Consulting firms guide: top consultant 09

Top-Consultant.comGuide to Consulting Firms

2


Top-Consultant.com18b Charles Street | Mayfair | London | W1J 5DU | +44 (0) 207 667 6880

http://www.Top-Consultant.com

http://www.Top-consultant.com

Publisher: Top-Consultant.com Zambeasy.comLimited NorthcliffeHouse 2DerryStreet LondonW85TT UnitedKingdom

Enquiries:[email protected]

+44(0)2076676880

RegisteredinEnglandandWaleswithcompanynumber3947933VATNumberGB243571174

Table of Contents

Thingstoconsiderwhenapplyingforconsultingfirms Insights from management consultants

Strategy,Boutique&Full-Servicefirms Three types of firms to consider

AdditionalResources Annual reports about the consulting industry

Appendix A list of firms overlooked by the majority of applicants

http://www.top-consultant.com

Things to consider when applying to consulting firms Insights from management consultants

There are numerous reasons you may be considering a career in consulting. The high-flying lifestyle, the money, the pres-tige, the learning experience…

…sothisreportstartsoffbyidentifyingthethingsthatactual management consultants aremostlookingforintheirnextconsultingjob.

These insights are based on a survey of ~1,500 consultants from the likes of Accenture, McKin-sey and Capgemini, as well as numerous smaller firms.

By assessing the things that real consultants are most concerned to secure in their next career move, you can begin to understand the research that you need to be undertaking about future employers and the types of questions you need to be asking your potential employer.


3

2007 2007 2005 Rank RetentionFactor Score Rank Change

1 Firm has better remuneration / pay than the competition 5.42 2 +1

2 Firm involves consultants in the staffing process - allowing consultants to influence which projects they are assigned to 5.17 1 -1

3 Firm has a culture where evening and weekend work is discouraged 4.78 6 +3

4 Firm invests heavily in staff training 4.78 3 -1

5 Firm offers flexible working hours 4.59 5 No change

6 Firm manages client expectations to ensure consultants are not expected to be away on client site 5 days a week 4.51 4 -2

7 Firm actively encourages consultants to work from home if desired 4.01 7 No change

8 Firm tries to foster great morale / team spirit by organising regular social events and team activities 3.81 8 No change

9 Firm will allow consultants to take sabbaticals / extended leaves of absence 3.78 9 No change

11 Firm shows willingness to accommodate consultants who wish to move to the countryside rather than living in the city 3.21 11 No change

10 Firm sponsors MBA studies 3.44 10 No change

12 Firm provides a creche / nursery facilities 1.98 12 No change

Retentionfactorsrankedbyconsultants

Source: Top-Consultant.com Retention Report 2007

It is clear that remuneration is the number one concern of actual consultants, especially in a booming market like today’s. Being able to influ-ence the projects you’re assigned to and feeling confident of having a good work/life balance are also clearly important. If these issues are the ones that most concern actual management consultants then they should surely be the issues that concern you most as a prospective management consultant?

Top-Consultant’s advice: make sure you drill down on each of these factors during the ap-plication procedure, or you could well end up a disaffected employee and back on the job market within a year or two…


4

What are the best approaches to adopt when job-hunting in consulting?

With the rise of the internet, the options for finding a job in consulting have multiplied. But which routes are the most effective – and where should you be focusing your efforts?

A survey of over 1,600 consultants provides some food for thought. When asked to score the channels used in their last career move, candidates favoured personal referrals over all other means of applying. So if you have contacts in consulting firms, don’t be afraid of calling in a few favours!! Internet job sites and recruitment agencies were the next best option.


5

Futuretrendsincandidateapplicationbehaviour

Source: Top-Consultant.com Recruitment Channel Report 2007

Strategy, Boutique & Full-service firmsThree types of firms to consider

Strategy

Boutique

Full-Service

Introduction: Be sure to differentiate between Strategy, Boutique and Full-service consulting firms

When contemplating a career in consulting, it is critical to differentiate between the types of firms in existence. The term “consulting” is now used to cover a wide array of activities, so the work you will undertake at various types of firms can be quite different. This can have major implications for both your job satisfaction and career prospects – both inside and outside of consulting.

Overleaf we show a graphical segmentation of the sector, breaking the industry down into strategy firms, boutique firms and full-service firms. There are many differences between each type, which we shall outline later in this chapter.


6

However, the graphical representation focuses on perhaps the two most telling figures: average revenue generation per consultant and total headcount.

