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Who Are The Consultants?

Presentation to aspiring entry level hires

J-P Martins, Consulting Careers Team

11 September 2009 Page 1 Page 1

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Who are we?

J-P Martins Associate Director

7 years’ experience spanning BCG and Bain

Also held strategy and corporate development roles in Mining and Financial Services

BCG, McKinsey, Deloitte, KPMG and EMB client

June O’Connor

Senior Relationship Manager

10+ years’ experience at London Business School

Long standing and deep relationships with all significant consulting recruiters from the school

The Consulting Careers Team

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Who are you?

Novice

•  I have no experience of consultants

Onlooker

• They’ve been involved with my company

Participant

•  I’ve worked on a project with them

Player

•  I’ve worked as a consultant

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No experience High experience

MBA and MiF students

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Continuing the ‘1st year’ autumn consulting programme, leading to January recruiting

What …is consulting?

Who …are the consultants?

How …do I get a job in consulting?

9 September

‘Is consulting for me?’

11 September

‘Which firms should I apply to?’

14 October

‘How do I best prepare?’

30 Oct

Case workshops

4 Nov

Solving Complex Business Problems

6 Nov

‘Which Firms and How?’ workshops

20 Nov

‘CVs for consulting’ workshops

4 Dec

‘Cover letters for consulting’ workshops

18 Dec

Case workshops

28 Oct

Problem Solving for Case Interviews

Sessions in red are presentations, others are workshops One-on-one sessions for MBA 2011s available from 29 January

MiFs welcome to all sessions

5 FINCO: Finance and Consulting networking event, 15 October * Preliminary list – individual firms to be confirmed

Also: comprehensive ‘2nd year’ consulting programme focused on Autumn recruiting

18 Sep

Case workshops

26 Sep

‘Super Saturday’   CV review

  Cover letter review

  Application strategy

  Pitch

  Case workshops

28 Sep

One-on-One sessions begin (MBA 2010)

16 Oct

Case workshops

4 Nov

One-on-one sessions begin (MiFs)

Bain

BCG Parthenon

Accenture

AT Kearney

McKinsey

Booz Diamond

LEK ZS

OC&C

Roland Berger

CapGemini

FINCO

2020 Everest

Marakon

Recruiting*:

W/C: 21 Sep

5 Oct Consulting Club ‘Crack a Case’ programme

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Don’t forget FINCO on 15 October!

Finance and Consulting Networking event

Consulting attendees include (preliminary list):

  Alvarez and Marsal

  Cambridge Associates

  Celerant

  Deutsche Post

  Efficio

  Gallup

  Molten

  PRTM

  PWC

  Schlumberger

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Today’s agenda: Two main questions

Introductions

Who are the consultants?

Which suit you best?

Recap and next steps

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The consulting industry is big, and hard to navigate and research

$170-200 bn worldwide

BLT (consulting specialist executive search firm) list 370 firms in the UK alone

And this list misses some firms that I know and that hired this year

A handful of brand names dominate most people’s thoughts on the industry, and your aspirations…

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There are many different ways to segment the industry

Whether you’re a novice, onlooker, participant or player…

–  Which firm do you know best?

–  Which segment or category of consulting do you think they fall into?

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The most useful way to segment firms is by fees and size

High

Low

10 100,000

Revenue per

Consultant

Size of Firm (# consultants)

Global Elite (‘Top Tier’)

Strategy Boutiques

Global ‘Full Service’ Specialists

Source: ADD Resources

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The most useful way to segment firms is by fees and size

High

Low

10 100,000

Revenue per

Consultant

Size of Firm (# consultants)

Global Elite (‘Top Tier’)

Strategy Boutiques

Global ‘Full Service’

Specialists

McKinsey BCG

Bain

ATK

Mars & Co

Diamond

PRTM

ZS Associates Atkins

Diamond

IBM

Accenture

Deloitte

CapGemini

Source: ADD Resources

Booz

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All these segments are interested in recruiting from London Business School

Global, Full Service Accenture, Deloitte, IBM, PA Consulting Part of much larger firms, leverage accounting, auditing, corporate finance, systems relationships

Functional & Sector Specialists

Finance: Oliver Wyman, McKinsey Corporate Finance IT: McKinsey BTO, Axon, Sales and Marketing: ZS Associates, Wolff Olins HR: Watson Wyatt, Hay, Towers Perrin

Specialise in a sector (eg FS, FMCG, transport, construction…) or function (eg finance, HR…)

‘Small’ Boutiques e.g., Greenwich Associates, Mars & Co, Very many firms, some quite small

Internal Consultants

e.g., Diageo, Reuters, Shell, Deutsche Post, Vodafone, Oracle

Often do the same work as consultants Many different titles

‘Top Tier’ & Big Boutiques

McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Booz & Co, Roland Berger, A T Kearney, Monitor, Marakon, LEK, OC&C, Parthenon Group

Generalists:   Across sectors   Strategy, M&A, PE, Operations, Processes,

Organisation

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Today’s agenda

Introductions

Who are the consultants?

Which suit you best?

