McKinsey jobs - Canada and Australia - LEK and Sustainability - and more in Don Leslie's September strategy and management consultancy newsletter

Although it was a long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away, I was once a consultant and a consultancy recruiter. Now I’m a 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 daytime TV, but also to help others discover this fascinating and rewarding profession. I scour the internet and the business press for information which may help you find consultancy jobs.

Competition for talent?-?restructuring boom predicted?-?BCG’s City survey?-?Canadian news?-?LEK’s Sustainability Centre?-?Strategy& sports consultancy appointment?-?Argon adds procurement?-?PwC’s record profits?-?Australian news?-?first timers’ success stories?- McKinsey jobs

A Sustainability Centre of Excellence is to be opened by strategy house LEK in London. https://tinyurl.com/yreuarya?The firm is hiring for 24 positions in North America, Europe, South East Asia and Australia, including a 2022 internship in Singapore. https://tinyurl.com/36n55373?

Anglo-French consultancy Argon has added a supply management and procurement team from Ayming to its service lines. https://tinyurl.com/27d8taff?The expanded firms now operates from Australia, France, Germany, India, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, the UAE and the USA and is in open hiring mode https://tinyurl.com/5ravyuzn??

Restructuring boom to come?

·???????KPMG sold off its UK restructuring arm in early 2021 (see https://www.donleslie.uk/april-2021-management-consultancy-newsletter/) but guess what? It’s thinking of going back into corporate restructuring advisory work. As coronavirus support measures taper off, a significant increase in insolvency services is anticipated. https://tinyurl.com/yf7svf3d?

·???????Alix Partners is also betting on a boom in restructuring. It has hired three senior restructuring professionals from EY, appointing them as managing Directors in the London office. https://tinyurl.com/f733tx4w???

Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute has named London as the planet’s “city of choice”. https://tinyurl.com/wuvz8tmf?BCG interviewed 25,000 people in 80 cities and, being consultants, came up with 155 metrics. Hmm…

News from Oceania

·???????PwC Australia has reacted to the shortage of local talent (exacerbated by Australia’s tough lockdown rules which prevent foreigners entering the country) by launching a “Total Reward Strategy”. It hopes its improved salaries, bonuses and accelerated promotion cycles will tempt professionals from rival firms, financial services companies and commercial operations. In addition, the firm is investing in a ”PwC Academy”, which will provide courses on strategy, ESG and leadership to MBA standard. https://tinyurl.com/sy2y5phc??

·???????The Australian government has been accused of ‘hiding’ a A$2m contract with McKinsey https://tinyurl.com/y57f6jh8?This comes after sustained criticism of federal spending on consultancies – A$1.2 bn in 2020. The firm is advertising 21 roles in its Australia/New Zealand practice region, including positions with McKinsey sub-brands Quantum Black, Digital Labs, McKinsey Digital and OptimusAI.

·???????Partners in Performance, the highly rated Australian performance improvement consultancy,?has taken over a Belgian data analytics consultancy, DataStories https://tinyurl.com/s4vjf8w7?Its 15 consultants will join PiP’s 500 staff. According to its careers site , PiP is hiring in Australia and New Zealand, North America, Latin America, SE Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, the CIS, UK and Europe. “We will relocate outstanding candidates to these regions.” https://tinyurl.com/pwthatjw?

Kantar, the 30,000 strong marketing and customer engagement consultancy, has brought in two new ‘global leaders’ – for M&A and brand guidance. https://tinyurl.com/2ufmyhhk??We’ve written about Kantar’s expansion on a number of occasions. It is hiring in 58 countries right now. https://tinyurl.com/ftxefdwe?

Website CBinsights reports on how advanced technology and new market entrants are disrupting traditional strategy consultancies https://tinyurl.com/ymcmdb4p?

49th Parallel News

·???????Deloitte Canada’s “Next Normal” is its new working-from-home hybrid working model, which allows consultants to choose their work base – office, home or client site. However, unlike some other firms’ schemes, there is no guarantee that home working choices will be honoured. https://tinyurl.com/4yhdna5e?Given the fierce competition for new recruits in 2021 and 2022, Deloitte Canada may have to rethink its policy. The firm’s own survey on home working revealed that 36% of consultants preferred to work remotely. ?