Work of a strategic or highly specialised nature tends to involve smaller teams with high billing rates per consultant – strategy and boutique firms fall into this category. Full-service firms, by contrast, are characterised by large project teams (often 30+) and much lower billing rates per consultant. The implications will be discussed later in this chapter.

Firm size has ramifications in terms of career progression (how regimented is the firm?), culture and likely project responsibilities. Boutique firms will typically be ~200 strong, strategy firms 1,000 – 5,000 and full-service firms anything up to 80,000+ consultants.

When applying, it is unlikely that more than two types of firm will offer the type of role you are looking for.


7

Accenture

IBM

BoutiqueFirms StrategyFirms

Independents Full-serviceFirms

Firm size (head count)0 1,000$150,000

$300,000

Revenue per

consultant

Monitor

LEK

OC&C

Marakon

McKinsey

BCG

Bain

BAHMercer

Roland Berger

EDS

Deloitte

CSC

Parthenon

Segmentationoftheconsultingindustry

Capgemini

Strategy Firms (such as McKinsey, BCG, Bain)

OVERVIEW: Strategy consultancies focus on providing company directors with strategic advice on the likely future direction of their industry - and subsequently the strategic actions that the company ought to undertake to exploit resulting opportunities. Strategy consultancies tend to operate globally through a network of international offices. The business model of a strategy consultancy revolves around a much higher billing rate than for full-service firms. Profitability is achieved through sizeable mark-ups on each consultant employed, rather than through a smaller mark-up on a larger volume of consultants (as with full-service firms). The cost of winning new clients is high, so the key ratio for such firms is the repeat business rate (what % of clients undertake a new assignment with the consultancy when a project is concluded). Utilisation is also monitored carefully, though targets are lower than for full-service firms since much more time is devoted to proposal-writing in an attempt to win new clients.


8

Alumni tend to be treated exceptionally well because they are the future client stream of the firm. Project teams will also be much smaller, five being typical, so there is no room for hangers-on but much greater scope for impressing at an early age and achieving fast-track career progression. Considerable scope for international travel and for early exposure to decision-makers in industry.

Opens doors both to leading Business Schools (if contemplating an MBA) and to strategic roles in industry. Early career is likely to be generalist in nature – giving exposure to many sectors and functions; early exposure to Partners/ Directors maximises the learning experi-ence.

Some firms operate an up-or-out policy which is much more rigid than in other types of consultancies.

The high workload associated with con-sulting is perhaps most extreme in strat-egy firms.

International travel is more often than not an inextricable part of the job, so remain-ing with a firm and developing family commitments can prove very difficult.

Strategy firms are the worst hit in a down-turn, so there are times in the economic cycle when it will be almost impossible to break into the sector.

TYPICAL FIRM PROFILE: Firms will typically have offices covering the major geographies, but rely much more on international staffing to fulfil project briefs. They will have a greater number of Principals/ Partners for each junior consultant – partly because of the greater sales effort required at such firms, and partly because Partners have to be more active on project assignments once won. Most strategy firms are quite arrogant in the sense that they are exceptionally selective about who they hire. Each tends to have its own unique slant (must be academically from the elite; must have had entrepreneurial experience; must have held outstanding extra-curricular positions at University) which permeates the firm’s culture. Each tends to recruit in its own mould, even if this is outwardly denied.


9

+

+

+

+

+

-

-

-

-

PLUS POINTS: NEGATIVE POINTS:

OVERVIEW: Boutique consultancies focus on providing company directors with either sector-specific advice (eg. telecoms or automotive) or functionally-specialised advice (eg. marketing, CRM). Boutique consultancies will typically have one office – or a handful at most – that can service global clients but usually only within a few target markets.The business model of a boutique consultancy is similar to a strategy firm in that a key ratio is the repeat business rate (the % of clients that undertake a new assignment with the consultancy when a project is concluded). The strength of boutique firms is their undoubted expertise in their particular field; their weakness is that they cannot meet all the consulting needs of a client, nor bring to the table experience learnt from similar but unconnected industries. It is not uncommon, therefore, for clients to have both boutique and strategy consultancies advising at the same time.


10

Boutique Firms (such as LEK, Detica, Parthenon)

TYPICAL FIRM PROFILE:Boutique consultancies very often have an identifiable figure-head leading the firm. Their character will often owe a lot to the character of this figure-head. They are also very often created as a spin-off from either a strategy or a full-service consulting firm. Understanding how the firm came to be created can give considerable insight into what it is like to be an employee there (eg. a consultancy created by ex-Accenture professionals is likely to have an Accenture feel to it).

