I Don't Wake Up Dreading Work - Research Assistant ICF Employee Review

3.0
Oct 28, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Work/Life balance is great; I tend to be a bit of a workaholic but I'm glad it's not forced. Knowledgeable colleagues. Managers vary but I haven't heard of many terrible ones and mine is great. Company has lots of long-term projects (consulting can be very volatile). PTO accrual seems a little low and you can only carry over two weeks between calendar years. Most of the benefits packages are middle of the road; not bad, not spectacular.

Cons

PAY! Pay varies among the different LOBs and divisions but apparently mine is the red-headed stepchild. I get paid about $8,000 less than the low end for my job title when I looked it up here (granted, the same job title can do any number of tasks within the company. What I do isn't particularly easy). Being in the DC area, anything less than $40,000 is near-poverty. My raise was less than the spot bonuses at my last job. Going to meetings and hearing about all the multi-million contracts they won while getting paid about $35k can be deflating.

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5.0
Jun 23, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Awesome training and good benefits.

Cons

I cant think of any.

4.0
Jun 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Wonderful people Meaningful work Flexibility with schedule and remote work

Cons

Sub-par benefits and pay, particularly compared to other consulting roles High utilization targets for junior staff

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