz Allen’s commercial side has an up-or-out policy, which means that atcertain points in your career, you must be promoted or asked to leave thecompany. An insider says, “I think there’s always going to be pressure aroundthat. But I don’t think it’s anything that I can’t get around. There’s a sense ofreality that at a certain time you either get promoted or move on, but everyoneon your project—your mentors and your job managers—want you to succeed,and that takes some of the uneasiness out of it.” This kind of support underscoresthe firm’s culture in general. According to a senior associate, “This goesback to this whole idea of helping other people succeed. I can only do thatbecause I take enjoyment in seeing someone else be successful. That also meansthat you have the same high-caliber people internally who want to help you besuccessful. So when you finally break down and ask for help, you get help fromall over the place: from partners down to the most junior people.”56