What is your experience at LEK?
Hey there --
I am begging, supplicating, for responses that are not purely horror or hyperbole. I want the real personal and friend experiences. Please do not respond with the BS unless that is ur actual experience. I’m trying to get a real sense of what working at L.E.K. is like. What are the hours actually like week to week? How do exits compare to other places like for PE, industry/corp strat, corporate dev, or startup? What’s the culture like day to day—do people actually have camaraderie and mentorship, or is it more transactional? Again, i'm not looking for hype or horror stories, just straightforward experiences.
Please!
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here's what you need to know about working at LEK:
Hours: LEK is known for being a "sweatshop" in terms of hours, especially due to the double-staffing model for private equity due diligence (PE DD) projects. While it's not as intense as investment banking, the hours are still long, and the workload can be demanding. Week-to-week, expect variability depending on the project, but the general consensus is that the hours are longer compared to many other consulting firms.
Exits: LEK is highly regarded for exits into private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC). If you're targeting buy-side roles, LEK is considered a strong platform. However, for broader corporate exits (e.g., corporate strategy or corporate development), firms like Deloitte S&O might have better brand recognition and case diversity. LEK's focus on strategy engagements, particularly in PE DD, makes it a standout for those aiming for PE/VC roles.
Culture: The culture at LEK can be polarizing. On one hand, the firm provides juniors with significant exposure and responsibility, which some find rewarding. On the other hand, the intense workload and double-staffing model can lead to burnout. Camaraderie and mentorship seem to vary by team and office. Some describe the environment as transactional, while others note that the smaller size of the firm fosters closer relationships. However, the "sweatshop" reputation and long hours can overshadow the positives for some.
Day-to-Day Experience: LEK offers a lot of exposure to strategy engagements, which many find intellectually stimulating. However, the workload and intensity can make it challenging to focus on building camaraderie. The culture is often described as more professional and less "bro-y" compared to some other firms, but the demanding nature of the work can limit social interactions outside of the office.
Ultimately, your experience at LEK will depend on your team, office, and personal preferences. If you're looking for strong PE/VC exits and are prepared for the demanding hours, LEK could be a great fit. However, if work-life balance and a more collaborative culture are priorities, you may want to consider other firms.
Sources: Deloitte S&O vs. LEK, Strategy& Ex Employee - Q&A, LMM PE Associate Experience - What is it REALLY like?
Was at LEK for 46 days. My manager called me fat boy every day which I didn’t like and I think contributed to my rather speedy departure. He doesn’t like fat boys I guess. Neither did Jessica in junior high. I don’t like being reminded of that.
Supplicating is a cool word. Never heard that one before
Everyone's experience will be different depending on what sector you are aligned with, but here's mine. If you are not staffed (i.e., on CD), then your hours are 9-5/6, which is chill and the centralized staffing model means that you do not have to worry about your firm standing when you are on the beach (for AC and below).
If you are staffed, expect Mondays through Wednesdays to be 9-11 +-2 hours, with Thursday wrapping by 6/6:30, and Fridays ~5 PM, with weekend work protected (except for perhaps checking your email Sunday night). For strategy consulting / DDs, these are generally standard hours across different shops, and LEK is neither more special nor worse than their peers (despite what other reviews say)
With the logistics out of the way, here are the pros and cons of being an LEKer:
Pros: You will learn a lot from smart colleagues. You learn how to think critically about a business and work on your business communication skills / analysis / research / etc. The exit opportunities are generally great, with people going into PE / corp strat / startups after their tenure. The people here are nice and generally will want to help you if you reach out, and pod friendships are great if you are into fraternalizing. For a first job out of school, I think it's a good place to start your career, especially at the Associate level as you will upskill quickly while teetering on the line of acceptable WLB.
Cons: If you are an incoming / lateral Associate then this is less relevant, but being an MBA C at LEK is truly difficult. Cs are equivalent to EMs from other shops, and this means that you are responsible for leading the working team across all workstreams, while having little to no familiarity with how each should work. As a result, it becomes a sink or swim environment, and ~2 weeks of training cannot absolve ~4 years of experience that your promote-throughs peers have. You have about ~2 cases to prove yourself, so keep that in mind. Next, your discrete case experiences will vary greatly by sector, as there are staffing / budget / MD implications for each, and you might feel that you do not have much control over this due to the staffing model. This leads to varied experiences amongst LEKers, as some are consistently put on well-staffed cases while others get the shorter end of the stick. Scope creep is also a real thing here, and at this point you have to accept that it will happen and hope that your C / M will push back.
