Management Consultancy 07 08

Inside Careers
Inside Careers Guide to

www.insidecareers.co.uk
Management Consultancy
Career advice 5 Finding the right job
1 Foreword • Routes into Consultancy
• Finding and Getting Work
• Introductions from the Chair of the
Institute of Business Consulting and Experience
the President of the Management • Graduate Training Schemes
• Salaries in Management Consulting
6 Education, training &
Consultancies Association
2 The profession development
• Management Consultancy in a Nutshell
• The Institute of Business Consulting • Professional Consultancy
• The Management Consultancies Qualifications
Association • The CMC® Award
• The Future of the Industry • MBAs: The Key to Consultancy
• Frequently Asked Questions • Other Master’s Programmes
3 Recent graduates
• Continuing Professional
Development
• Associate Consultant, Strategy
7 Company profiles
For the latest up to

• Internal Business Consultant
• Business Analyst, Niche
date information
• Consultant, Niche
• Human Resources Consultant
on the web click

• Associate Consultant
4 Career paths
on the links below:

• Strategy Consultant
• Consulting Director
• E-Commerce Consultant
• Management Consultant
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• Partner, Internal Audit & Risk
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FOREWORD
Foreword – Institute
of Business Consulting
JEREMY WEBSTER is Chair of the INSTITUTE OF

BUSINESS CONSULTING and Managing Director of
SILVER PEBBLE CONSULTING LTD
I f you’re reading this guide, you’re probably

considering Management Consultancy as a
career. You may be attracted by lifestyle –
working across the country, and often in other
countries, with a wide range of organisations
Consultancy community. Our work includes
representing the UK’s interests internationally
and maintaining the standard of the Certified
Management Consultant (CMC®) award, the
internationally-recognised qualification for
dealing with challenging problems. Or it may experienced consultants.
be the remuneration that is appealing – Many consultancy practices have training and
consultancy can be well-paid, there is no doubt. development programmes that lead to our
Perhaps you think a stint with a well-known qualifications. If you are considering a first
consultancy will improve your CV and give move into consultancy, then our website
your career a boost. Or it may be a combination (www.ibconsulting.org.uk) has details of all
of all these factors that makes you interested. these firms and information about all our
But Management Consultancy is an qualifications and networks.
unregulated profession. Anyone can set When I became a consultant nearly 20
themselves up as a consultant, and many years ago, it was for the reasons I described
people do. There are around 70,000 business at the beginning of this introduction. I have
advisers and consultants in the UK, and for stayed in the profession because it has
clients and recruits alike it can be difficult to offered me a unique opportunity to follow a
know who is reputable and who is not. This is career in many industries, in many
where the Institute of Business Consulting countries, and in many aspects of business,
plays a pivotal role. from implementing IT projects in the UK
The Institute of Business Consulting railway industry to training government
represents over 7,000 Management Consultants consultants in developing economies. I
and Business Advisers in the UK. We take the don’t think that there’s a more interesting
lead in developing standards and qualifications job to be had, and I heartily recommend it
on behalf of all the stakeholders in the to you.
4| Management Consultancy 2007/8 www.insidecareers.co.uk

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FOREWORD
Foreword – Management
Consultancies Association
ANDREW CROWLEY is President of the

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCIES ASSOCIATION
and Vice President of CSC COMPUTER SCIENCES
W hy did I choose management

consulting as a career? It sounded
exciting, it had variety in terms of
industries, clients, locations and people to
work with, and for me the most satisfying
techniques, and the use of IT, it should come
as no surprise that our clients expect higher
degrees of specialist knowledge, faster delivery
of results and more innovation applied
pragmatically to their business.
aspect was seeing ideas through to results that Today’s consultant, whether just starting out
I passionately believed made a difference. That or with 30 years of experience is expected to
was 20 years ago! justify their ‘value’. Clients always have a
In my first five years in consulting I found choice to work with consultants or not, and
myself working in the city at a time when have to think long and hard about the value
substantial regulatory change was being they expect from their discretionary spend or
implemented, in South Africa months after the external budgets. These client expectations
release of Nelson Mandela, and in Switzerland are one of the many characteristics that makes
where a multitutude of languages were thrown the consulting industry what it is – fast paced,
in the air on a daily basis. intellectually challenging, pressurised, full of
While these experiences appear to satisfy variety and most of all enjoyable.
the stereotypical picture of international travel, If you are looking to develop a career in
freshly cleaned hotel rooms, a variety of client consulting then this industry can provide you
assignments and situations, the reality is one of with a myriad of career paths. Your desire may
long hours, never seing the sights and sounds draw you towards change management or IT
of the exotic location you are in and sometimes consultancy or advising clients on their carbon
barely leaving your hotel room as you prepare footprint strategy. Whatever path you take, the
your next senior management presentation. organisations that make up the management
The expectations and demands on consulting sector excel in these areas.
management consultants continue to rise, and I hope this guide whets your appetite for a
so they should. As more companies career in consulting and I encourage you to
‘professionalise’ their workforce through explore the wide career opportunities this
education and teaching of management tools, industry has.
www.insidecareers.co.uk Management Consultancy 2007/8 | 5

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The profession
Management Consultancy in a Nutshell
The Institute of Business Consulting
The Management Consultancies Association
The Future of the Industry
Frequently Asked Questions

