Pros
Buckle up ladies and gents because this is going to be a long, opinionated review. A few things I want to clarify for everyone reading reviews of Mu Sigma on here before I start my own (these are not pros, but I want it to be the first thing you read): 1. The only reviews you should be reading if you are an American are those under the Job Titles: Junior Associate, Associate, or Senior Associate. While there are a few American Engagement Managers, they are few and far between so essentially those reviews will be coming from someone who is here on a visa. All the others: Trainee Decision Scientist, Senior Business Analyst, so forth, those are the titles of the offshore counterparts. So if you see a Trainee Decision Scientist review in Boston, MA for example, you are reading the company review of someone from an offshore team whose account is in Boston. It is a significantly different experience between the onsite and offshore experiences in the company and therefore important for all potential new hires to understand that as well. 2. Due to the nature of the business, experience across accounts and even within accounts can seriously vary depending on how competent your offshore counterparts are, how intense your clients are, and a few other extraneous factors. My experience was different than what my friends dealt with. Some were "on the bench" for as long as we were back in the US and were paid to sit around and do nothing but administrative work. Others, like myself, worked extensive hours, some holidays, and some weekends. It is an absolute crapshoot. 3. Mu Sigma has been saying since the time they recruited me, October 2014, that they are growing at 6-8 clients a quarter. This may be true, I do not know the inner workings of the company; however, that 6-8 clients a quarter certainly is not the net growth of clients per quarter. Mu Sigma loses clients just as fast as it gets them in my opinion. The number of net employees (3500-4000 hasnt changed in the same time period either, just to strengthen my argument). 4. Mu Sigma advertises that it serves 140 of the Fortune 500, an impressive number. Again, I believe this to be misleading and while I cannot actually be sure, I really believe that Mu Sigma is not actively serving 140 of the Fortune 500, but much more likely has over the course of its existence served 140 Fortune 500 clients. I would guess they currently serve half of that number. Now onto my actual review: The Training Experience: Training in India with the Columbus program was a great experience. You meet awesome people both in your batch, other batches, and other Mu Sigmans. I still keep in touch with my friends offshore and hang out with other Mu Sigmans who are here in the states. We were able to travel and explore India and SE Asia on the weekends, it really was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget. Working in the US: I was lucky to have a team that worked really hard, but unfortunately often messed up. Thankfully my client had once been in a similar position in terms of consulting so they understood how it works. The engagement managers I worked with at Mu Sigma could not have been better and more helpful. They showed me the ropes, helped/defended/supported me when I needed it, and pushed me to do my best work. I was able to grow professionally in this role and it helped me land a much better job. The Company: They brought in some very senior level people with great experience who seemed to put into motion some ideas that would change how things functioned in terms of compensation, performance rating, etc. I hope these changes took hold and improved the situation from when I left. Overall: I was lucky to some degree with the managers I was assigned to and learned an immense amount. I got to meet some awesome people and experience a whole different world along the way too.
Kontras
Work Life Balance: One of the biggest jokes about Mu Sigma is the work life balance. They call it work life harmony. They literally expect you to integrate Mu Sigma into your personal life and combine the two into a glorious experience where you are constantly furthering the company and yourself. This is a delusional goal and idea in my opinion. The Training Program: The actual work week during training was strange. They were still trying to solidify exactly how the Columbus Program was meant to work and train the Junior Associates. They were trying different methods across different batches and getting different results. Hopefully this is something that they have since defined and is consistent. We completed "tutorials" for dashboarding, R, SQL, SAS, and Stats one week at a time. There was pretty much no actual instruction and we used the internet to learn. The mock project was a truer experience, actually working through a problem and project and presenting it. It was definitely the most useful part of training. When it came time to assign us to locations in the US they simply did not have enough spots and had over hired. We rolled dice (this was the choice of the group, not forced on us by Mu Sigma) to decide who went where and eventually Mu Sigma "forecasted" where they would have open spots to put the ones who did not roll a high enough number. Work in the US: I had morning and night calls (6:30AM and 9PM) Sunday night through Friday morning. I regularly worked between 70-80 hours a week. Due to my specific engagement and client requirements, I did have to work several holidays and weekends. Company Practices: Its cult like, they expect you to follow an odd belief system which I often disagreed with and had to pretend I accepted. The pay is significantly below industry average and there is little room for growth upwards. They do year over year salary increases and "promotions", but its still well below industry average. Performance ties in very little with how you are compensated or promoted. Again, with extensive hours and a list of successes I was kept at the same level as people who sat on the bench for the entire time I was there. They truly do not care about you as an employee and unless your direct manager cares, you are screwed. The Company: Towards the end of my time with Mu Sigma there were a flurry of scandals which have largely become public since. Dhiraj and Ambiga divorcing, the sale of her shares, the quitting (and firing) of many senior level members of the company. I recommend you read up on this what you can online. It really painted the company in an immature way, it was handled poorly by Dhiraj and the company, definitely did not help keep me around. Turnover: Absolutely ludicrous. While I was in India, Mu Sigma implemented a contractual agreement which is essentially a bond, to keep its offshore members from quitting after one year which happened regularly. This alone was ridiculous, especially because they were forcing it retroactively on people they had already hired and that were working there. One of my friends had his team cycle through completely with new people (except for one offshore). In my case turnover was not as bad, however, by the time I left, with 1 full year with Mu Sigma, I was the most experienced person on my team offshore and onsite. Overall: They will give you the run around, they will dance around answers, they will lie. It is frustrating to work there and to the degree where sometimes I thought it was a joke. Dhiraj and senior leadership sometimes come off as incompetent because they dont seem to understand how business should be conducted. There is no appreciation, no room to grow, and low pay. You should use this job, if you can stand it, for the experience as a springboard for your next job.