Not an intellectually stimulating job - Business Consultant Mastercard Employee Review

1.0
Dec 29, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-The junior staff is all pretty fun to be with and laid back -Office events (free food, outings, teams, etc)

Cons

-The role isn't intellectually stimulating at all - in no way does this compare to MBB consulting like they try to pretend it does. For example, most of the day is spent interacting with the junior analysts of the client, not c-level execs of SVPs. These clients have tests they want to run in mind, so you literally handhold them as they click through buttons to run the test, reset their passwords, etc. There isn't any strategy involved and really no thinking involved. -Poor management- what happens when you don't have people go to b-school and have them go straight through, you have 23/24 year old managers who frankly aren't good managers. -No transferable skills - lack of Excel work, some SQL, but you spend most of the time on the APT software which you'll never really use if you try and switch jobs -Lots of very late nights due to multiple cases at a time. When two run hot, it's a problem. -For a organization that goes out of the way to say how "flat" it is, there are a lot of politics

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Mastercard Response
8y
Thank you for your feedback. I am sorry to hear that you are not happy at APT. First and foremost, we would encourage you to provide this feedback beyond Glassdoor, and to share it directly to your advisor and to the firm. Employee feedback is crucial for ensuring the success of individuals and of the firm. On a personal level, your advisor can work with you on staffing that could be better geared to your preferences and learning opportunities. Through bi-annual firm feedback or our ongoing feedback mechanisms, we welcome your suggestions to improve your experience and to make APT a better place to work. The Business Consultant role that is central to driving ongoing client value. As the frontline of our client relationships, the role does entail user support and password resets. It also includes client thought partnership, cutting edge analysis, and client presentations at various points of project delivery and levels of experience. Realizing that experience is unique across Business Consultants and across teams, if anyone is not receiving the experience they desire, we encourage them to speak to their advisor or HR. Advisors can help identify staffing opportunities that would promote more learning on desired skills. Through projects and training, Business Consultants learn project management, analysis structuring, Excel, or SQL, among other skills. These can be leveraged within APT, and also in business school or in other organizations by our alumni. Outside of the day-to-day, each employee has access to an education budget should they seek additional training while at APT. When it comes to management, APT promotes a culture of internal growth, and as such many of our Engagement Managers are former Business Consultants. While growth opportunities within APT mean that our Engagement Managers have direct experience with ongoing delivery, we understand the importance of strong management and mentorship, and acknowledge that our manager training is never complete. We recently launched a training program for both experienced Business Consultants and newly promoted Engagement Managers, helping with the transition from individual contributor to manager. We also hold offsites for each role, with training sessions focused on management topics such as enabling leadership or project management. Again, we appreciate hearing this and all feedback, and encourage you to share specifics through your advisor or our feedback mechanisms.

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Cons

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Pros

Mastercard does a great job fostering an inclusive and supportive environment. There are genuinely good people throughout the organization, and leadership often invests in employee engagement through events, recognition, and culture-building initiatives. I enjoyed many of the relationships I built while working there, and there are teams that truly care about collaboration and supporting one another.

Cons

Compensation at the director level did not feel competitive compared to the level of responsibility expected. Career advancement can also be extremely challenging due to how top-heavy the organization is with senior leadership roles. There are a large number of Senior Vice Presidents, sometimes without clear scope or experience aligned to the title, which creates limited room for high-performing employees to grow. At times, it felt like senior leaders were being hired primarily to manage or communicate with other senior leaders, rather than drive meaningful operational impact. In product and go-to-market roles especially, priorities are often heavily driven by funding decisions. It can be frustrating when projects suddenly shift in importance or remain underfunded for long periods of time while awaiting senior leadership review. This sometimes leaves highly talented employees in limbo, unable to move initiatives forward despite strong momentum or market opportunity. The organization can also be very comfortable with the status quo, which creates a slower pace that many employees seem accustomed to. For people who are highly motivated and eager to drive change, it can feel difficult to navigate the number of roadblocks and layers of approval required to move initiatives forward.

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