Consultant - No Advancement, Low Salary, High Turnover - Consultant Sogeti Employee Review

Non-compete agreement. Carefully hidden and strategically worded in the offer letter, is a very restrictive non-compete agreement. While I understand why companies do this; Sogeti (compared to other consulting firms in the area) stands out as being especially restrictive and inflexible in this area. By signing this deal with the devil, you give up all rights to pursue any opportunities with any client that you have had any direct exposure to during your tenure with Sogeti, for two years following your termination. So if you have dreams of working for any of the top Fortune 500 companies in your area; keep this in mind when agreeing to a new project. Lack of opportunity for advancement. Promotions/raises are only available once a year in January and are quite difficult to obtain. To be considered, you are required to make a case for yourself in the form of a few bullet points in an email. The process is 100% subjective, and the decision is entirely up to your GVP (aka someone who is too high up to know who you are, what you do, or what your value is). Promotion to a higher title is essentially meaningless; as a billable Consultant your duties/responsibilities will be unaffected as they are instead entirely determined by the needs of your client/project. Hard work with long hours for your client goes unnoticed, while what you do for Sogeti (aka Sales) is rewarded. Below market average compensation. Sogeti is simply unable to pay market value for its talent, especially over time. For this reason it is absolutely crucial to negotiate a reasonable salary at hire time. The ongoing cycle is to hire kids fresh out of college for next to nothing, then keep them until they can no longer afford them (usually 1-2 years). After 1-2 years of experience working with the latest tech stacks for Fortune 500 companies, Consultants leaving Sogeti can expect dramatic increases in salary. On the bench (ATO) time. While on the bench, you are expected to report to the office 8-4 Mon-Fri to sit and wait for a project. During this time, work from home is unacceptable even in case of sickness, emergency or inclement weather. This can go on for days, weeks or possibly months. There is no set time, but if on the bench for too long - you will be laid off. When a project is presented to you, it is generally not considered optional; even if the role is not a good fit with your skillset. The unspoken expectation is you remain flexible and be willing to take on any project presented to you. Flawed bonus system. Just like promotions/raises, bonuses are 100% subjective. Bonuses are awarded monthly, and paid out annually. Zero visibility on who bonuses are awarded to, or if they are even being awarded at all. Also like promotions/raises, what you can do for Sogeti (aka Sales) is rewarded while the hard work with long hours for your client will go unnoticed. The potential for achieving the max bonus of $24k/year advertised is completely unattainable. Unless entering a sales role; you should go in with the expectation of not receiving bonuses. Unethical practices from management. Management advising and helping to temporarily hide non-compliant behavior/items in order to occasional pass client audits. Management forcing Consultants to exaggerate or flat out lie about skills/background advertised in order to make a sale to clients. I have overheard several conversations including dialog from management such as "On your profile, I need you to make it SOUND like you have experience with X technology..." Morale and office culture. Over the past couple of years, the office has taken a dive in morale. Going from not having enough open desks, to now being a empty and quiet cubicle wasteland. The office has very dated furniture and facilities. Very good chances you have a broken chair. Peripherals such as monitors, mice and keyboards are simply not provided; you are expected to bring your own. Overall, its not a happy feeling in the office. When talking to other Consultants, you will find that most everyone is at least passively seeking new opportunities. Nobody seems happy to be working at Sogeti any more.