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THE PROFESSION
Management
Consultancy in a
Nutshell
The Institute of Business Consulting, formerly the Institute of Management
Consultancy, has defined management consultancy as ‘the provision to
management of objective advice and assistance relating to the strategy,
structure, management and operations of an organisation in pursuit of its
long-term purposes and objectives. Such assistance may include the
identification of options with recommendations; the provision of an additional
resource; and/or the implementation of solutions.’
ithin such a broad definition, outsourcing on a global basis. Many of these
W management consultants can be

invited into an organisation for a
huge variety of reasons: from the
grew out of the audit firms, while others
developed within IT service companies.
requirement for urgent strategic advice to Strategy consultants

turn around an ailing retail chain to dealing These consultancies are much smaller than
with large-scale change management within a the generalist firms and the majority of them
government department; from the marketing are American. As the term suggests, they
and design of a credit card for a major primarily offer strategic advice to companies
institution to the installation of an enterprise- on a project-by-project basis. This involves
wide IT system for a bank. long-range planning, the reorganisation of a
company’s structure, rationalisation of
TYPES OF CONSULTANCY services and products and a general business
As with the type of work carried out by appraisal of the company.
consultants, the types of consultancy firms
also vary enormously. At one end of the Human resource consultants
market the larger firms offer end-to-end These are organisations offering specialist
solutions and, at the other end, niche firms advice ranging from personnel policy,
offer specialist skills and industry knowledge. manpower planning, job enrichment, job
Consultancy practices can be broadly divided evaluation and industrial relations.
into the following types:
Information technology consultants
Generalist These firms give specialist advice ranging
These are large consulting firms that offer a from defining information needs, the
wide range of services from strategy consulting provision of software, systems analysis and
and human resources to IT and, in some cases, design, computer feasibility studies,

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THE PROFESSION
implementing computer applications and are interested in and talk to consultants in

making computer hardware evaluations. other consulting models. Remember, too, that
having made a choice, the other options could
Financial consultants be revisited when you decide to change your
The specialist advice offered by financial horizons to meet your long-term career needs.
consultancies ranges from the installation of
budgetary control systems, profit planning or
THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE CLEARLY
capital and revenue budgeting, office
reorganisation and administrative arrangements. “ DIFFICULT TOPICS TO NON-SPECIALISTS
Niche firms
Much of the growth in UK consulting has
been as a result of consultants leaving the
IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE
WHAT IS THE RANGE OF A

”
larger firms and setting up their own MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT’S WORK?
consultancy firms in a particular sector, or Management consultants by their very nature
offering a specialist service. are specialists because of the wide variety of
Particular attention is drawn to the management activities. The specialisms have
importance of clear presentation, and the ability been divided by the Institute of Business
to present thoughts and ideas verbally to clients. Consulting into the following areas of
consulting activity:
CHOOSING A FIRM
Choosing which type of firm to work for is Business strategy
not an easy decision. When considering a This involves long–range planning, the re-
prospective employer, pick the consultancy organisation of a company’s structure,
environment that best suits your personality rationalisation of services and products and a
and your aspirations. general business appraisal of the company.
Global firms offer a broader range of
opportunities in total but a new recruit might Manufacturing and business services
be constrained in one opportunity for some Involving a review of the layout of a
time. The support for a consultant in one of production department, production
the global firms is superb. The control arrangements, productivity and
methodologies, case studies, training courses incentive schemes, or quality control
and support material are usually extensive, problems.
comprehensive and thorough.
Smaller firms (say 30 to 150 consultants) Marketing
will still have extensive materials, perhaps Market research and business forecasting,
more localised opportunities, but an sales force training and the organisation of
individual will normally sample a wider retail and wholesale outlets.
variety of assignments. Those practices that
are smaller still might specialise (by sector or Financial and management controls
physical area) and offer as extensive an Installation of budgetary control systems,
experience as the larger firms within the profit planning or capital and revenue
constraints of their chosen business scope. budgeting, office reorganisation and
Talk to the existing staff at the firms you administrative arrangements.

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THE PROFESSION
Human resources Environmental management

Advising on personnel policy, manpower This includes urban and regional development
planning, job enrichment, job evaluation and planning, international economic research, cost
industrial relations. benefit and social analysis studies and physical,
economic, ecological and sociological studies
Information technology for the encouragement of quality of lifestyle.
Defining information needs, the provision of
software, systems analysis and design, Quality management
computer feasibility studies, implementing Setting of policy and strategy, customer
computer applications and making computer satisfaction, performance measurement,
hardware evaluations. people management and processes.

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THE PROFESSION
The Institute of
Business Consulting
The Institute of Business Consulting is the professional body for consultancy and
advice, responsible for the standards to which professional business consultants
work. These standards are set in consultation with practitioners in business
consulting and academics researching the profession and other interested
professionals. They specify what is expected from professional practising
business consultants and it is the Institute of Business Consulting’s job to make
sure the professional standards are adhered to. Membership, therefore, clearly
demonstrates that you will work professionally and your clients can be assured
that you will put professional standards first in all that you do with them.
usiness consulting is a wide-ranging and to award the CMC®, which is then recognised
B varied profession. It is also demanding

and challenging. When you are deciding
about becoming a consultant you will probably
in all the member countries. These include
USA, Canada, China, much of Europe, India,
Singapore and recently through support from
feel that you want information and advice IBC UK, Thailand. Indeed, Thailand’s
about many aspects of the profession. The government requires consultants to have the
Institute of Business Consulting can help you CMC® before they can work in Thailand and
with this, both directly and through its wide the Chinese government has indicated that
range of members who will talk to you about they will do likewise.
consultancy as a career. In the UK, the Institute of Business
In addition, the Institute has the authority Consulting is the only organisation with the
to confer the Certified Management authority to award the CMC®. Before you
Consultant award (CMC®) for competence in can be assessed for CMC® you need to be a
consultancy. This award demonstrates that a member of the Institute.
management consultant has strong Consultancy is an important profession.
consultancy skills and experience, assessment Consultants have the opportunity to affect
involves endorsement by client references. It businesses and people’s lives and yet it is a
is a challenging process and differentiates largely unregulated profession. Anyone can
consultants with clear, demonstrable become a consultant without having the
competence to work in the areas of necessary knowledge and skills. This
consultancy in which they claim proficiency. undermines the profession and can result in
To add weight to this important accolade, damaging examples of inadequate performance.
it is internationally recognised. The Institute The Institute provides the means for
of Business Consulting, as a member of the consultants to demonstrate that they work to
International Council of Management high professional standards and have the
Consultancy Institutes and is one of 44 necessary knowledge, skills and experience
institutes around the world with the authority to carry out competently the assignments they