In terms of project work, the boutique consultancies tend to be similar to strategy consultancies. Small teams provide business-critical advice to the highest levels within a client organisation. Working hours are likely to be more acceptable, though, as these firms have more of a small-firm feel to them and are much less elitist than strategy firms

Career limitations when joining strategy or full-service firms. Unless you are looking to join as a specialist, preferably bringing excellent client contacts, it will be difficult to transition to the other types of firms later in your career.

In some industries (eg. Aviation, telecoms), the only way to win enough client assign-ments is to win overseas assignments – which in some firms will mean extended periods of overseas travel.

The success of the firm – and therefore your remuneration – is very much tied to the performance of the sector/ function you have specialised in. You will be more exposed to a downturn in a specific sector.

There is the potential to focus from day one on a particular functional or sectoral specialism in a way that is quite difficult within a strategy consulting firm.

Project teams are also small, giving re-sponsibility at an early age and close con-tact with the firm’s founders.

Likely to be the most enjoyable work atmosphere of all consulting firms, with considerable camaraderie and a small-firm feel.


11

+

+

+

-

-

-PLUS POINTS: NEGATIVE POINTS:

Full-service Firms (such as Accenture, Deloitte)

OVERVIEW: Full-service firms are global consulting organisations, who have typically built up a comprehensive client base through prior work as auditors or through their role as IT implementation experts. The business model of a full-service firm is based on maximising utilisation of consultants at a relatively low price-point. Selling a wide range of services to the client base is critical in ensuring a low cost of sales (maximising the value of each client relationship).


12

TYPICAL FIRM PROFILE: Full-service firms tend to have a large number of junior consulting staff for each Partner-level professional. This fits perfectly with the type of work sold – typically large-scale projects requiring sizeable teams, often of 30 or more consultants. A lot of work is implementation and outsourcing focused, where project duration is frequently 6+ months.

These firms will also have an array of partner / alliance arrangements with firms such as SAP, Siebel and the like. At one of these firms, alliance-derived business accounts for 45% of consulting revenues. So one of the main demand-generators for full-service firms is clients’ desire to implement the latest technical solutions. Many now describe themselves as “solutions integrators” rather than consultants. Outsourcing is another large component of their business, so you may well be providing consulting advice for a newly-outsourced business process.

Full-service firms will typically have units serving all industry-verticals and all functional specialisms. They often have parts of the business that compete (eg. HR and strategy) with boutique and strategy firms. More often than not, though, these arms provide add-on services to existing clients rather than competing head-on with the smaller firms.

Frustrating rules, procedures and regulations are an inevitable part of work-ing for such large corporations.

Large project teams mean you will have insights into one specific aspect of a busi-ness rather than an overview of how the whole clients’ business operates.

Promotion-track is highly rigid, so the very best will not enjoy the same accelerated career paths they might achieve at smaller firms.

Given size of project teams, less likely to be working directly with Blue-Chip Directors – liasing with middle-management more usual.

Very strong and co-ordinated training courses to ensure consistency of service offering is achieved throughout the firm.

Large project teams ensure new-hires are broken in gently.

Potential for internal transfers if you decide to change your desired specialism or relo-cate internationally.

Blue-Chip client base provides great expo-sure and learning experience – plus excel-lent contacts should you decide to move out of consulting later in your career.

International travel less frequent as net-work of overseas offices can staff interna-tional projects (though possibility remains to work on overseas assignments if de-sired).

+

+

+

+

+

PLUS POINTS: NEGATIVE POINTS:

-

-

-

-


13

Additional resources

7 Tips for Candidates

Top-Consultant.com publishes a range of consulting reports each year. All are free to download and you may find those listed here provide considerable additional insights into our industry.


14

Salary Benchmarking

RetentionRecruitment Channels

http://www.top-consultant.com/2007RecruitmentChannelreport.pdf

http://www.top-consultant.com/2007_Retention_Report.pdf

http://www.top-consultant.com/2007_salary_report.pdf

http://www.top-consultant.com/7_tips_for_candidates.pdf

http://www.top-consultant.com/Recruitmentreport.aspx

Appendix A shortlist of firms who are being overlooked by the ma-jority of applicants, and where you stand the best chance of success

As should be clear from the preceding commentary, there are numerous consultancies who – because they are slightly less well known amongst candidates – you should stand a better chance of being hired by. Having researched the industry, we provide listings of consultancies you may want to research and apply to direct:

