Pros
Interesting work, great industry experience, and a very professional environment.
Cons
The job title research assistant is demeaning. No other company in consulting would disprespect and disregard the hard work their junior level staff do. I work directly with clients all the time. There’s no incentive to stay at ICF when you know your next level is only as an analyst, and that your “raise” will keep you living paycheck to paycheck. ICF can’t expect to recruit top talent from reputable institutions with its starting pay. I can hardly pay my student loans and live in a place that’s close enough to work, never mind save money. There’s no way to get a substantial pay raise. When managers want me to work overtime I’m very tentative to say yes and when I do I’m not happy about it because I’m already underpaid.