MBB salaries - 4000 green consulting roles - case study help and more in Don Leslie's September 2022 strategy and management consultancy newsletter

September 2022 Consultancy Newsletter

It’s the start of a new academic year and application deadlines – particularly for the top firms – are getting earlier and earlier. As you probably know, I’m ex-Deloitte, an ex-consultancy recruiter and now guide to those who want to make a career for themselves in strategy and management consultancy. I do this partly to keep myself away from Netflix and the wine rack, but also to help others discover this fascinating and rewarding profession. I scour the internet and the professional press for information which may help you find consultancy jobs, some of which I cover below. Please feel free to circulate this newsletter.

MBB salary hikes?- ?Bain on the naughty step?-??inside LEK?-?Case Interviewing?-?4000 green consulting jobs?-??data and analytics consulting on the rise?-?PwC millionaires?-?EY acquisition?-?BCG ructions?-?A&M in The Gulf?-?Deloitte Brightstart?-?KPMG MESA Leader?-?Warsaw opening

MBB news

·???????McKinsey, Bain and Boston Consulting Group have unveiled one of the biggest rounds of pay rises for new hires in more than two decades as inflation, booming demand for advice and a tight labour market force consultancies to compete harder for talent. The firms will increase annual base salaries for MBA graduates in the US from $175,000 to between $190,000 and $192,000. This could rise to more than $250,000 in their first year when performance-related and signing bonuses are included. Recruits who have a Bachelors or Masters but not an MBA will also receive six-figure pay packets. Base salaries for graduates joining Bain and McKinsey in the US will rise 12 per cent to $112,000 a year, and at BCG to $110,000. https://tinyurl.com/yfwk235f ?

·???????McKinsey’s ESG Insights unit is hiring https://tinyurl.com/nhk6crfm . It works with client teams to provide insights into topics such as greenhouse gas emissions, water, waste, access and affordability, diversity and inclusion, and economic development. These insights are data driven, so knowledge of data analytics tools such as Python, Alteryx and Tableau is required.

·???????The UK has become the first country to take action against Bain & Co for its part in a South African scandal. The firm has been banned from UK government contracts for three years after its “grave professional misconduct”.? https://tinyurl.com/z56bb8x6 ??A South African judicial commission investigating state capture and corruption?found ?there had been “collusion” between the firm and the former South African president Jacob Zuma to reshape entire sectors of the economy. Jacob Rees-Mogg, a UK Cabinet Office minister, told Bain that the scandal had rendered the company’s integrity “questionable” and that he was not convinced it had taken its role in the scandal “sufficiently seriously”. Bain said it was “disappointed and surprised by the minister’s decision. We have offered our full cooperation to the relevant authorities and will continue to do so.” https://tinyurl.com/2s2mu7bj ?

·???????Staff at BCG’s London office have complained about nepotism after some senior partners’ children were flown in from around the globe to take part in the Bruce Henderson Summer Work Experience programme. BCG’s recruitment programme for the same age group is oversubscribed by 40 to one. “This kind of behaviour makes a mockery of the work that advances social mobility in finance and consulting,” an employee said, adding that it is “also completely contrary to the spirit of our very publicly stated net zero ambitions.”????https://tinyurl.com/3xufujn4

The Great Place to Work Institute has a new list of 30 UK consulting firms it designates as great places to work for women. https://tinyurl.com/bdfkyn5b There are a number of regional and smaller firms named which are new to me, as well as the usual…er…big boys.

Meet the firm…

·???????Strategy house LEK talks about its work and hiring in this Managementconsulted.com webinar https://tinyurl.com/bdz6p2rx . The firm celebrates its 40th year in 2023.

·???????Advancy, a French-HQ’d strategy house, featured in another webinar from website Managementconsulted.com. You can see a recording at https://tinyurl.com/339ff7ue . Advancy’s careers pages are here https://tinyurl.com/2j6x5cn3 .?There are offices in Paris and London, Boston and Sao Paulo, New Delhi, Shanghai and Sydney. Locations in Germany and South Africa will follow shortly.

Sports and entertainment consultancy Legends International is involved in the revamping of Manchester United’s football stadium, Old Trafford. https://tinyurl.com/4yuhppv4 ??Access its careers page here?https://tinyurl.com/bdf9x77f ?

Case Study Help

·???????Case interview maths: some tips from website Managementconsulted.com https://tinyurl.com/38mm24m5 to help if you have interviews coming up soon.