Identifying new-comers to approach

Achiever Business SolutionsAcres Management Consulting

Actica ConsultingAdventis

Allery ScottsAlsbridge

AltranAmdocs Consulting

AMTEC ConsultingplcAnalysys

AnproApplied Expertise

Applied ValueAribaArup

Atkins Management ConsultancyAtos Origin

Baker Robbins & CompanyBasis

BDR ConsultingBerkshire Consultancy

Billetts Marketing SciencesBluerock Consulting

Bourton GroupBRAXXON

BT Global ServicesBTA Consulting

http://www.achieverplus.com

http://www.acres.com

http://www.actica.co.uk

http://www.adventis.com

http://www.alleryscotts.co.uk

http://www.alsbridge.com

http://www.altran.com

http://www.amdocs.com

http://www.amtec.co.uk

http://www.analysys.com

http://www.anpro.co.uk

http://www.applied-expertise.com

http://www.appliedvalue.com

http://www.ariba.com

http://www.arup.com

http://www.mantix.com

http://www.atosorigin.com

http://www.brco.com

http://www.basis.co.uk

http://www.bdr-consulting.com

http://www.berkshire.co.uk

http://www.billetts.com

http://www.bluerock-consulting.com

http://www.bourton.co.uk

http://www.braxxon.co.uk

http://www.btglobalservices.com

http://www.btaconsulting.co.uk


15

http://www.burke.com

http://www.bwa.uk.net

http://www.callow.ca

http://www.cambridgegroup.com

http://www.capco.com

http://www.capitaadvisoryservices.co.uk

http://www.catalyst.co.uk

http://www.cet.co.uk

http://www.crai.com

http://www.commercialadvantage.com

http://www.compassmc.com

http://www.cornwell.co.uk

http://www.credo-group.com

http://www.curzoncompany.com

http://www.crmuk.co.uk

http://www.dmmc.co.uk

http://www.darwinconsulting.co.uk

http://www.daviescon.com

http://www.delphimarketing.co.uk

http://www.diamondconsultants.com

http://www.dmr.ca

http://www.dunnettshaw.co.uk

http://www.e-a.co.uk

http://www.eastbridge.ca

http://www.edengene.com

http://www.efficioconsulting.com

Burke Bernard William Associates

Callow & Associates MCCambridge Group

CapcoCapita Advisory Services

Catalyst DevelopmentCentral Europe Trust Co. Charles River AssociatesCommercial Advantage