·???????Canadian challenger firm MNP has taken over Digital Embrace, a 19-strong consultancy in Toronto which specialises in public sector IT consulting. The new consultants will become part of MNP’s digital consultancy business, reportedly the fastest growing part of MNP. https://tinyurl.com/yh8nn47j??The newsletter reported on MNP’s absorption of 20 smaller Deloitte offices earlier in the year.

A healthy crop of 2020 and 2021 undergraduates and postgraduates have been in contact to report August starts with consultancy firms. A Warwick MBA has joined Accenture’s REPL business line as a Data Scientist. REPL specialises in solutions for supply chain, workforce management, store operations and retail customer experiences.?Accenture’s digital marketing practice has also hired a WBS MBA?who says she was able to sell herself on the strength of previous marketing campaign experience. Another Warwick Business School alumnus has joined PA Consulting as a Consultant Analyst. He recommends the book “Bulletproof Problem Solving” https://tinyurl.com/26ezxyuc for help with case study preparation.

?A data consultancy in London has been bought by Belgian firm Projective Group. In a move funded by private equity company Gimv, the consultancy – DTSQUARED - brings 85 data specialists into Projective’s financial services practice. There are 12 open roles on its website https://tinyurl.com/58y8h4jy including one for a “Rookie Consultant” with working standard English and French https://tinyurl.com/wuvz8tmf??

Healthcare digital transformation consultancy Channel 3 has recruited a KPMG partner - ?Paul Henderson, described as an expert in supporting the design and implementation of healthcare technology programmes. https://tinyurl.com/4hf622d6. March’s newsletter https://www.donleslie.uk/march-2021-consultancy-newsletter/mentioned the firm’s recent management buyout. It is hiring first time consultants https://tinyurl.com/ynpeeufx?

LACE Partners is a consultancy specialising in HR transformation, change and technology advisory work. It has hired six new senior managers and directors as a result of a burgeoning coronavirus-driven workload. https://lacepartners.co.uk/our-team/??

PwC UK made a 25% increase in profit (￡1.2bn) despite turnover being up only 2% (￡4.5bn) in 2020-21.The massive increase in profit is due to demand for transformation advice, including finance transformation and digital and data strategies – and substantial cost savings from office space restructuring. https://tinyurl.com/2xzcfz8j Its headcount rose by 3,000 to 22,000.

Your two favourite consultancy destinations….?I think I get more requests for the names of consultants and consultancies in these two fields than any other: sports and green/sustainable/ESG. Here are two more names to add:

·???????PwC’s Strategy& has hired Robert Elstone as a Special Adviser in its sports practice. He’s moved across from Super League Rugby https://tinyurl.com/uf3xcth8??

·???????Deloitte’s ESG M&A team has been strengthened by the arrival of James Hilburn from Carbon Intelligence https://tinyurl.com/2zauj42w?

Careers in Consulting: during September I’ll be speaking at/delivering webinars about the consultancy sector to the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, the Nanyang Business School at NTU Singapore, and Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge.

Remote 1:1 coaching sessions by ‘phone and Zoom continue from my home office. Issues I’m asked to cover include:

·???????Identifying appropriate consultancies (MBB/B4 and beyond) for a move, according to longer-term career aims, experience, languages, desired location (UK or abroad), work/life balance issues and other requirements

·???????Research: identifying contacts inside firms to approach, method of approach, script

·???????Cover letter, CV and LinkedIn profile review and improvement

·???????Interview preparation: story, competencies, fit, tests, telephone and avatar interview techniques, assessment centres, group exercises, case study guidance

·???????Rank and salary negotiation

Anyone wishing to arrange a 1:1 session should email me at [email protected]

The next newsletter will be published at the beginning of October. Back copies can be found at https://www.donleslie.uk/newsletter/and on LinkedIn

Don Leslie?Careers and Consultancy?London??+44 (0)7812 056 652 [email protected]?www.donleslie.uk