Pros
AHA is not the right fit for everyone, but it is a fantastic place to work for the right personality type. If you are a smart, self-motivated, driven, competitive individual, who thrives in a fast paced, challenging environment, AHA is a great place for you. If you are looking to show up, put in your time at your desk, and then go home, AHA is not the right place for you. If you are a self-starter, who can organize your own time, and knows when to ask to ask questions, you will do well. If you need your hand held, and are not proactive, you will fail. This is management consulting, and it is true private sector. I’ve seen people come to AHA from public sector and find the expectations much different. On the other hand though, once management knows you are reliable and you can be trusted to get your work done and meet client commitments, no one is standing over your shoulder, and there is a lot of flexibility to manage your work life balance however you need to. Management is always available to sit down if you have questions, but they aren’t there to babysit you. At AHA you are constantly learning and there is unlimited potential to grow your skills and follow your interests. Management is very supportive of continuing education and allowing employees to develop new business lines and pursue individual passions, but you better be ready to back it up with hard work and take ownership. AHA values diversity, and no two people have the same credentials. If you are looking for a place where you will be exposed to multiple industries and every day is different, you will love consulting. My absolute favourite part of AHA is the people. Every single person that works here and has lasted, is incredibly intelligent. I am constantly inspired by my peers. We truly work in teams, and no one person is ever on their own. Credit for success is shared by all resources, down to the new grad analysts, and if you ever need help with anything, the expectation is that it is everyone in the firm’s job to help you and make sure you are supported. The firm is quite young, with a lot of employees in their 20s-30s, which makes for a fun atmosphere. Again, there is a certain personality type at the firm, that isn’t for everyone. Most of us are A-type and enjoy going for drinks after a hard day of work.
Cons
AHA is still a young company and there are natural growing pains. Management is figuring it out as they go, just like the rest of us. It is true what other reviewers have said that last year there was high turnover. My perspective on this was that we were a new company with individuals coming in from different backgrounds, and as a result there was a clash of some big personalities. When certain people left, others followed. During this time, there was a lot of tension at the firm, but once it blew over, AHA was able to get back to its old self. The past 8 months we have hired some fantastic people and the atmosphere has really improved. It is true that we used to be practice based and expectations were not consistent across the firm, depending on who was your practice lead. However, in the last year we have moved away from this and expectations are becoming more formalized and consistent. One downside of AHA is the catch 22 of being a start-up management consulting firm. You need to be billable in order to make money to keep the lights on. Management has good intentions of improving internal operations and developing strategy, but client work is always the first priority so business development initiatives are sometimes slow. Another facet of needing to keep the lights on is sometimes we take on work where either the objective of the work is not clear, or we don’t necessarily have the right skills, or we don’t have enough resources to fully staff the project. Because we are trying to build a name as a new company, we have to take the work we can get, at the rate we can get and this often results in a lot of heroics and long hours by very dedicated teams, which can burn people out. AHA has very talented junior resources and very capable senior resources, but is thin on the middle management layer, which results in the principals being stretched quite thin. We have made some fantastic management hires recently and leadership is aware of this gap. The challenge is hiring managers with management consulting experience. I have seen talented and capable senior people come to AHA from related, but different industries, and quickly realise they aren’t interested in learning sales, and writing proposals etc. which is a big part of management consulting. In summary – if you are a senior resource with career management consulting experience and are looking for somewhere you can influence and grow a business, or are interested in learning how to be a career consultant, give AHA a try. If you are a young resource and doesn’t necessarily want to be a career consultant, AHA might still be a great place for you to spend a couple years getting a stacked resume and learning a ton!