Compass Management Consulting Cornwell Management Consultants

Credo GroupCurzon & Company

Customer Relationship ManagementD.M. Management Consultants

Darwin ConsultingDavies Consulting

Delphi Marketing AssociatesDiamond Management &

Technology ConsultantsDMR Consulting

Dunnett Shaw & PartnersEA Consulting Group

Eastbridge ConsultingEdengene

Efficio

http://www.eguk.co.uk

http://www.eidebailly.com

http://www.erconsultants.co.uk

http://www.eurobase-international.com

http://www.fairisaac.com

http://www.fbm-consulting.com

http://www.fnc.co.uk

http://www.gartner.com

http://www.consultgenerator.com

http://www.gibsonconsultants.com

http://www.glendinning.co.uk

http://www.ggi.ca

http://www.gti.org

http://www.greenwich-consulting.com

http://www.hmcm.co.uk

http://www.hatch.ca

http://www.hedra.co.uk

http://www.heidrick.com

http://www.hillcannon.com

http://www.hitachiconsulting.com

http://www.hoggrobinson.com

http://www.hosca.co.uk

http://www.intecm.co.uk

www.irisfinancial.com

http://www.itnet.ca

http://www.jacobsconsultancy.com

http://www.javelingroup.com

eg solutionsEide Bailly

ER ConsultantsEurobase Consultancy

Fair IsaacFBM-Consulting

Frazer-Nash ConsultancyGartner Consulting

GeneratorGibson Consulting Group

Glendinning Management Consultants

Goss GilroyGrant Thornton International

Greenwich ConsultingHartley McMasterHatch Consulting

HEDRA LimitedHeidrick & Struggles

Hill CannonHitachi Consulting

Hogg RobinsonHOSCA Management Consultants

INTEC Management Ltd.Iris Financial Solutions

IT/NET ConsultantsJacobs Consultancy

Javelin Group


16

John Ormond MCKaisen Consulting

Kaiser AssociatesKeane

KeyStar ConsultancyKnightsbridge

Kurt Salmon AssociatesLawrence Somerset

LBI InternationalL.E.K. Consulting

LogicaCMGLogistics Consulting Parters

Lumina Management ConsultantsLuther Pendragon

Management Consulting Group plcMetapraxis

Methods ConsultingMetra MartechLimited

mi2g SoftwareMolten

Monitor GroupMoorhouse Consulting

Morgan ChambersMorgan Clarke Consulting

MorseNavigant Consulting

netdecisions

http://www.jomc.co.uk

http://www.kaisen.co.uk

http://www.kaiserassociates.com

http://www.keane.com

http://www.keystar-consultancy.com

http://www.knightsbridge.ca

http://www.kurtsalmon.com

http://www.l-s-l.com

http://www.lbigroup.com

http://www.lek.com

http://www.logicacmg.com

http://www.lcp-ashlyns.com

http://www.lumina.ca

http://www.luther.co.uk

http://www.mcgplc.com

http://www.metapraxis.com

http://www.methods.co.uk

http://www.metra-martech.com

http://www.mi2g.com

http://www.molten-group.com

http://www.monitor.com

http://www.moorhouseconsulting.com

http://www.morganchambers.com/

http://www.morgan-clarke.co.uk

http://www.morse.com

http://www.navigantconsulting.com

http://www.netdecisions.com

New Management NetworkNewburn ConsultingOakland Consulting

Oakleigh ConsultingOffice for Business Architecture

OptaPA Consulting Group

PagodaPennaChange Consulting

PKF InternationalPlaut Strategy ConsultingPrinceton Consulting UK

Pristine GroupProbus BNW

PRTMQedisQOD

QP GroupRealise

REL Consultancy GroupRight Management Consultants

Resources Management ConsultantsRobert E. Nolan Company

RSM McGladreySDG

SECOR ConsultingSGS

http://www.new-management-network.com

http://www.newburn.co.uk

http://www.oaklandconsulting.com

http://www.oakleigh.co.uk

http://www.obaconsulting.com

http://www.opta.com

http://www.paconsulting.com

http://www.pagodaconsulting.com

http://www.e-penna.com

http://www.pkf.com

http://www.plautworld.com

http://www.princecon.com

http://www.pristinegroup.com

http://www.probusbnw.com

http://www.prtm.com

http://www.qedis.com

http://www.qod.co.uk

http://www.qpgroup.com

http://www.realise.co.uk

http://www.relconsult.com

http://www.right.com

http://www.rmc-canada.com

http://www.renolan.com

http://www.rsmmcgladrey.com

http://www.sdg.com

http://www.secorconsulting.com

http://www.sgs.com


17


2

SoftlabSphinx

SteriaStrategic Decisions Group

SustainAbilitySymbia

Tata Consultancy ServicesTCA Consulting

Tefen EuropeThe Consultancy Company

The Coverdale OrganisationThe Maxima Group

The Technology PartnershipThoughtWorks

Towers PerrinTribal

Turnkey Management ConsultingViant/VIA International

WCI GroupWestern Management Consultants

Wipro TechnologiesXayce

ZS Associates

http://www.softlab.com

http://www.sphinx-group.com

http://www.steria.com

http://www.sdg.com

http://www.sustainability.com

http://www.symbia.com

http://www.tcs.com

http://www.tcagroup.com

http://www.tefen.com

http://www.the-consultancy.co.uk

http://www.coverdale.com

http://www.maxima-group.com

http://www.techprt.co.uk

http://www.thoughtworks.com

http://www.towersperrin.com

http://www.tribalgroup.co.uk

http://www.tkmc.ca

http://www.viaint.co.uk

http://www.wcigroup.com

http://www.wmc.ca

http://www.wipro.com

http://www.xayce.com

http://www.zsassociates.com

Top-Consultant.comTheleadingcareerswebsiteforcandidatesseekingacareerwithinthemanagementconsultancysector.

TopITconsultant.comTheleadingcareerswebsiteforcandidatesseekingacareerwithintheITconsultingsector.

Consultant-News.comAcomprehensivenewssitecoveringallthelatestdevelopmentsintheworldofconsulting.

Consulting-Times.comAmonthlypublicationbringingyouthetopstoriesfromtheworldofconsulting-asynopsisofkeydevel-opmentsforthoseworkingintheconsultingindustry.

http://www.Top-Consultant.com

http://www.top-consultant.com

http://www.topITconsultant.com

http://www.consultant-news.com

http://www.consulting-times.com

Consulting firms guide: top consultant 09

Documents

Transcript of Consulting firms guide: top consultant 09