- "up or out" makes being a senior manager/ assoc partner very stressful
- very clique-ish, relationship based culture - who you know and who knows you and visibility to key partners counts a lot in performance reviews, compensation and selection to partner
- tend to be "tracked" into a pretty narrow functional "swim lane" (e.g., supply chain planning, shared services, pricing) and can be difficult to get the breadth of experience promised/ advertised from consulting
- definitely a little s (strategy) big O (operations) firm. Only a few industries (notably telecoms) or or select clients hire the firm to really focus on ways to drive growth in their business. Rare to see Deloitte hired by board to conduct review of growth opportunities (even before the recession) - again some exceptions notably telecoms
- went through some pretty nasty overcapacity challenges
- onerous regulatory requirements associated with any consultancy attached to an audit firm - reporting financial holdings, having to ask spouse/ domestic partner about their debt and credit card holdings (minor but annoying)
- the long hours and hectic schedules that are "par for the course" in consulting are true at Deloitte
- country based unit values mean the firm isn't truly global
- limited opportunities to work internationally or abroad and they are generally not career enhancing because you are away from your core network and not making any money for the U.S. partners - I was offered a 1-2 year assignment in Europe as a manager. Several Partners told me that if I took the assignment and did well it "wouldn't hurt your career that badly"