inside the firm, from top to bottom.”
Scott Thigpen
, Senior AssociateWhy did you choose Booz Allen?
I was looking for a new job and had four job offers on the table from other companies. I didn’t know that Booz Allen had an energy group—but a friend encouraged me to interview with the firm. I did so on a whim. And frankly, I was completely floored after the interview by the intelligence and insight of the people I talked to and by their genuine commitment to getting the job done. I knew this was exactly the place I wanted to work, so I immediately turned down every other offer.
Why have you chosen to stay at Booz Allen?
The work we’re doing in the energy arena is very exciting, and we’re bringing a lot of insight and making important contributions. I’ve also been impressed by the opportunities to work with very, very qualified and thoughtful people who bring a true spirit of collaboration to what they do. You never see two groups pitted against each other—we’re always rolling up our sleeves and working together. I also appreciate the quality of the more junior staff and the firm’s commitment to staff growth. My workstreams have grown considerably over the past 2 years, and it’s been rewarding to give the junior staff opportunities to shape that work.
What type of work do you do at Booz Allen?
A number of energy-related technologies have been shown to be viable, from an engineering standpoint, but they haven’t gotten to market, sometimes because of financial barriers—and this is one of the untapped areas in the energy field. My work primarily is taking these innovative technologies and helping develop markets for them largely through public-private collaboration. To give two examples: the Energy Team is helping the U.S. Department of Energy build market traction for new advanced technologies and is also collaborating with the U.S. Air Force to identify opportunities to use its underutilized land for renewable energy projects.
What excites you about your work?
What excites me most is the quality of people across the board I get to deal with. I’m amazed at the quality of the people inside the firm, from top to bottom, and Booz Allen also gives me opportunities to work with senior people in the public sector who are very innovative. In addition, the Booz Allen name really opens doors to collaborating with talented people in the private sector. You have a credential—you have standing—when you walk in the door wearing a Booz Allen badge because private-sector companies know that we understand their business models and will produce good work.
Do you have a mentor at Booz Allen?
I have an informal mentor who provides a lot of insight into how things are done here. My mentor helps me, from a career standpoint, sort through the deluge of opportunities available all the time—which is another great thing about working at Booz Allen—and understand what is most important for the firm and for my career.
What differentiates Booz Allen from other companies that you could work for? What makes Booz Allen special?
One thing that differentiates us is our commitment to pushing ourselves constantly to get better. It’s done in a very collegial manner—we push each other, productively, to do better work, and that’s rewarding. The other thing is the firm’s commitment to people, from the assessment process to the learning and development resources to mentoring. Booz Allen’s commitment to people is head and shoulders above what I’ve seen anywhere else.
How has Booz Allen helped you be ready for what’s next in your career?
On several occasions, I’ve heard, “Don’t think incrementally—think big-picture,” and that’s been important advice. In the energy field, it’s especially important to think two or three steps ahead and anticipate how the landscape will change. At Booz Allen, our long-term motivation, our aspiration is to create a new framework in the energy markets—we’re not just thinking incrementally and tweaking what the other guy has done. The firm does a good job of putting me out there, in that zone, and giving me the bandwidth to try out new ideas.
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?
There’s a huge need to move these technologies to market much faster. To do that, some of the traditional ways government and private entities have interconnected will have to change fundamentally. In this respect, the perspective Booz Allen brings from years and years of working with government agencies and private companies is invaluable to the client. We’re not a legacy contractor that has been doing the same thing over and over and is locked into one approach. We work to put something new on the table for our clients.
Can you talk about a time when you saw one or more of our Core Values displayed?
Respect and professionalism are on display every day. People have strong, competing views on things, and it’s very impressive to see how they resolve them in a way that respects each others’ ideas. And commitment to ethics and integrity—I see these every day. At Booz Allen, people have internalized the Core Values so that the way they conduct themselves across the board is really impressive.
