Censeo Consulting Group
Visit Website: www.censeoconsulting.com
Overview
Introduction
Censeo Consulting Group specializes in strategy and operations, with a specific focus on mission-driven organizations. The firm works with clients in the public, private, and non-profit sectors to improve organizational and operational performance. Their people-focused consulting model, with "people" referring both to its clients and employees, places them regularly in the ranks in our top companies for work-life balance.
Company Stats
Employer Type
Size
Featured Rankings
Best Consulting Firms for Work/Life Balance...
Major Departments/Practice Areas
Strategy, Planning and Measurement...
Major Office Locations
Employment Contact
Firsthand Findings
Insiders at Censeo Consulting Group urge younger consultants to consider this firm as an opportunity to gain significant responsibility and client exposure early on. A self-described “big fish in a small pond”, CCG is best suited for those who are passionate in pursuing a career in public sector consulting. Not everybody is cut out for working with government and nonprofit clients, but if you’re looking to truly measure the impact of your consulting career, Censeo can offer you an environment that fosters innovation, inspiration, and perpetual growth.
Despite the perceived limitations of a small firm with big firm ambitions, Censeo employees who responded to our survey took special note of a high quality of work/life balance. The hours (a...
About the Company
Censeo Consulting Group specializes in strategy and operations, with a specific focus on mission-driven organizations. The firm tries to break away from the traditional consulting model by using its own business model, one that is based on three main principles: expertise and thought leadership, people and values-driven culture and tangible impact for clients. Censeo works with clients in the public, private, and non-profit sectors to dramatically improve organizational and operational performance, thereby strengthening their capacity to deliver more for every invested dollar. Depending on the client, this could translate to results from lower student tuition, improved environment, or more resources to create jobs.
Big fish in a small pond
Censeo Consulting Group has been recognized as...
2021 Vault Rankings
Employee Reviews
- “A phenomenal gem in the consulting industry with everything you are looking for: interesting projects, inspiring colleagues, and work-life balance.”
- “Great place for aspiring consultants to get into to the industry after under graduation. The firm develops people to help them succeed in either the industry and/or higher education (MBA).”
- “Ideal public sector consulting environment for a self-starter looking to drive their own professional growth without having to deal with the internal politics that come with bigger firms.”
- “The people I work with are incredibly intelligent, hard-working individuals. They constantly push my thinking and are supportive of each other’s endeavors, which makes coming to work a pleasure.”
- “In a universe of government contractors, Censeo is a small firm that brings highly intelligent, people-centered staff who provide and support implementation of actionable recommendations that make an outsized impact on our clients. And we do that with an excellent culture—people like working here!”
- “Censeo provides the opportunity to have substantial impact on federal clients while working in an positive, engaging environment.”
- “Censeo has very minimal travel requirements [pre-Covid-19], particularly compared to other management consulting firms. In addition, the culture is one which promotes work/life balance.”
- “Quality of life is highly dependent on the project that you are staffed on, with variable hours and travel requirements (typically not more than one week per month).”
- “The firm is very flexible with working from home and working hours – the general attitude is if you are effective and supporting your clients then no need to micromanage how you are accomplishing your work. Minimal travel allows for better family life, and while there are certainly peaks of work, the overall average across any given year is very manageable.”
- “As a small firm, we don't have true health and wellness initiatives the same way that bigger firms do. That being said, health and wellness is definitely a focus of the firm's--January is health and wellness month where our engagement committee facilitates things like step challenge, discussions on mental health, etc.”
- “I think there is room for Censeo to have a more generous vacation policy. However, in my experience managers encourage staff to use vacation time and are respectful when staff are on vacation.”
- “Censeo is very accommodating as far as vacation time. Management respects vacation time as a part of our overall work/life balance and colleagues are quick to take on extra responsibility while team members are away.”
- “Strong linkage between performance and compensation via bonuses. Very competitive overall compensation. Great benefits.”
- “Compensation is very competitive at all levels. I believe I am more than fairly compensated (including salary, bonus, health insurance, 401K and other perks).”
- “Base is lower compared to partners at other firms, but significant bonus upside. Total compensation is competitive considering vastly superior work/life balance compared to BCG, McKinsey, etc.”
- “Transparent path of salary progression.”
- “Best: Competitive pay at entry level. Worst: My firm doesn't fully cover most expenses but will pay portions of phone bills and portions of gym memberships with no help towards healthcare or commuting costs.”
- “Censeo offers a competitive salary for a firm of its size. However, compared to the industry standard, it is lower.”
- “The best part of our career development opportunities is flexibility. I someone is interested in learning about something, the knowledge management team will usually make it happen. We also have a diversity and inclusion team that provides routine educational opportunities. The firm is also generous with promotional opportunities. The only minor negative aspect of career development is that there is less of a focus on business development.”
- “Censeo emphasizes intentional professional development by the individual. Managers are excited and eager to help each consultant/analyst excel in their career, but this effort is largely led by the individual taking the initiative to schedule recurring check-ins. A less favorable aspect of the firm's career development is that often the stress, workload, and project demands limit the ability to progress. Consultants are often constrained with little open time to focus on professional development. With many in the firm stretched thin, professional development is not a priority and may not be emphasized.”