It's easy to get lost in the sauce and go through the motions here, but pockets of opportunity exist. Successful (and happy) LEKers are very intentional about what they want to get out of their experience, and will ensure that they advocate for themselves to make it happen.
Thanks this is great info
So you would say joining as an AC out of college is fine/good but shouldn’t stay until the MBA level? At what point did people typically exit? And how easy was it for people to exit at the one, or 2 year mark?
When did you work there if I may ask?
Joining as an A out of undergrad or lateraling in as an A or SA is actually the best time to join and working up through the promote through C (main drawback is horrible first year comp). Best time to exit is AC (3rd year from undergrad) for PE / MBA / Corpstrat Manager or C1 / C2 (4-5 years from undergrad with people manager experience) for Corp Sr. Manager / Director. What the other poster is saying is that those who enter into the C role from MBA without climbing through the A ranks mostly get destroyed probably 95% attrition in 1-2 years vs. 30-50% for promote throughs who are most likely to make Engagement Manager or Partner from C.
This is very helpful. I am currently deciding between offers at L.E.K. and OW and was wondering what you would pick if you were me.
Most folks don’t start out as an Associate Consultant. It’s either a new Associate or a lateral Associate with 6 months tenure. For context, the typical progression is Associate -> Senior Associate -> Associate Consultant -> Consultant and takes on average 4 years to get the C promote (which is also where MBAs start)
If you get the promote to C, it usually means that you’re good at the job and thus are well equipped to handle the role. For exits, it varies but people at all levels (before principal) have left but most common at the AC level.
Still currently here so you’re getting the latest and greatest
Ah, sorry. I meant starting out of college as an Associate. Is the AC level at the 2 year mark, the 3 year mark? Like at what point/how many years in (and what % of the class leave then) do you think most new college graduates leave, and for what industry?
Also how is the biz pipeline w/ the economy and AI factors, and how often is someone on the bench/CD 9-5 schedule?
I actually think the culture is good and the firm mostly leans sweaty not toxic. Most problems stem from inexperienced frontline managers (Cs) straight from MBA and the work mix being heavy short timeline DDs with small teams and scope creep. The people themselves are very nice and collaborative and the office culture is nice especially at the big offices BOS/CHI/NYC where you will start with a big undergrad class. I would say the firm overall (particularly BOS) leans fratty with pretty big emphasis on drinking but start class culture is also big and I am friends with mine outside of work and even after many have left the firm.
From a development perspective, I would say the best exits are at the AC level or the C level and go to those with focused experience in one industry that have an end goal in mind during their job hunt and MM PE investing seats very attainable. There's also plenty of opportunity to do very interesting non-DD strategy work with the firm being (imo) market leading at niche spaces in certain sectors (Pharma, Basic Manufacturing and B2B Industrial Services, Food & Bev)
I may potentially join LEK at the AC level after 4 years in consulting - is there any big risk joining at the AC level compared to an MBA coming in at C? Spent 2 years in Deloitte and 2 years in a boutique
The next level after AC is C which is a people manager role with very high expectations and attrition. Joining at the AC level (3rd year) instead of SA level (2nd year) gives you much less time to ramp up on LEK processes, internal resources, sector specific knowledge for your practice, and LEKs work mix (DD heavy with market models, surveys, network planning, conjoint analysis). If you are coming in with significant DD experience or are getting hired in directly to a practice area aligning with your work experience (Organization & Performance, Digital) then you should be ok but expect to spend 2 years in the AC role before C promo instead of 1-1.5 years and a very steep learning curve with high expectations in your first three months
I used to work at LEK. I joined as an Associate out of college and left after two years. I tracked my hours religiously during my tenure and the average week was 60 hours with protected weekends (three very rough days and two relatively early nights). People are generally nice and really, really smart - generally not toxic, just structurally oversold, lean, and constrained expenses vs. other firms (e.g., don't have the same offshore research resources as MBB). I had a great start class experience. People from my start class generally went onto top MBAs, middle-market PE, and corporate strategy at brand-name companies with some exceptions (e.g, becoming software engineers, non-MBA graduate school, startups).
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