Recap and next steps

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Who do you want to work for? (1 of 2)

Note: data for MBA 2011 class only

Consultants: pre MBA vs. Aspirations

25% want to be consultants 24% of you already are

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Who do you want to work for? (2 of 2)

Note: data for MBA2010 class

Which consulting firms – your preferred recruiters

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The old term ‘strategy consultants’ doesn’t describe what ‘Top Tier’ firms do Corporate strategy Corporate development Business unit strategy Functional strategy eg   Marketing   Product innovation/R&D   Maintenance

Process/operational improvement Organisation design Post merger integration Private equity   Pitches   Due diligence   Portfolio improvement

But many other firms do this kind of work too   Boutiques   Sector specialists   Functional specialists   Global ‘full service’

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The ‘Top Tier’ firms have similar business models and products

‘Top Tier’ Firms

McKinsey

BCG

Bain

+/- Booz

+/- AT Kearney

Why They Look The Same

Similar people

Recruit highly selectively from top business schools

Partnerships

Rigid up or out, rapid progression to partner for a few

Blue chip clients

  Eg FTSE 100

  Leaders in their field

Issue/hypothesis based workplanning

Data driven analytical approach

Slide driven communication

Moved from short term projects to long term relationships, many years ago now

Work on all aspects of management

  Whatever matters most to the Chief executive and board

Equally comfortable in implementation as ‘strategy’

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Observed cultural differences between McKinsey, BCG and Bain

Influence

Value

Ideas

Bain

BCG

McKinsey More specialised,

including specialist hiring

Generalist, Private equity focus

Generalist

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You can’t all get jobs in the ‘top tier’ Illustrative Top Tier Recruiter 2008-9

Applications 1st Round Interviews 2nd Round Interviews Hires

160

190 52

40

17

16

4

6

350 92 (26%) 33 (9%) 10 (3%)

Blue = Spring (‘summer internship’) recruiting Red = Autumn (‘full time’) recruiting

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Medium Firms (incl. ‘Top Tier’)

More focused on consulting than ‘Full Service’ Many famous brand names Career building step Prestige

Large Firms (‘Full Service’)

Systematic training Many offices Recruiting not as competitive More specialised entry points Scope for career change

Generalist ‘Strategy’ Firms Higher price points demand innovation Greater focus on bespoke approaches

Comparing types of consulting employer

Small Firms Bigger fish in a smaller pool Talent more visible Greater breadth of work? Recruitment less competitive

By size…

‘Specialists’ and ‘Full Service’ Firms Lower prices mean they’re selling experience More ‘formulaic’ approaches

By price point…

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What matters to you?

Brand name, security

Financial reward

Quality of workmates

Clear, predictable career track

Personal development

Environment/culture

Partner prospects

Quality of work and clients

Turning experience into consulting

Intellectual challenge

Consultants Aspiring Consultants

Source: ADD Resources

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What matters to you? ‘Top Tier’ Boutiques ‘Full Service’

Work/life balance

Speed of promotion

Type/level of work

Earnings progression

International work

Brand name impact

Job security

Quality of colleagues

Ease of getting hired

Source: ADD Resources

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Promotion track may also differ between firms

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Associate Consultant1

• Business Analyst2

• Associate3

• Consultant4

Consultant1,3

• Associate2,4

Case Team Leader1

• Engagement Manager2

• Project Leader3

• Senior Associate4

Manager1 • Associate

Principal2 • Principal3,4

Partner1,3 • Partner/

Director2 • Vice

President4

1 Bain, 2 McKinsey, 3 BCG, 4 Booz Note: Timings approximate

6-9 years Slower in ‘Full Service’ Faster in Boutiques

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Entry level roles Areas of

weakness/ question marks in

some areas

Higher level roles (especially

around sales ability outside

‘top tier’)

Entry level roles Good

quantitative/ problem solving

experience Good performer

across other dimensions

Specialist firms

Specialist roles, generalist firms

Generalist roles, generalist firms

A few words on experience

Irrelevant Valued Balance Sought Relevant

Non-Consulting

Experience

Consulting Experience

Generalist roles, generalist firms

Specialist firms

Specialist roles, generalist firms

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Today’s agenda

Introductions

Who are the consultants?

Which suit you best?

Recap and next steps

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Recap

I hope this has given you some ways to think about which firms to apply to

Don’t apply only to McKinsey, BCG and Bain

If you do apply to the top tier firms, have a backup strategy

Choose firms based on what drives you, your strengths, and research on the firms concerned

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Coming soon – ‘How Do I Get a Job in Consulting?’ on 14 October followed by series of workshops

What …is consulting?

Who …are the consultants?

How …do I get a job in consulting?

9 September

‘Is consulting for me?’

11 September

‘Which firms should I apply to?’

14 October

‘How do I best prepare?’

30 Oct

Case workshops

4 Nov

Solving Complex Business Problems

6 Nov

‘Which Firms and How?’ workshops

20 Nov

‘CVs for consulting’ workshops

4 Dec

‘Cover letters for consulting’ workshops

18 Dec

Case workshops

28 Oct

Problem Solving for Case Interviews

Sessions in red are presentations, others are workshops One-on-one sessions for MBA 2011s available from 29 January

MiFs welcome to all sessions