People are happy to be here, and that feeling is contagious.”
Autumn Kosinski
, Senior AssociateWhy did you choose Booz Allen?
After serving on active duty for 6-½ years as a naval officer, I was looking for a new career rather than just a job. I wanted the opportunity to continue serving my country, I was looking for a challenge, and I hoped to find a team environment that was fast paced and valued teamwork. As one of the best consulting firms in the world, Booz Allen offered all of those things and more.
Why have you chosen to stay at Booz Allen?
You’ll never find a company that cares more about its people or about setting you up for success. A big part of that is the candid feedback you receive. It’s nice to hear you are doing great things, but here you have a professional development plan that’s tailored specifically for you. Not only does your plan identify areas for improvement but also your leadership shows you “here’s how.” And then the firm makes mentoring and leadership investments to help you get there. This commitment to professional development and success is one reason I consider it an honor and a privilege to work at Booz Allen.
What type of work do you do at Booz Allen?
I’m a project manager, leading an effort to design a new software application for the U.S. Navy Expeditionary Force. It’s an analytical tool that will help decision makers better manage readiness using traceable, defensible, and repeatable metrics. To create this solution, we reached across the firm and brought together a range of functional skills and domain expertise that has directly enabled Booz Allen to deliver a highly complex program, on an aggressive timeline, and with a significant number of interdependent and cascading tasks.
What excites you about your work?
What excites me is that after more than 3 years, I’m still ecstatic about what I do here every day. Booz Allen radiates a certain energy: People are happy to be here, and that feeling is contagious. Each day is fast paced and full of challenges, and it’s exciting to know that I’m going to be meeting those challenges with the best and brightest people. I’m not going to be sitting at a desk performing a mundane task—I’m going to be learning something new about my work and about myself, from a wide range of sources.
Do you have a mentor at Booz Allen?
One of my managers—who interviewed me and was one of the reasons I came to Booz Allen in the first place—is also my formal mentor. We’ve talked almost every day for 3-½ years. And although he does offer mentoring in professional development and technical areas, what he really does is demonstrate and guide me through what it means to be a leader at Booz Allen. It can be easy at times to be a technical expert, but leadership is more challenging, and I value his candid advice.
What differentiates Booz Allen from other companies that you could work for? What makes Booz Allen special?
We don’t build things—ships, for example—so what makes Booz Allen special is the intellectual capital of our people. And that’s why the firm invests so much in its staff members through formal education, tuition assistance, professional education, and internal and external training and certifications. At the same time, the firm invests in people by establishing an environment where everyone is a significant contributor, where different backgrounds and interests are recognized. We’re always asking, “How do we get the right people in the right room to talk about the right things?” There’s a no-barrier mentality here. If I send out an e-mail asking for expertise or assistance, it will bounce around the country, and I’ll be in touch with what I need by the end
of the day.
How has Booz Allen helped you be ready for what’s next in your career?
Booz Allen has put me in positions of leadership and given me the support I need to address the next challenge. I’m set up to succeed, and I’m also helped along to make sure that happens. The full backing of my leadership and coworkers is always there.
How does the work you do help your clients be ready for what’s next? How has your work and your team’s work made an impact for your client?
Our work is expressly designed to help the Navy prepare for the future. It’s obviously impossible for every unit within the Expeditionary Force to be ready for every worldwide contingency at all times. Our recommendations help the Navy to be at right level of readiness, at the right time, and at the right cost.
Can you talk about a time when you saw one or more of our Core Values displayed?
There’s a natural tendency, I think, to hold on to what you’ve worked hard for. That’s why I was so impressed when my mentor took a new hire under his wing, trained this person to do everything he’d been doing, and basically turned his entire business over to him. He then began building a new business within the firm. Why did he do that? By stepping into the next role, he felt that he was doing what was best for the success of his client, the firm, and his coworker. It’s the concept that if you hold each other up, everyone will rise together. And that, to me, exemplifies the Booz Allen commitment to the Core Values of teamwork and entrepreneurship.
