BCG's Climate Centre - top tier recruitment - New York firms - summer placements and more in Don Leslie's April consultancy newsletter

Here’s my roundup of news in the consulting industry. If you’ve read my articles before or heard me speak about getting hired by a consultancy, you’ll know I try to ferret out information which will help you track down a consulting role.

Recruitment programmes for September/October 2023 are well underway. If yous are late to the party you need to be more proactive when looking for jobs. My advice is always to look for signs of recruitment before recruitment is announced. These are:

·???????opening a new office

·???????appointing a new partner/director

·???????announcing a new service line or industry team

·???????acquiring another firm

·???????investing by private equity or venture capital

I report on examples below.

New starters?-?sustainability jobs?-?Deloitte Global Chair?-?BCG’s new Climate Centre?-?top tier hiring patterns?-?destination New York?-?summer placements?-?EY exits?-?Bain tops charts

Data and analytics capabilities are second only to cybersecurity in terms of their importance to consultancy firms’ clients, says a report from SourceGlobalResearch.com https://tinyurl.com/krnt6awt It’s also a difficult skill to recruit. As a result, it is the most expensive offering in professional services.

How to get a job at Deloitte. A US HR partner talks about the top three things he looks for in a candidate, and his favourite interview question.?https://tinyurl.com/4bxn89b4

??Meet the New Boss

·???????European technology data and people consultancy Valcon has hired Mohammed Hoque to be the UK Lead Partner for Technology. https://tinyurl.com/466y44je . The firm is offering a get-to-know-us monthly lunch in Utrecht for prospective hires. https://tinyurl.com/4ymb6da4 and there are open roles in Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK on its website. https://tinyurl.com/42k98sfa?

·???????Oliver Wyman Australia has announced two new partner appointments in its Sydney Transportation practice, Douglas Carlucci and Andrew Hilz,??https://tinyurl.com/bdfkvkvy and there are entry level roles for students and recent graduates on its careers pages?https://tinyurl.com/2p8h9jnr

·???????Alvarez & Marsal’s Global Transaction Advisory Group has a new leader for Asia, Stella Yuan, who will be based in Shanghai. Additionally, the practice has added seven new Managing Directors and 32 consultants. A number have come from EY. Its work helping PE firms maximise value is expanding rapidly in Asia.?https://tinyurl.com/5d3mpmse?They join 800 consultants for Transaction Advisory in 33 offices.

·???????The incoming Deloitte Global Chair is Anna Marks, a graduate of Warwick University. https://tinyurl.com/2c6bcwa8 ???

·???????Kantar, the marketing data and analytics consultancy has recruited Simon Bailey as a Senior Partner in London. https://tinyurl.com/zedmkkke Kantar’s jobs are here: https://tinyurl.com/25bfu8yy and include 18 consulting and data analytics positions in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Bankok, Barcelona, Johannesburg, London, Manila, Paris, Shanghai and Warsaw.

·???????Strategy consultancy LEK has announced the appointment of Kristin Graham as a Partner in the UK retail and consumer division. She was previously with EY-Parthenon and KPMG. https://tinyurl.com/4uuv5uh8 See https://tinyurl.com/48r52jfn for information about LEK’s international opportunities programme.

An EY Hong Kong employee has filed a sexual harassment claim against a senior manager after a session at a karaoke bar. “We have adopted immediate measures to ensure the safety and well-being of the relevant personnel”, says the firm.?https://tinyurl.com/bdr2379c??

Application deadlines for MBB seem to get earlier every year. Website Managementconsulted.com?has put together a helpful list of dates for US, Canada and Europe. https://tinyurl.com/pmt9b7f2??????There are cut-off points for undergraduates, Masters, MBA and PhD students applying for summer/intern roles as well as permanent posts.

New in Town

·???????Northern Ireland is to host CGI’s latest Delivery Services Centre of Excellence. The business and IT consultancy will hire 50 new staff in Belfast.?https://tinyurl.com/fzc499nr ??See the careers pages?https://www.cgi.com/uk/en-gb/careers/experienced-professionals if you’d like to join CGI’s 90,000 employees worldwide.

·???????Boston Consulting Group has opened a global Centre for Climate and Sustainability Policy and Regulation “to support clients as they navigate and shape the global transition to a net-zero, nature-positive world.”?https://tinyurl.com/mms3pr4x It will operate virtually.

·???????TMX Global is an Australian supply chain consultancy with offices in Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It has just opened an office in the UK.??https://tinyurl.com/5cs9au3v?There are some new roles on its careers page, including this one in Vietnam?https://tinyurl.com/3nmd7zu4??

·???????Digital transformation consultancy Kin + Carta has added two offices in the UK (Edinburgh and Bristol) to its international network of sites in Europe, Asia, North and South America. ?https://tinyurl.com/3bj6vth9?If you’d like to join its 1,500+ strategy, creative and tech consultants, see its current vacancy list https://tinyurl.com/mrxrwkf2 for jobs in Bulgaria, England, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Scotland.

