I got a bad performance review as a first year associate at a B4 strategy consulting firm; how fucked am I?
I've gotten 2 engagement reviews for my first 2 projects ever.
The first one was okay, with some "at level" and "progressing towards level" and basically said I did a great job but had areas for growth in Excel and PPT.
The second one - the EM did not really like me.
I just got my review for the project though it ended a few months ago and I got "demonstrating below level" for time management and communications, and "progressing towards level" and "at level" in all other areas.
I was rolled off the second project because of budgetary reasons - or so that's what they told me. I was never told I was rolling off because of performance.
The EM said that they liked that I asked for feedback on my performance and growth, but that because I joined very recently, I had to work more efficiently and manage my time better.
Given that the EM just filled out the form recently, I haven't heard any news from my performance manager (who is out on PTO till January) or the firm for a PIP.
No one has talked to me about a PIP, but I've been unstaffed for 7 weeks and overall, I just feel like this role is becoming a worse and worse fit.
Does anyone have advice?
EDIT: I have been here for 5 months total and I worked with this EM when I was 1.5-3 months into my role at the firm.
Disclaimer: I am at MBB and not B4, so while I have some views, of course direct contribution from actual B4 people will supersede them.
First off, no need to think the world has ended because of 2 small negatives in a single review about a single project at the start of your career. Worry about it when you've been there 6 years and are going for a promotion within 12 weeks. It is good to be diligent and conscientious, but this should be met with the appropriate level of reaction
Is this great? No. Is it terrible? Also no. If both you and other members of your team feel that the feedback is either unjustified or entirely situational (e.g., giving you a bad communication review if the person always interrupted you and never asked for your input), then so be it, forget it and move on. If however, you think there is some elements of truth and accuracy, then I would reflect on how to become better. I know sometimes we have a tendency to discard opinions of people we dislike (I am guilty of that), but they sometimes have a point.
If your performance manager is out for the next several weeks, then there is nothing that can be done to address it directly for now. I would personally discuss that feedback with other more senior members on my team (see if they might echo some of it or help me understand it and address it). The only thing that matters now is how you can prove that you can perform better during your next project. If the feedback was unjustified, then it's easy and you will immediately be back on track. If it was at least partially justified, then you can always work on improving your project management & business communication skills.
Pro tip: you can always improve those even if your review had said you were fantastic at these.
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No worries. I know first hand how easy it is to get trapped in a negative spiral. Review wasn't as good as the last one? Well, that sucks. What can you do next? This is all you can address. Best of luck to you.
Don't necessarily agree with the top rated post here. I am ex-consulting and I think that bad feedback can be a bigger deal at some of the B4 shops. From what I have been told, at some of the firms like Deloitte, 90+% of feedback is a near perfect score. So by falling into even the mid-tier bucket, you are at risk when you think about '23 being a recessionary year where new work sold dips considerably.
If you are at Deloitte and you got outright negative feedback, you may want to consider your future there. I had middle bucket feedback and found myself in the bottom 20% of my colleagues despite going above and beyond on projects and averaging 65+ hours per week.
Maybe you arent staffed because things are slow, maybe you're not staffed because you have been unofficially deemed unstaffable or just someone folks dont want to work with in general.
Idk what the top rated comment is talking about, but your first two pieces of feedback are probably the most important. This is the foundation of your career. People at firms I worked at went 3+ months without staffing during economic growth periods because their first couple pieces of feedback was negative. This is no small thing.
So what can you do about it?
1. I would have a follow up conversation with the individual who provided negative feedback and ensure you understand it entirely. They wont change their feedback, so no point in trying. But you can learn how to correct past behavior and better understand your areas for improvement.
2. I would leverage any internal resources to try and get staffed ASAP. any project, regardless of duration or area of focus, would be good for you. You need to be on a project as soon as possible.
3. Once on the next project, you need to kill it from day 1. Go above and beyond, be proactive, and ask for feedback regularly.
Hope this helps, wishing you luck.
As an FYI, after receiving my mediocre feedback and getting extended on the same project with the same boss for the 4th time, I knew I couldnt win. My Manager at the time said he liked working with me and my work quality was good. Yet there I was in the bottom 20% of my peers. So I left, simple as that. Doubtful anywhere is hiring right now so my advice is to tough it out and do everything in your power to get some good feedback on record to counteract the negative feedback.
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It does help, a lot. Deloitte is known for being cut-throat and quick to implement layoffs. I cannot speak to any of the other B4 because I didnt work there and dont have any data points.
Hopefully your internal manager can be of some help and you create a strong path forward.
I dont want to come across all doom and gloom but this is a serious situation and thinking "its all good" is probably not the appropriate reaction (top rated comment heavily implied this was the case).
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"> People at firms I worked at went 3+ months without staffing during economic growth periods because their first couple pieces of feedback was negative. This is no small thing."
Some were let go, some were essentially left to stay on payroll collecting a paycheck with nothing to show for it. One guy was staffed for 2 out of his 8 months before leaving the industry entirely.
"Did they get fired eventually? Were they told they were unstaffable because of their poor work?"
They were not told directly, but it was clear to others and senior leadership.
Are you really thinking about quitting a new job after you just had 1 negative review? Jesus, get a hold of yourself. Welcome to the real world. Learn and grow. XL and PPT are hard skills that can be easily learnt.
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Why does a worry about being PIP'd mean you need to quit your job?
What does unstaffed for 7 weeks mean? Like you’ve been going into work and literally have nothing to do? That sounds worrisome.
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As long as they are still giving you work, I think your ok. You’re still brand new. Just talk to your performance guy when he’s back from vacay and follow his advice.
Not kiss of death. That said, next trending will likely heavily scrutinized. Crush the BD; show some ‘spirited’ internal networking and smash the next few engagements. My two cents…good luck!
I disagree with the other posts, in that I don't think you should worry about getting fired until the ~1 year mark. I doubt they'd just fire you, you'll probably know it's coming.At my firm (what I have heard), it is rare for someone underperforming to be let go before the ~18 month mark if they are showing some trajectory. If you are not showing any trajectory at all, you might be let go at ~12-15 months.That being said, your reputation matters. They'll never expect someone early on to be an expert in excel/ppt/client interaction. It takes time. But early on it is imperative that you take control of your learning and show eagerness to improve. Because if you get a bad reputation, people would be more reluctant to staff you, etc…
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When you're new, you're not expected to be as skilled as experienced people. But you are expected to be actively pursuing opportunities for development. For example, my first case had a lot of excel and tableau, but not a lot of slide writing and client interaction. So I actively asked my PL if there are ways to develop those things. For example, when we had a working session with the client, I asked him if I could run the ~10 minutes of it that were based on something I did. Then at the end I asked my PL for feedback. He might have said something like "you overall did well, just make sure to focus on the key points more." So next time, I made sure to act on this feedback. Then when I had my next feedback session with him, I was like "I implemented your suggestion of _________. How did I do?" with the goal to show improvement. People typically like working with others who have a lot of energy; when you're young and don't know anything, that's what will make people go out of their way to develop you.
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