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THE PROFESSION
accept. This is a significant differentiator for and advice relevant to your role as a
consultants when meeting potential clients. consultant enabling you to keep up to date
When the Institute of Management • have opportunities for continuing
Consultancy merged with the Institute of professional development including events,
Business Advisers in April 2007 they created conferences and seminars, both regionally
the Institute of Business Consultancy to and nationally and qualifications in
denote the whole spectrum of professionals consultancy
working in business advice and consultancy. • be able to promote your career through
The term ‘business consultant’ therefore opportunities to speak and write where
embraces all those professionals who work appropriate.
as advisers or consultants.
If you work in a consultancy practice that
CONSULTANCY PURCHASING GROUP joins the Institute then not only do the
The Institute of Business Consulting established individual consultants gain the above benefits
this group five years ago and MCA and CIPS are but also the practice can join the Institute
both members, working with a large group of register at no cost. The register is used to
procurement professionals from organisations, answer requests from clients who are seeking
all of which spend significant amounts of consultancy practices. Hence being a practice
money a year on consultancy. They include member of the Institute can help increase the
AstraZeneca, Barclays, British Airways, Cable & number of referrals to clients.
Wireless, Cadbury Schweppes and many others, Additionally the Institute has a full range of
including the Office of Government Commerce benefits such as professional indemnity
which sets the purchasing policy across insurance, which are designed to enhance the
government. They are looking to benefit from professional consultants’ lifestyle. Details can
the independent, objective measure of be obtained via the contact details below.
professionalism and competence which
membership and the CMC® offers. BECOMING A MEMBER
Full membership is open to practising
JOINING IBC business consultants. Members can be
The Institute of Business Consulting offers admitted as students if they are interested in
membership to individual business consultants, becoming business consultants. Anyone who
at all stages of their career, as well as to works in another field and wishes to become
practices of all sizes. Being an individual a consultant may join as an affiliate and,
member of the Institute gives you benefits as a when their experience develops, move into
business consultant or an aspiring consultant, one of the full membership grades. All
which you will not find elsewhere. You will: grades allow access to benefits.
• be recognised as a committed professional
consultant LYNDA PURSER is Director of the
• have access to other members who can INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS CONSULTING.
give you support and help with finding You will find information about
work membership, as well as the full range of
• have an independent endorsement of your benefits at www.ibconsulting.org.uk or
ability as a consultant alternatively, call Tony Ginda, Membership
• have access to a great deal of information Manager, on 020 7566 5225.

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THE PROFESSION
The Management
Consultancies
Association
The Management Consultancies Association (MCA) was established in 1956
in order to represent the interests of the largest UK-based consulting firms.
The founding members were Inbucon, PA Management Consultants, P-E
Consulting Group and Urwick Orr & Partners and these firms accounted for
about 75% of UK consulting turnover. Since 1956 the UK industry has seen
phenomenal growth, which has been reflected in the increase in member
firms’ income from £6 million in 1956 to nearly £8 billion in 2006. In 1962
members of the MCA agreed to sponsor an independent Institute of
Management Consultants to represent the professional interests of individual
consultants.
oday, the MCA’s 62 member firms work recruit and retain the top talent, provides
T for most of the FTSE 100 companies and

all government departments, representing
about 70% of the UK industry and employing
advice to purchasers of consultancy on the
selection and use of management consultants
and is the main source of data on the UK
around 20,000 consultants. The number of market.
MCA member firms has grown over the past The main events for members in the MCA
few years, doubling in size since 2004. In June calendar are the MCA Management Awards, in
2006, the MCA moved to new premises in association with Management Today, the
central London to accommodate the growth in Annual Reception and the Annual Consultants’
membership. Forum, in association with PMP. The MCA
also organises a wide variety of in house and
THE ROLE OF THE MCA sponsored events to bring the latest thinking
The MCA supports its member firms by on business, economic and social changes to
helping them develop their consultants, their members.
practices and by developing the management
consultancy marketplace. They achieve this MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA
through a variety of services including shaping One of the main objectives of the MCA is to
media coverage, influencing buying maintain high standards within the UK
communities, being the only authoritative management consultancy industry by ensuring
body providing management consultancy that member firms meet its stringent entry
market intelligence and public relations. criteria and adhere to its code of conduct. With
The Association works with its members to management consultancy spending in the UK

