Pros
Early on in my time at Point B, I remember reading a Glassdoor review that read “Point B is where you go to put your career on pause.” At the time, I thought they were being dramatic. It’s not Deloitte or Accenture. Maybe they were angry about projects they were working on or feeling stifled by the lack of clarity or upward mobility in their role. I ignored their sentiments until I realized they were right. I worked at Point B for several years, and only after I’ve departed the firm and pulled my head out of the sand, I have realized that I too put my career on pause. I feel as if I wasted several high-performing, high-energy years trying to climb up the ladder, make Point B a better place, spinning straw into gold, only to be held back so others could rise or sit back and relax while I carried the load. This is a management consulting firm that does not walk the walk or talk the talk. There are only three things they do well: hire great talent, burn them out, and deliver high-quality work to their clients. I watched dozens of great people, some of the best I’ve worked with, leave because of lack of opportunity, respect, and leadership. I’m glad I’ve joined them. The pros of Point B, you ask? They have kind people who have good intentions to make a great company, but are too selfish and unmotivated to actually put in the work to get it done. They have unlimited PTO, which is great for flexibility but leads to a weird dynamic of people taking vacations that are too long, leaving others to pick up the pieces in their absence. And they have good health benefits (they fund your HSA throughout the year too, if that matters to you).
Cons
How can one be expected to be succinct when so much has gone wrong at a place that promised to be better? I’ll do my best without too much embellishment. The organization has fractured into factions. There are people who have been at the firm for over a decade who are great at what they do for their clients – and who’s ESOPs have been fully vested – who are working less but making more money than ever, or are actively making other people’s jobs harder by arguing about company changes that are inevitable and spreading their pessimism like wildfire. There are also young associates who don’t really care about what Point B once was (some long-timers reference the previous mission that “Point B exists for the benefit of our people” which doesn’t make any sense), but just want a company that owns up to its issues and gives them growth and development opportunities, but they lack a voice to leadership, who turns a blind eye to criticism in general. And then there are those who are desperately trying to shovel water out of the ship while it’s sinking. Trying to make the culture more positive and welcoming rather than toxic. Those are the ones next out the door, whether from a layoff or on their own accord, if they can keep up the pace until their backs break. The rest of Point B’s struggles, including multiple rounds of layoffs, low competitive salaries and inequitable bonuses, minimal budgets and resourcing, team reorganization, and lack of clarity across all areas of the business, are caused by their lack of operational efficiency and understanding, weak leadership that lacks vision, unity, and confidence, and what can only be described as a self-obsession with a company that most people have never heard of, especially one that claims to “solve the world’s biggest challenges.”