Office growth can be useful information, but it is easy to overinterpret. A few visible hires do not necessarily mean the office has stronger demand, better promotion odds or more interesting work.

Look for multiple signals: active hiring, expanding practices, senior leadership investment, new client work and whether current consultants describe the office as adding teams rather than simply replacing departures.

Growth can create opportunities, but very rapid expansion can also change staffing, culture and mentorship. Bigger is not automatically better for a new analyst.

When evaluating office growth, ask whether hiring is concentrated in one practice or spread across the office, whether senior leaders are being added, and whether project demand is rising with headcount. That tells you more than a headline hiring number and helps you judge whether growth is relevant to the work a new analyst would actually see.

Headcount growth by itself doesn't tell you much, imo. I'd want to know where the demand is coming from.