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THE PROFESSION
currently around £8 billion and new firms, If any member firm is found to be
with different business models, entering the contravening the Code of Conduct it will be
industry all the time, there is a clear need for subject to a disciplinary procedure which, in
some form of quality assurance. extreme cases, may result in expulsion from
Membership of the MCA requires membership and public reprimand.
compliance with sound financial and business The MCA definition of management
practices as well as professional and ethical consultancy ‘Management consultancy is the
standards. Having met the requirements for creation of value for organisations, through the
membership, MCA firms are required to application of knowledge, techniques and
reaffirm their compliance annually and are assets, to improve performance. This is achieved
audited periodically. through the rendering of objective advice and/or
Members must practice management the implementation of business solutions.’
consultancy as a strategic activity and be Assisting potential users of consultancy,
qualified to analyse problems, to give advice the MCA offers a shortlisting service, which is
and to assist with implementation over a cross- designed to assist potential users of
section of clients in at least two key fields of management consultancy with confidential
business activity such as business strategy, advice on the selection and use of consultants.
organisational development, marketing, human The service is free and can be obtained via the
resources, or IT. web (www.mca.org.uk), phone, or email and
Member firms must have been in practice draws upon the Association’s knowledge of its
in the United Kingdom as a management member firms.
consultancy for at least three years and employ
not less than ten consulting staff on a full-time THE FUTURE OF THE MCA
basis. The management consulting industry is
continually reinventing itself and the MCA is
CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT committed to taking a leadership role,
The Association expects its members to enabling us to offer better services to members
maintain the highest possible professional and and to raise our profile with business leaders
ethical standards. The MCA Code requires and government whilst maintaining our strict
member firms to: entry criteria.
• act solely in the interests of clients Quality and governance will remain
• reject any business practice which might important issues for clients and consultants alike
reasonably be deemed improper and we shall continue to promote best practice
• only accept work for which they are in consultancy projects across all sectors.
qualified and have the capacity to
undertake
PETER HILL is Chief Executive of the
• agree arrangements with clients where a
MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCIES
potential conflict of interest emerges ASSOCIATION. He has over 20 years of
• enter into formal agreement with client management consultancy experience,
when work is sub-contracted to a 3rd party ranging from Vice President of a global
• agree terms of remuneration with the consultancy practice to Principal and
client in advance founder member of a start up SME
• handle confidential information consultancy.
appropriately.

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THE PROFESSION
The Future of the

Industry
Almost everyone agrees that the immediate prospects for the UK consulting
industry are positive. ‘We’re reasonably optimistic about the next 12 months,’
says Pat Newberry, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. ‘We don’t foresee
any massive shifts either up or down. The economic situation looks
reasonably benign, although there are some potential clouds on the horizon.’
he hot topic is growth,’ says Duncan Xantus. But there’s also a fear that
T Craig, Vice President at AT Kearney,

‘either through entering new markets or
through M&A. M&A, due diligence and post-
competition for recruits is feeding a high level
of salary inflation and may create a long-term
problem for the industry. Inevitably, costs are
merger integration drive up demand for almost rising: ‘We’re investing as much in people
every type of consulting: operations strategy, development, recruitment and retention, as we
IT strategy, organisational design, procurement do in marketing and business development,’
and so on. Clients want to know how they says David Cox, Managing Director at Mott
can sustain growth.’ MacDonald.
With the demand looking strong over the Moreover, as clients’ demand for specialist
next couple of years at least, the consulting skills increases, consulting firms will
industry will be shaped by how successfully increasingly find themselves recruiting experts
consulting firms respond to the operational in a particular field rather than generalists – and
changes posed by growth. it is harder to deploy these people to new
MCA member firms collectively employed markets as times change and to balance supply
just over 18,000 fee-earning management and demand. ‘That consulting is a short-term
consultants in 2006, an increase of 26% on business is the hardest thing in our industry,’
2005. Yet, despite this huge growth in the says Kevin Parry, CEO at the Management
numbers of consultants, the ‘war for talent’ Consulting Group. ‘Almost any consulting firm,
remains consulting firms’ biggest complaint if you look at their order books, appears to be
and a shortage of good staff its greatest going out of business in 13 weeks time.’ The
constraint. One critical issue here is how firms ‘war for talent’ makes things worse, as
ensure they continue to offer a high quality of consulting firms, concerned they may be
service at a time when they’re struggling to unable to meet demand, often have to recruit
find the resources to cope with demand and ahead of it. ‘The challenge is knowing when to
dealing with the challenges of increased scale speed up the recruitment process and when to
and globalisation. ‘Managing growth of this slow it down,’ agrees Per Jacobsson, Senior
magnitude, while making sure we never Vice President at BearingPoint. ‘It’s a constant
compromise on quality, is our top priority,’ balancing act between business demand and
says Steve Watmough, Managing Director at the need for resources.’

