Pros
- There is a great sense of camaraderie between Research Associates at GLG. Everyone hates it after 3 months. If they stay, it's because they have to or because they haven't found anything else yet. - If you're lucky enough, you'll stumble upon a project which actually interests you and through that you'll get to interact with interesting experts. (Make the most of it) - The people, some experts and the salary are the only things that kept me sane for that long.
Cons
-The nature of the work at GLG is simply mindless. As a Research Associate you'll sit at your desk for 9+ hours per day sifting through endless pages of LinkedIn searches, looking for experts and duping them into thinking that you are offering them an interesting consulting opportunity. I felt like I was getting dumber and dumber, the more time I spent at GLG. -No chances to grow A fictitious 'Senior Research Associate' position is continuously waived in your face like some sort of reward, which can only be achieved if some ridiculous and counterproductive metric is reached. The metrics are dependent on the amount of recruits you add to the network... effectively making this a recruiting job. Also, trainings are a lie, they are specific to GLG and cannot be applied in any other context (maybe at Alphasights if that's your thing). -Unhealthy levels of micromanagement EVERY SINGLE MINUTE is accounted for. You are sitting next to your manager who basically watches over you for the entirety of the working day. No ownership in your work, no responsibilities. Key words to watch out for which are simply lies: "Thought-partner with the client" - False, client is convinced GLG is a call centre that charges a lot. "Research" - False, the research is a recruiting search. Not research. "Networking with industry leaders and key thinkers" - False. The experts are convinced Associates and GLG staff are dumb, and the majority are so frustrated with the GLG process that they are not interested in an actual conversation about the 'projects' "Project management' - False. This involves a 10-15 minute search on the topic, followed by a project write up which usually takes 10 minutes, followed by the pressing of a button which send a mass invite to the experts. This is not project management.