- “As a small firm, the company does not have a lot of resources to dedicate to development. However, the informal mentoring and focus on development culturally is incredibly strong and helps develop employees incredibly well.”
- “The best aspects of the firm is the diversity of consulting projects and complex challenges we solve for our clients. This provides a lot of new experiences and learning opportunities. The worst aspect is the firm is relatively small and it sometimes takes a little while for a new project to come along.”
- “We have an incredibly robust career development program starting with onboarding training, which we have spent a lot of time developing and improving. Staff are assigned a reviewer who works with them to gather feedback from all of their projects and align on key strengths and development opportunities. The reviewer provides them extensive written feedback twice a year. In addition, staff meet with their project managers on a regular cadence (at least monthly) to discuss more tactical observations about where they are performing well and where they can improve. In addition, they have a peer ""buddy"" and can select a "mentor" who is more senior than they are to get lunch/coffee with every 6-8 weeks and gather advice more informally. There are frequent opportunities for promotion (every 1.5-3 years) and no up or out policy. Finally, we very much value diversity and actively seek opportunities to bring [people from] more diverse backgrounds into all levels.”
- “I have the opportunity to get develop capabilities across a variety of project types and gain as much exposure, as I desire, to clients, different agencies, and capabilities.”
- “Firm aggressively pursues equal hiring and development opportunities, though all of the senior positions are still white, male.”
- “I do not believe there is any conscious bias in the hiring process and I believe that pay is adequately adjusted based on experience level, rather than gender.”
- “Since I've worked here I've seen no evidence of gender discrimination in the firm's firing and promotion practices.”
- “I do not believe there is any conscious bias in the hiring process and I believe that pay is adequately adjusted based on experience level, rather than gender.”
- “I believe the pay is equitable by role, not by gender. It appears to me that each round of promotions include an equal amount of male and female employees.”
- “Promotions are based on merit.”
- “Good business development pipeline, strong leadership team, and excellent employee morale.”
- “We won some significant contracts that could really accelerate the company's growth. The Federal market is challenging with funding and shifting priorities, so that creates some uncertainty in the actual growth,”
- “We had some higher than average turnover at both junior and senior levels in 2019, which certainly affected morale. At the same time, the firm has been undergoing strategic changes that position us to address some self-inflicted inefficiencies that have slowed growth in the past, and we have the best future pipeline I've seen since I joined the firm several years ago.”
- “Best: we have strong employee morale and faith in leadership. We are also innovative and have found new ways to stand out in the market. Worst: we have had a bit of turnover this year among senior staff. This has made some situations a bit difficult.”
- “We have been around for 17 years and our outlook is stronger than ever. We have refined our business development approaches, marketing efforts, and internal employee engagement so morale is very high right now.”
- “Censeo has a unique position in the market and is growing.”
Getting Hired Here
- “We believe our value proposition to potential recruits is a unique combination of interesting work for mission-driven organizations (i.e., solving interesting problems for public sector organizations, as opposed to staff augmentation focus), great culture, and work/life balance. We look for smart, qualified consultants who also share a passion for supporting the greater good and are approachable and easy to get along with.”
- “In the first round of interviews, Censeo holds two separate case study interviews over the phone. This allows candidates two different people to connect to, and two case studies to complete. From there, candidates are selected for a final round of interviews in person in Washington, DC where they interview with two leadership members. Before the final round of interviews, candidates are provided an opportunity to connect with a Censeo "case coach" who will walk them through the case study process and provide tips and points that do not affect the interview.”
- “We have an extremely timely callback process. The interviewee is first interviewed on the phone, and then interviewed in-person. They have the ability to then interview with three of our peers (all of various leadership levels).”
- “A candidate first participates in an informal coffee chat (if their school does on-campus recruiting). The first official interview round is a set of two phone interviews/case studies. If the candidate makes it to the final round, they will be asked to come to the DC office to get a feel for the company culture and also complete two in-person case study interviews. The ideal candidate is someone who is good at communicating, framing their ideas, and can think both quantitatively and qualitatively. They have a passion for solving problems and can critically think of beneficial client-based solutions.”
- “Extensive interviews by several team members at all levels. Recruiting efforts involve most consulting employees.”
- “Usually three rounds. First two round are behavioral followed by a case interview round. Employees are measured on: communication; structured approach; basic quantitative skills.”
- “We provide formal use cases and request applicants to perform critical thinking and encourage the use of white boards to present their solution to a problem.”
- “We typically use a combination of market sizing and business strategy cases in our interview process.”
- “Imagine that you are brought in to lead a consulting project for a large federal agency. The federal agency is considering consolidating printing services for all of their teams into a central location, instead of managing a series of printers within each team. What might be some of the factors they should consider, in considering this change?”
- “Why are you interested in consulting? Why are you interested in Censeo/how did you hear about Censeo? What have been your most rewarding experiences in college? What are you passionate about?”
- “Round 1: market sizing. Round 2: more extensive business case with recommendations about how to improve performance of a business organization/operations.”
- “[Entry-level interviews] are split into typical fit questions (why Censeo, why federal consulting, what do you do when you're faced with conflict, etc.) and case questions (how many lawyers are in the US, would you advise your client to expand their business, etc.).”
Perks & Benefits