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THE PROFESSION
Consulting firms have three main options helping our strategy and change practice.
when it comes to responding to this situation: Labour market conditions are very different,
offshoring, forming alliances with other firms, and there is competition for places at an
or extending their use of associate consultants. employer such as IBM. This is not a question
of labour arbitrage but of building a global
THE RISE AND RISE OF OFFSHORING supply chain.’ ‘Global sourcing is happening
‘Offshoring is business-as-usual,’ says Steve so we have to respond,’ agrees Accenture’s UK
Watmough, Managing Director at Xantus. Managing Director, David Thomlinson. ‘We’ve
‘There’s much less talk about it, and far more set up our Global Delivery Network because
activity. It’s far less emotive than it was only a we recognise that a purely onshore model is
couple of years ago.’ Jon Moore, Director at no longer viable: we need a competitive value
Detica agrees: ‘Everyone has a strategy for this. proposition and we’d rather do that by moving
No one asks why: they’re much more the goal-posts than competing in terms of the
interested in the how.’ lowest possible price.’
Offshoring itself has evolved. ‘There’s been It has become, according to Infosys’
an acceleration, not only in the volume of Arindom Basu, a battle of the business models:
work organisations are prepared to offshore, ‘Our philosophy is: consulting local, delivery
but in the type of work,’ says Andrew global. Everyone accepts consulting has to be
Crowley, Vice President at CSC. ‘That’s local: the question is how much of the delivery
triggered a lot of acquisitions of smaller can be global. Building our local consulting
business process outsourcing firms by larger capability is going to bring our overall
ones, so they have the infrastructure and profitability down, but we earn as much profit
resources in place, ahead of what they see to as some of the very largest firms, but on a
be a boom in demand.’ Indeed, many quarter of their income, so we have room to
traditional (onshore) consulting firms have invest here. The challenge for us is rather that
been surprised at the speed with which our rate of growth has left us with internal
offshoring has become accepted practice structures which don’t now match the scale of
among clients and offshore firms have been our business: we still need to adapt to our
able to make inroads into the outsourcing and size.’
systems development market.
As offshore firms build up their consulting CONSOLIDATION OR ALLIANCE?
capability, it has become accepted practice for After years in which the bulk of M&A activity
established consulting firms to have an in the consulting industry was focused in the
offshore component. This not only keeps larger players, the last year has seen an
costs low but allows firms to tap into a pool of accelerated level of consolidation at the other
highly qualified potential recruits. ‘We recently end of the market, among the smaller ones. ‘I
announced a $6 billion investment in India,’ can’t see further consolidation at the top of the
says John Granger, General Manager at IBM industry,’ says Brendan Cahill, CEO at Trinity
Global Business Services. ‘Going to our office Horne, ‘but we do anticipate some at the
there is like going into consulting in the 1980s: bottom, simply because of the level of
it’s full of young, incredibly enthusiastic innovation among smaller firms.’
people who want to change the world. A few Large firms are unquestionably on the
years ago we might have used those people acquisition trail, but there are other potential
for applications support, but now they’re investors, too. ‘There’s no shortage of private

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THE PROFESSION
equity firms who would be willing to put Director. ‘What we’re finding is that
money into firms that want to expand the consultants love the work, freedom and
range of services they offer,’ Peter Madden, flexibility we offer. If anything, the benign
Regional Managing partner at EC Harris points economic conditions have made them more
out. ‘It’s an alternative to the acquisition confident about making this kind of switch.’
versus organic growth debate.’ Eden McCallum is not alone in pursuing this
Many consultants are cautious. ‘Big and approach, although no other firm has
small firms need each other, but they can’t managed to replicate what it is doing so far as
always work with each other,’ suggests John strategy consulting is concerned. Penna
Oakland, Executive Chairman at Oakland Consulting, for instance, espouses a similar
Consulting. ‘The cultures are very different: approach in the HR consulting market. ‘Our
the bigger the firm, the more likely it is to rely proposition means we need people who are
on large projects staffed by relatively junior experts in a wide range of fields, many of
consultants, whereas firms like ours typically whom chose to be freelance consultants, so
employ more senior people and work on we don’t have exclusive access to them, nor
smaller projects.’ ‘You seldom see a successful can we manage them in the same way that
sale,’ cautions Cath Hardaker, Partner at PKF. we’d manage our full-time employees. The
This wariness, combined with a buoyant key is to give them a sense of home, a
market, means that alliances and other professional community to which they want to
collaborative arrangements are still a popular belong.’ Money plays a part, but no more
alternative. For smaller firms, an alliance may than that: ‘We’re very transparent,’ says
represent an additional channel to market but Grahame Russell, Managing Director of
one that doesn’t compromise their Human Resource Consulting at Penna, ‘40
independence: ‘We’ve always worked with percent of our fees go directly to the associate,
other niche firms,’ says LCP’s Managing and that also makes us very competitive in
Director, John Lockton. ‘What we don’t do is straight-forward salary terms. But we also treat
work with the bigger ones, where there’s too them as employees so far as we can – inviting
much risk of us treading on each other’s toes.’ them to away-days, sending them on training
courses, making sure they get to work on
THE ASSOCIATE MODEL interesting projects.’
Another option for dealing with the ‘war for
talent’ is to hire consultants on a short-term or ADDING VALUE TO CLIENTS
‘associate’ basis. Eden McCallum has built its Whichever model a consulting firm pursues,
entire business around its network of the litmus test will be whether it helps the firm
independent consultants – a ‘core’ group of add value to its clients. A recent survey by the
100 – 130 freelance consultants which it uses MCA of around 100 senior project managers
on a regular basis; another 100 it uses on showed that satisfaction rates are high, but
perhaps two projects a year because they are could be higher. 73% of respondents said they
more specialised, and 200 – 300 additional were either satisfied or very satisfied with the
experts it can draw on from time to time. It’s work consultants had done for them. This
a model which many other consulting firms compares to 12% who described themselves as
are watching with a mixture of interest and unsatisfied or very unsatisfied.
concern. ‘Business is going up unbelievably,’ As Stephen Warrington, Managing Director at
says Liann Eden, Eden McCallum’s Managing Diamond warns: ‘Consulting is a discretionary

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:30 Page 18
THE PROFESSION
purchase: it has no God-given right to exist. project. It involves taking into account what
You can’t take anything for granted and that’s makes people change and how we get that
one reason why it’s such a challenging but change to endure long after we have gone.
exciting industry to work in. We have to be Our philosophy is that the client has the
able to convince clients of the value of the ‘muscle’ and our role as consultants is to help
service we’re offering and that the work we do them build and train that muscle to work
has lasting impact. It’s all about quality, effectively forever.’
performance and delivery.’
‘We have to ensure we have a lasting
impact,’ says Steve Varley, Managing Partner FIONA CZERNIAWSKA is Director of the
at Ernst & Young. ‘It’s not acceptable to MCAs THINK TANK and the founder of
make no difference.’ Like many other firms, ARKIMEDA, a firm specialising in
Ernst & Young is taking a more rigourous researching and consulting to the
approach to adding and measuring value consulting industry. She is the author of
than would have been countenanced by a The UK Consulting Industry 2005-06, as
consulting firm a few years ago. ‘We use well as many books on the consulting
identify-design–deliver–deploy stages of a industry: Business Consulting: How it
project, but we’ve added a fifth; sustain,’ says Works and How to Make it Work,
Varley. ‘The process of ensuring we add published by The Economist.
sustainable value starts at the beginning of a