·???????A Case interview framework article ?https://tinyurl.com/yt3a9ncb from website MyConsultingOffer.com looks at the BCG 2x2 Matrix, SWOT Analysis, The 3 Cs and the 4 Ps.

·???????And Managementconsulted.com is giving access to its Case Interview Guide https://tinyurl.com/mrytvce5

·???????Help with structuring a case is offered by website PrepLounge.com?https://tinyurl.com/5tr43mfu ?in a three step guide.

Who’s eating who…(Important, because acquisition often leads to hiring.)

·???????EY has taken over Digital Detox, a London-based technology consultancy. Alison Kay, Ernst & Young LLP Managing Partner for Client Services, UK & Ireland, commented: “The acquisition will bring a range of new capabilities and skills to support EY clients across four important sectors – health wellness and sciences, real estate hospitality and construction and TMT.” In April EY unveiled plans to double the size of its UK and Ireland Consulting services over the next four years, backed by ￡75m of investment. This is in addition to the ￡95m that has already been invested since 2020. https://tinyurl.com/mt9dwyj8 ??

·???????Wavestone has added the 100-strong PEN Partnership to its ranks. PEN offers customer experience, operational excellence and change delivery services. Its consultants work across financial services, pharmaceuticals, retail and FMCG. French-owned Wavestone employs 4,000 consultants in 15 cities in Europe, the US, North Africa, and East Asia.?https://tinyurl.com/44ycxxp8 ???

·???????Canada’s design and engineering consultancy WSP has taken over RPS, a UK-based consulting firm with 5,000 employees which generates globally $875 million in revenue.?RPS has been widely recognized for its strong sustainability agenda, having been ranked number one in the UK for climate change and energy consulting. WSP now has 23,000 environmental experts across the globe, and is a strong ESG leader with significant capabilities in water and energy. https://tinyurl.com/2d35fp7h There are 4000 jobs on its careers site https://tinyurl.com/4vwkhjar

·???????International consulting firm Expleo has bought German consultancy UMS. Its 60 Frankfurt consultants , who serve banking, automotive, transportation, energy & utilities, pharma & life sciences and chemicals clients will become part of the 15,000 strong French-owned Empleo consulting division. https://tinyurl.com/4zdmphjk

·???????One of my favourite firms, leadership and board advisers YSC, has been swallowed up by Accenture’s Talent & Organisation/Human Potential division. For over 30 years I watched it grow from the UK into Canada, the US, Mexico, South Africa, China, Singapore and Australia. https://tinyurl.com/5yksxn63

·???????German strategy consultants Roland Berger (“the McKinsey of Munich”) has taken over POLARIXPARTNER, a manufacturing consultancy with 30 specialist staff. The newly acquired business brings product teardown, benchmarking, target costing and value engineering expertise in manufacturing-oriented sectors such as automotive, medical technology, pharmaceutical, aerospace, and plant engineering. https://tinyurl.com/yynt3tb2 . Roland Berger has not been an active acquirer of other consultancies, but this is expected to change as the firm hopes to hit a $1bn revenue target shortly.

·???????Australian firm MetaPM has been bought by one of the world’s largest project management consultancies, MSI-GO|PCUBED. https://tinyurl.com/4v7r7xcv ???The firm plans to double in?size by 2025, become market leader in Australia, and expand further into South East Asia.

Consultancy researchers Source Global Research predict that the data and analytics service line of consultancies will generate over $70bn revenues by the end of 2024. https://tinyurl.com/yc6hpyne ?

New offices…(Important, because who will be hired to staff them?)

·???????Warsaw is the site of the newest LEK office, the firm’s second in Poland. The team there will provide strategy advice to corporations and investors in Poland and CEE across a range of industries, including healthcare, life sciences, medtech, digital health, industrials, consumer and retail.?https://tinyurl.com/bdfusjwy

·???????Accenture UK is creating 1500 consulting jobs outside London. Part of the expansion includes a new office in Birmingham. https://tinyurl.com/2e5nn7uh ???

·???????Alvarez & Marsal is opening new offices in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, extending the firm’s?services across The Gulf and strengthening its regional market position. A&M’s headcount in the region has more than doubled in the last year and is projected to reach 200 consultants next year. More detail can be found here https://tinyurl.com/2p8nzkz ??There are over 600 international jobs listed for “early career builders” https://tinyurl.com/22vnh4up , from Chicago to Shanghai, Madrid to Milan.

