Interesting work, terrible plan for "growth" - Anonymous employee Exponent Employee Review

2.0
23 May 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The work is reasonably interesting as long as you can separate yourself from their one big Silicon Valley client. Bonuses are decent. Some of the staff are great people to work with.

Cons

Management only listens to the loudest people, even if they are subpar in their technical specialty. Pressure to grow and develop business, but there is no guidance on how to do this. Vague advice is given such as "you gotta get lucky" or "write papers" or "develop a niche". Management has no vision for growth besides "keep hiring associates and hopefully we'll find something for them to do to bill clients". Many people with subpar technical skills get promoted very quickly by working on projects for two major clients. People that are 5 years out of school are becoming Principal Engineers by working for two specific clients, yet have no experience with industry vision or business development or breaking into new markets.

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5.0
17 Mar 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good benefits and great culture

Cons

Inconsistent workload but partly due to the nature of the business

2
2.0
9 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Many consultants successfully use Exponent as a stepping stone to larger tech companies. The project work can sometimes be very interesting and some consultants appreciate overtime and bonuses for long hours (albeit many feel they would earn more overall compensation at larger tech companies).

Cons

The company has very high expectations of its consultants and doesn't always provide the resources necessary to achieve their expectations. In order to grow after the first few years, consultants are generally expected to generate their own business, but some junior consultants feel they are not fairly given credit for business they help bring in. Many consultants feel the performance rewards are too delayed.

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