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:30 Page 19
THE PROFESSION
Frequently Asked
Questions
? DO I NEED A DEGREE AND IF SO, IN

WHICH SUBJECT AREA?
The vast majority of individuals who enter
another person’s point of view, although
not necessarily agreeing with it.
consultancy are graduates. They come from

all disciplines – it is not necessary to have a
business-related degree. It is advisable to
? SHOULD I TRAIN WITH A SMALL,
MEDIUM, OR LARGE FIRM?
The choice is down to personal preference.
take subjects that you will enjoy and at A good indicator is how comfortable you feel
which you excel, as grades are the most during the interview. In larger firms,
important factor to firms. We recommend graduates tend to be placed within particular
that students have at least 220 UCAS tariff business sectors, whereas in smaller firms,
points and a minimum 2.1 degree (in reality they would gain more general practice
firms often ask for more). Whatever experience. Do as much research as possible
qualifications you have, employers will be into what a firm does and what career
looking for a strong academic record, for options it offers. Talk to the firms you are
example with A levels we recommend at interested in and to people who have
least three Cs and all candidates will need worked with them. There are several good
maths and English GCSEs with an A or B sources of information on a career in
grade. consultancy, such as the MCA website,
www.mca.org.uk and the Institute of
? WHAT ARE EMPLOYERS

LOOKING FOR ?
Obviously they will want to make sure that
Business Consulting website,
www.ibconsulting.org.uk.
candidates meet their entry requirements.

However, students will also need to display a
wide range of personal qualities. A would-be
? WHEN SHOULD I APPLY?
Although there is no fixed recruitment period,
management consultant must possess the organisations generally have vacancies in the
following traits: summer after exams. Some also take on trainees
• integrity – your clients’ needs come first early in the New Year. Check with your campus
• an analytical mind – every problem must careers service for details of who is visiting your
have a solution university and when. Once you have decided to
• clarity of expression – both verbally and whom you wish to apply, write to them as soon
in writing as possible. The first term of your final
• empathy – the ability to recognise undergraduate year is the right time.

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:30 Page 20
THE PROFESSION
? WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I JOIN?

On joining a firm of management
annemallach@cwcom.net. The two
publications analyse, respectively, fees
charged and salaries paid by management
consultants, the new entrant will normally consultants ranging in size from small firms
receive several months of induction and to major international practices; operating in
training whilst also being under the guidance all disciplines and in all parts of the country.
of an experienced consultant. During the A summary of the most recent report can be
induction and training period, the diagnostic found in this guide.
skills of the trainee consultant are developed
HOW DO I FIND COURSES
?
and the professional standards of their firms
are impressed on their mind. Particular LEADING TO QUALIFICATIONS IN
attention is drawn to the writing of clear, CONSULTANCY?
considered English and the ability to present The Institute of Business Consulting offers
thoughts and ideas verbally to clients. In two consultancy qualifications – a Certificate
addition, the opportunity will be taken to for those considering, or new to,
provide additional training to fill any gaps in management consultancy and a Diploma for
knowledge and experience. Although no those with more experience. Please check
organisational framework is common to all out the website www.ibconsulting.org.uk for
consultancies, most have established a formal course providers. You may also find the
career structure for their staff: a consultant guide to MBA courses a useful starting point.
progressing to responsibility for the detailed Many of these modular courses will provide
day–to–day conduct of an assignment and an overview into the world of management
later the team leader in a multi-disciplined consultancy.
assignment.
? HOW MUCH CAN I EXPECT TO

EARN?
? WHAT NETWORKING
OPPORTUNITIES ARE THERE?
Joining a professional organisation or
Your starting salary will vary according to Institute, is one of the best ways of finding
where you are and for whom you’re out about networking opportunities –
working. Your salary will match your where you will meet like-minded
increasing responsibility. The average starting individuals and potential employers alike.
salary for junior consultants is around The Institute of Business Consulting carries
£27,000. a full listing of events running throughout
the UK that include regional and special
? WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE

ABOUT FEE RATES AND SALARIES?
The Management Consultancy Information
interest groups.
If you wish to explore other issues please

Service produces reports on both fee rates contact Tony Ginda, Membership Manager at
and salaries. To purchase a copy, please tony.ginda@ibconsulting.org.uk or
call 020 8554 4695 or email 020 7566 5225.