The Centre for Management Consulting Excellence has created a Consultant Role/Capability Matrix. It shows the relative importance of a number of consultant capabilities in performing different consulting roles.?https://tinyurl.com/475vnyaw ???

Meet the new boss…(Important, because they’ll need to grow their teams.)

?·???????Healthcare strategy consulting firm BDC Advisors has appointed Tina Modi, a healthcare innovation, transformation and strategy expert (ex-North Highland and Accenture), as the firm’s new Managing Director. The firm is currently hiring for offices in Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston,?Dallas, Denver, Cleveland, Washington D.C. and Nashville. https://tinyurl.com/4ktmax9j

?·???????Alix Partners has brought in two senior figures to lead Integrated Risk Management in Asia, an emerging discipline that brings together data analytics and behavioural science, as well as risk and regulatory expertise, to support clients engage an increasingly complex risk landscape. One of them is Anir Battacharrya, who gained a Masters degree from Lancaster University Business School in 2005. He’s based in Hong Kong. https://tinyurl.com/468uss3z ?There are 30 jobs in the “early careers” pages https://tinyurl.com/2byvmtwe ?on its website.

?·???????Sean Hanson has become CEO of public sector consultants IMPOWER. https://tinyurl.com/2p84bks5 ???Its website lists four London/remote working opportunities https://tinyurl.com/2kurz4jk

·???????KPMG has named Nader Haffar as Chairman of the Middle East and South Asia firm. The KPMG MESA region covers more than 25 office locations across 15 countries and territories, including Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. ?https://tinyurl.com/36aup9b2 ?

?Elixirr has appointed ex-KPMG head Bill Michael as special adviser. (Readers may recall Michael left KPMG UK last year following some critical language:?https://www.donleslie.uk/march-2021-consultancy-newsletter/?https://tinyurl.com/4cc487f3 ?) The firm’s webpage lists openings in London. New York, Dallas and San Francisco. https://tinyurl.com/2kv58625 ????

?Big Four news

·???????Average pay for PwC’s UK partners has topped ￡1m per annum for the first time. And reporting on diversity, the firm says 40% of recent new partners are women, and 15% are from BAME backgrounds.https://tinyurl.com/y2hyat8f ?????

·???????PwC UK is removing the upper second (2:1) degree mark requirement for all its undergraduate and graduate roles, internships and placements. The move is designed to open up opportunities to more people, increase the socio-economic diversity of the firm and support its efforts to improve social mobility. And it’s also a comment on the intense competition for talent. https://tinyurl.com/4smvmur4 ?

·???????Deloitte UK has also announced the hiring of 300 apprentices under its BrightStart scheme, an earn-while-you-learn programme for school leavers. https://tinyurl.com/yabtdfby

·???????KPMG Australia delivers 16% growth and Aus$2.3bn revenue for 2021/22 with 12,000 staff. The firm’s activities in Fiji and Papua New Guinea are included for the first time. https://tinyurl.com/yrb4hf4t

·???????EY is to invest half a billion dollars in its oil and gas service practice and has appointed a new global head for the sector. The firm sees “huge potential” in developing digital carbon solutions, integrated digital operations and managed services to help the oil and gas sector with low-carbon transition. Saulius Adomaitis will have responsibility for 10,000 staff in the unit. https://tinyurl.com/mwt9khcm ???

?Website Caseinterview.com’s Victor Cheng points to a 1990s study by McKinsey to analyse which of its consultants got promoted after two years. It discovered that a high IQ was not as important as emotional and cultural intelligence. He says that these success factors are mostly under our control, “they just take prioritisation, focus and effort” . https://tinyurl.com/yeup6bya ?

?There has been a lot of hiring over the summer months and I am indebted to all those who contacted me with their success stories, salary information and interview tips, including: Bayes MBAs to EY and PwC; Durham MBA to Grant Thornton; Judge MBA to McKinsey; Loughborough MBA to Deloitte; EMLyon Masters to Deloitte; Manchester MBA to T&T; Nottingham MBA to KPMG; Warwick MBA to EY; WHU MBA to manufacturing boutique.

During September I’ll be speaking at Cambridge Judge, the London School of Economics, and Warwick Business School. If you’d like me to speak at – or Zoom to – your university, business school or organisation contact [email protected]

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

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

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

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

Don Leslie