QA reviews

They keep you happy by plying you with beer and talk of great careers, so that you will write shining reviews whilst at the academy - obviously this appeals to people who have just left university. After 4 weeks of training, you are locked in for 2 years - thats a very long time when it comes to it. The training at the academy is very basic. The trainers had absolutely no idea what would be expected of us on client sites, since most of them are just graduates who have gone through the training themselves and become teachers without ever having been on site. I was certainly not prepared for work client-side. QA consultants who have gone through the academy seem to be a bit of a joke in the industry. Clients have come to realise that we have a steep learning curve when coming on site. There is a bit of a running joke where I am about how little we get paid. You will be sad at how much contractors around you get paid for doing pretty much the same job. Money doesnt mean a great deal to me, but it would be nice to be able to rent a flat in London (where I have unfortunately been placed) and not have to choose between food or a social life. The newly instated 'london bonus' goes almost no way to closing the london living gap, at about £130 extra per month after tax. The laptop supplied by QA is the sort of thing your grandpa might buy to just 'surf the web', it certainly hasnt got the agility required to sustain an IT professional's workflow. Heres the big one: If you want to leave within your two year contract they slap a 'training fee' on your head which, although was transparent from the start, seems unfair in hindsight - since £6,000 is what I payed for almost 2 years of university, and there was no way of knowing that the training would be of such poor quality. If, like me, you were drawn in by the prospect of programming/development, steer clear of this place. They put you on any technology they want, and it is almost entirely down to them - they don't represent you by your strengths, just what jobs they think they might get in the future. I do not enjoy my job, and dont know many people who are satisfied.

Now where do I start? Firstly I'd like to say that I'm looking forward to the response to this review where QA Consulting will try to show you (the readers of this review) that they actually care about the wellbeing of their staff. The truth is the management only care about themselves and will treat you like you are bottom of the barrel. There is a complete lack of communication amongst management and this is because they seem to dislike each other. They are constantly saying horrible things about each other behind backs and are all too cowardly and selfish to actually collaborate to improve the sales floor. None of them have any management experience and their ethos seems to be to treat everyone like "mushrooms" (keep them in the dark and feed them poo). There is nobody to manage the managers and it's an absolute mess. They all seem to have their own agenda. No matter what your background you will be shown no respect. This is because although all management has 2 ears and 1 mouth they speak 2 times more than they listen. That's the QA Consulting ethos! They pretend they are a world class consultancy but in truth they are a glorified recruitment company. You will be targeted on placing their own poorly trained consultants to companies for an astronomical fee compared to competitors. If you're a company looking for a consultant you're better off going to Hays or Reed. Less risk! Although there are 3 teams and they say all roles within teams are different, in truth, all roles are exactly the same! However you will be paid between 23k and 35k depending on which team you're in. They will lie and tell you it's because of previous experience however there are people earning 23k with the same level of experience as others. Strange how the people earning a lot less seem to be under one manager in particular. It's an organisational mess! The better you do the more you'll have to claim back in expenses so make sure you have saved money as you'll be expected to buy food and drinks for people every single month. You'll struggle getting some of it authorised too. The proposition is poor and nobody makes any sales. There are way too many internal barriers to go through and it drags the sales process to the point where the buyer is wasting money just by waiting. They have a target of where they expect to be but every manager is trying to get there in a different way and you'll get endless mixed messages. If you try and give an opinion you'll either get ignored or shouted down before you've finished your sentence. Be prepared to be thrown under the bus if a mistake is made. The consultants are also treated like dirt! Don't expect to get a 1-2-1 or regular team updates. Be prepared to work extra hours due to poor performance and spoken to like rubbish when you want a 5 minute break. The commission has been reduced over and over without notice (although they are contractually obligated to) to the point where the QA Learning sales people (who are also able to sell QA Consultants) actually make more per placement than the QA Consulting sales people themselves. If you want to sell QA Consulting then join the QA Learning arm. They have the data. Nobody is happy at QA Consulting at all and although you see positive reviews on here they are all written by the seniors. Seems covering the truth by writing positive reviews is the preferred way rather than fixing the mess. Don't waste your time. It's a sinking ship.