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:31 Page 21
Recent graduates
Associate Consultant, Strategy
Internal Business Consultant
Business Analyst, Niche
Consultant, Niche
Human Resources Consultant
Associate Consultant
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RECENT GRADUATES
Associate Consultant,
Strategy
Richard Davies
UNIVERSITY: IT’S AN INTELLECTUALLY
Jesus College, Oxford
DEGREE: MEng Engineering and
“STIMULATING EXPERIENCE,
Materials Science WHERE EVERYONE’S INPUT IS
EMPLOYER: The Boston Consulting VALUED – FROM PARTNER TO
Group
LOCATION: London
ASSOCIATE
”
ne of the added bonuses of studying for working on a case looking at the strategy of a
O a four-year degree was realising that I

had to think about my career sooner
rather than later. Seeing so many of my friends
European energy trader. Before this case I did
not even know that such companies existed!
The learning curve is steep, but it’s an
leave college with a shiny new degree but no exhilarating ride. Here’s a look at one week
career was like an alarm bell going off. I soon mid-way through the case…
realised that there were five things I was
looking for in a first job: challenge, variety, MONDAY
intellectual stimulation, impact (really changing We kick off the week with a case team
the way things work), and opportunity. After meeting. Now that the first phase of the
attending various presentations and reading project is complete, we need to draw up
guides, it was clear to me that consulting really work plans for phase two. I am asked to
was a perfect fit. develop the UK deals strategy workstream. I
When it came down to choosing the right will need to spend the rest of the day
firm for me, I thought it would be a difficult thinking about what questions will need to
decision but it wasn’t. It all came down to be answered over the coming weeks in order
people. When I met the people at BCG, I felt to produce a clear and actionable strategy for
that these were people I would love to work the client. I ask the team, who are
with – I am happy to say I was right. experienced in energy trading issues, to
The last 18 months have been remarkable. explain some deal types that I don’t yet fully
I have made some terrific friends and learnt understand. My manager uses this
new things every day, while working on some opportunity to give the entire team (it turns
really interesting cases, ranging from the out I’m not the only one who doesn’t quite
strategy of an artificial sweetener to the understand this particular field) a mini-
potential of offshore wind farms. I’m currently tutorial in ‘release-gas trading options’.

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 18:09 Page 23
RECENT GRADUATES
I spend the afternoon putting together a work the day by putting together an interview guide
plan. Once I have identified the key questions and arranging suitable meeting times with the
that need to be answered, I start breaking selected traders and I then pop into the gym
these down into sub-questions and propose before going home.
activities that will generate the necessary
solutions. By developing hypotheses at an WEDNESDAY
early stage, I am able to focus these activities I’m at the client site again, though alone this
on the issues that really matter to the client. It time. My manager has sent me a presentation
is not an easy task for a relatively by a BCG team in Houston. It’s pretty useful
inexperienced consultant, but it is a great since it describes some of the deal-types I’m
creative exercise for me. I share my thoughts interested in. However, I’m confused by some
with my manager and he suggests an of the terminology so I email the partner
alternative activity that should answer one of involved, asking him to clarify a few things. In
the sub-questions more efficiently. He is, the meantime I go ahead with the trader
however, really impressed by an analytical interviews I scheduled yesterday. They go
method I have proposed for another part of really well and I collect a lot of information
the workstream, saying he would never have regarding which types of deals work and don’t
thought of that. I am quietly pleased with work in the UK energy market. Once the
myself. interviews are over I get on the tube and head
back to the BCG office in Mayfair – I have a
TUESDAY lot of information to get my head around.
Today we are at the client’s office for a full When I get back to my desk there is a
project team meeting. BCG works voicemail waiting for me from the partner in
collaboratively with clients because we believe Houston, asking me to call him back when I’m
the only way to achieve significant impact free. I give him a call and he answers all of my
within an organisation is to work with them. queries before recommending a load of other
Things start well and there is a lot of useful documents I might like to take a look
enthusiasm in the room. However, one of the at.
client project team is having difficulty My manager is pleased with the progress
understanding the relevance of one of my I’ve made and suggests I take the information
proposed analyses. I spend some time I’ve gathered and run some preliminary
explaining how the work plan fits together. analysis. I explain to him that I won’t be able
Eventually she sees where I am coming from to get it all done tonight because there’s a
and suggests a couple of additional points to BCG karaoke event that I’ve been looking
consider. We agree to incorporate her forward to all week. He tells me to enjoy
suggestions. myself and to sing something by Tom Jones. I
Once everyone’s had lunch, we separate spend the rest of the afternoon and early
into break-out groups to kick off our evening consolidating the information I’ve
workstreams. Some of the clients have some gathered. I put a plan together to tackle the
really interesting hypotheses that we can test analysis tomorrow. Then I head off to the
regarding potential deal types. Later I will karaoke bar to sing ‘It’s Not Unusual’.
incorporate these into our workplan. We then
draw up a list of traders we will need to talk to THURSDAY
tomorrow to stress-test our ideas. I round off Today is all about using the data I’ve collected

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to show the profitability of certain deal types My manager facilitates the call and each
under various market conditions. I set up an project team member presents a few slides. I
Excel model to generate these results from the notice that one of the other workstreams has
information I’ve gathered from the traders and uncovered some interesting insights regarding
from the background documents I’ve been long-term power deals. I make a note to call
sent. ‘Building a model’ sounds quite exotic, one of them next week to ask a few questions.
but it really means laying out a load of data on I present the slides I wrote last night and one
a spreadsheet and typing in some formulae of the clients asks if I’d taken unsuccessful
somebody told you about. We receive regular deals into account. Relieved that I sense
Excel training but I still forget things. checked my numbers, I reply that I have. We
After a few hours of setting things up I am discuss the implications of my findings and
able to produce some preliminary output. propose that I look at the three most
Things do not look good. Somehow I’ve promising options in more detail.
managed to show that our client has 120% I spend the rest of the morning tying up
market share! Time to take another look at my loose ends and setting up some meetings for
assumptions. I quickly realise that I have next week. I have received a few emails from
assumed that all deals are successful – which the client requesting some data following this
isn’t correct. I take another look at my trader morning’s call. I send on the relevant files and
interview notes and realise that several deal head to lunch, which is provided by the office
types have low success rates (but high on Fridays.
returns). I adjust the model accordingly, thus After lunch I attend a training session on
reducing the projected market share to a far presentation skills. The session concentrates
more sensible number. I check this with a on oral presentation, which is really useful. We
client press release and they are consistent. work in pairs and simulate the meeting
Sense-checking your work is crucial for a experience. The trainer records our
consultant since your credibility with the client performance and plays it back to us – showing
depends on your facts being in order. Now us where we can improve. Training is a big
that I am confident my numbers make sense, I deal at BCG. All consultants are required to
run a few analyses to determine which deals attend at least one session every month, on
are most successful. I then round off the day top of regular week long events, where we get
by putting some slides together to share these the chance to meet people from other offices.
findings with the team tomorrow. After training we head out for a few drinks.
It’s quite sunny so we sit outside to make the
FRIDAY most of the weather. Afterwards a few of us
We have a project team conference call this get some dinner before heading off to some
morning to catch up on this week’s progress. bars.