CaseCoach.com’s new survey of hiring at the top tier strategy houses has revealed that graduates with zero to two years work experience make up over 40% of recruits at McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group and Bain. 35% are ‘experienced hires’ – professionals with between two and eight years experience, and the balance MBA graduates. https://tinyurl.com/2s3fy45f

German strategy marketing and pricing consultancy Simon-Kucher unveiled 2022 turnover of over €500m, a 20%+ increase over the previous year. It has also refreshed its branding, with a new logo and a strapline “unlocking better growth”. According to the firm’s press release, this “represents how Simon-Kucher achieves better, high-quality growth for its clients, increasing sales and long term, sustainable profit.” Hmmm….. https://tinyurl.com/3nxd78eb?There are over 300 jobs in North America, Europe and the Far East featured on its careers website https://tinyurl.com/ykv69hbt

Who’s eating Who

·???????International sustainability consultancy ERM has appeared in these pages many times. (See ?https://www.donleslie.uk/management-consultancy-newsletter-january -2023 ) It has just added another niche green consultancy to its portfolio, Washington DC -based Coho, a climate, energy and water adviser. https://tinyurl.com/5e94a2sz?It always seems to be hiring: 750 jobs for entry level professionals?https://tinyurl.com/4nekstef??are posted on its website.

·???????A Spanish ESG consulting boutique has been bought by EY. The firms clients’ are predominantly private equity funds and investees. It provides ESG due diligence and strategy, climate change strategy and regulatory support. https://tinyurl.com/46e3p9kp and https://tinyurl.com/3vp3pvjf?Researchers at Vedantix see a buoyant market over the next five years for these services.

·???????HRTech consultancy People Force has been swallowed by PwC. https://tinyurl.com/3c6uuyaj

?·???????Business and technology consultancy Capco is now part of Wipro, https://tinyurl.com/ytjpparx although Capco will continue to operate separately as a wholly owned subsidiary.?It is positioning itself as a leading partner to the financial services and energy sectors.

EY China staff who are members of the Communist Party have been encouraged to wear Party badges https://tinyurl.com/3fn66hkj to show their loyalty in the workplace.

Lists – We Love ‘Em…

·???????Bain & Co took the top spot in Vault.com’s consulting rankings for all three regions – North America. Europe and the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. https://tinyurl.com/ym2sj9xs??

·???????How about consulting in New York? Website Managementconsulted.com has a top ten of management consultancies in the Big Apple https://tinyurl.com/bdzxkv5x?

·???????The top 25 consultants to the automotive industry: https://tinyurl.com/y29dfjzb?

EY’s will-they-won’t-they plan to split consultancy from the rest of the firm seems to be on hold right now… https://tinyurl.com/3zzrvckn But by the time you read this it may be on again. Or off.?

First Cuts….

Accenture is shedding 19,000 staff over the next 18 months. Most of these will be in support functions. Nevertheless, Accenture still expects to grow 8-10% in 2023. https://tinyurl.com/56d67j72?KPMG has announced redundancies for about 2% of its consultancy workforce in the US (700) and Australia (200). In the UK, KPMG has been transferring staff internally to areas where there is more activity, and says it will not cut staff. PwC UK says likewise, although secondments to international offices, especially in the Middle East, are being offered. ?McKinsey is culling 2,000 back office staff in the US. 400 are to leave in EY Germany, including partners. Research unit Source Global Research thinks that firms will not let as many go as in 2020, and consultancies themselves report good levels of activity in turnaround services, supply chain, tech and ESG. Market growth is described as steady, rather than hyper. If the axe is to fall, poorer performers at executive levels below partner are likely to be the casualties.?https://tinyurl.com/mr3s92mt?

I thank all those who contact me with their success stories, salary information and interview tips. Last month I heard from numerous starters, including: Bath MBA to KPMG Hong Kong, Cambridge MBA to Oliver Wyman Singapore, Cranfield MSc to Aves Paris, EMLyon MBA to West Munroe Chicago, ESADE MBA to McKinsey London, Manchester MSc to Oliver Wyman London internship, and Warwick MBAs to Infosys London and McKinsey London.

?Back copies of the newsletter can be found here on LinkedIn https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/donfleslie/detail/recent-activity/posts/ and on my website https://www.donleslie.uk/newsletter/

During March I spoke at Loughborough and Sheffield. Over the next few months I can be found at Oxford Sa?d and Cambridge Judge.

The next edition will be published at the beginning of May.

Don Leslie?Careers and Consultancy?London?+44 (0)203 051 8540

?+44 (0)7812 056 652?[email protected]?www.donleslie.uk