Hello. Ive read some interesting posts about PA on this forum and all very encouraging. Very little negatives are attributed to the organisation. Surely it cant be as good as is made out on this forum. What are its negatives. I hear it does alot of public sector work, is that good or bad? or does it matter? Also hear pay is lower than competitors, but compensated with 'higher bonuses' is this actually the case? can anyone vouch for this? Typical analyst bonus? consultant bonus? (both as % of salary)?Cheers

A fair meritocratic promotion and pay system - partners can't get away with having favourites. It's possible to go from Grad to Partner in 9 years. Bonus always paid because it's an employee owned firm and everyone has shares/equity (not just share options). Yes - lots of public sector work - but that's because PA's truested by the Government to deliver critical programmes because of independence of any other company = a truly trusted advisor. Lots of private sector work also across the 19 Practices. Strong growth this year because PA work the whole project lifecycle, not just strategy, not just implementation, and the solution is unique to client rather than a pre-defined general solution to fit the market. Pay is fine - not the upper quartile base salaries as per Deloitte / Accenture, but not far off and the achievable bonus if you perform (differs by practice) meaning total comp. is higher overall. Basically - great at the true motivator factors - achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and personal growth.

If it was that simple I would agree with you.

PA has a great reputation amongst peers and across its client base. The consultants are, in the main, intelligent, motivated and ambitious. Remuneration is high for those who perform well (defined by metrics - some clear, some not so clear!). PA does a lot of client public sector work but a lot of it is across projects of national significance, which are highly interesting and look good on individual CVs.Salarys are probably below the top players but if you are a top performer at PA, you are likely to achieve very high bonuses (40 - 50% of salary) at the lower levels. MCs can earn multiples of salary as bonus. Partners can earn huge bonuses. Some of the lower performing practices will not pay those kinds of bonuses. first year bonuses are usually only paid prorata and will be low. It therefore takes a while before you get your first real bonus. bonuses at the lower ranks can be low but if you are a good performer, you will move quickly to PC where salary and bonus increase quickly. You can move from grad analyst to PC in 4 years.

The answer is no. PA'S HR Dep seem to have many distractions and get you dancing in a figure of eight during the application process. Somedays they'll get a cv that clearly isn't worth a cup of English tea but will let em in anyway. I'd like to know how many people have got through by accident.I thought about joining when i was just a young boy but that day is done. Maybe im amazed at how much gets said on this site. Anyway, with a little luck things will work out for you. I have to go and visit my uncle Albert now.All the best!