Pros
Northstar finds and hires really smart and driven people. They have access to challenging and interesting positions inside powerful client companies that pay very well. I love the position I found through Northstar, and I’ve been continually impressed by the caliber of the other Northstar employees I’ve met. The top management team always made time to talk with me and really seems to care about the employees. They show this through their focus on great benefits. Their time off, 401K matching, and health benefits are fantastic. Northstar always makes payroll, despite super slow paying clients.
Cons
Northstar is small. They get continually squeezed by their giant clients, and they’ve had no choice but to pass the squeeze to their consultants (primarily through furloughs, reductions in benefits, and cancelled bonuses - but they’ve NEVER seemed to consider reducing salaries). Northstar has been trying to mitigate this by building more business with clients who are less likely to institute furloughs and renegotiate reduced rates. Northstar is headquartered in Philly, but I was placed at a client company near my home in Denver. There are very few Northstar employees in Denver, so I never felt much connection to the larger Northstar family, even though they seem like a good group of people.