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RECENT GRADUATES
Internal Business
Consultant
Natasha Kirkham
UNIVERSITY: I’VE FOUND THAT THE MOST
Nottingham
DEGREE: BSc Psychology and
“IMPORTANT SKILLS ARE TO BE
Cognitive Neuroscience PROACTIVE AND TO HAVE A
EMPLOYER:
Nationwide Building Society
LOCATION: Swindon
POSITIVE ATTITUDE
”
joined Nationwide straight after university, MONDAY
I starting out on the graduate scheme, or

NMDP (Nationwide Management
Development Programme) as it’s better
My current assignment is drawing to a close.
I’ve been reviewing our recruitment process in
the branch network, looking to identify
known. The graduate scheme was a great improvements to make sure we get the right
generalist opening to my career, giving me the people into the right jobs as quickly as we
opportunity to spend time working in both can. The assignment has depended on
customer facing and back office business collaboration with personnel, branch recruiters
areas. After 18 months on the graduate scheme and new starters and has taken a lot of data
I’d got a better idea of what I wanted to do, so analysis and process mapping. We’ve drawn
I applied for a consultant position in numerous conclusions and come up with a
Nationwide Business Consultancy (NBC). number of feasible recommendations that
The range of experience on offer and should cut almost two weeks off the time
the opportunity to really understand the taken to fill a vacancy.
workings of the organisation was what Today we delivered the recommendations to
attracted me to consultancy. I loved the the client area - of course the recommendations
idea of tackling a new challenge head on were no surprise to them as we’ve been in
with each new project and working with a close contact throughout and they’ve even
huge range of different people. Now, 18 started implementing some of the quick wins as
months into the consultant role, I’ve we’ve gone on. However, this was our chance
delivered a tool to help our branch network to start to withdraw from the assignment and
improve their sales performance and led hand it over to the client to own the
the re-design of a department’s processes in implementation. As it happens, some of the
preparation for a new operating model recommendations will need our continued
being introduced. support, but as the resource demands have

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RECENT GRADUATES
significantly reduced I’ll be starting to spend Nationwide’s technology teams. The team
most of my time on a new assignment – a great were struggling with setting up their strategy
opportunity for a new challenge! and vision, so they came to NBC for some
guidance in getting started. That’s the great
TUESDAY thing about being an internal consultancy – we
NBC has a genuine commitment to employee can really get stuck in with the quick hit
development, so I spent today on an activities as well as larger scale projects
Advanced Consultancy Skills course with because we already understand the culture
three other consultants from the team. The and background our clients operate in.
course was fantastic and I’ve no doubt the Working with a senior consultant, I helped
content will prove to be invaluable as I the group understand the challenges they
progress further in the world of consultancy. faced, what their strategic objectives should be
It covered skills and tools for succeeding at to overcome these and I also helped the team
every stage of the consulting assignment to set up a vision to aspire to. The team
lifecycle, from starting up and contracting needed someone detached from the everyday
right through to delivering recommendations hustle and bustle to help them see the best
and getting buy-in from clients. The way out and it’s really rewarding when your
development culture in NBC spans across all client tells you you’ve made all the difference!
levels of experience and comes in various
guises. For example, I also have a mentor FRIDAY
and am being sponsored by Nationwide to While Smart Branch is just getting started I’ve
complete a professional qualification. got a bit of spare time on my hands, so I spent
much of today helping a colleague to meet a
WEDNESDAY tight deadline. It essentially involved
I spent today getting to grips with my new constructing from scratch a current state
assignment called Smart Branch. It’s all about process map to document Nationwide’s
capturing best practice in our retail network complaints procedure. Process mapping is a
and delivering a suitable knowledge sharing laborious task and fairly time consuming, but it
solution to best exploit these, enhancing really helps to highlight to the client area how
customer service, sales, staff morale and complex their process is and where the
control in the branches. It’s early days at the inefficiencies lie. Off the back of a current state
moment so we’re defining the problem and map the issues often become much clearer
constructing a statement of intent to take to and then it’s easier to start thinking about
the sponsor. For me that means meeting with solutions and a future state process.
the client area to discuss their needs and I also had a one-to-one with my line
what role they’re looking for us to play and manager today. We have a meeting at least
doing some desk top research to assess what once a month just to make sure everything’s
solutions are already in place. on track and to manage my development.
It looks like it’ll be a challenging project, Again, its part of the development culture and
but one that fits well with Nationwide’s making sure that every project brings with it a
overarching strategic goals. new set of learning opportunities. We discuss
my career goals and progress regularly, so
THURSDAY when it comes to appraisal time I already
Today I facilitated a one-off session for one of know where I stand.

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RECENT GRADUATES
Business Analyst,
Niche
David Jackson
UNIVERSITY: FOR ME, IT WAS IMPORTANT
Imperial College
DEGREE: MSci Chemistry
“ TO FIND A JOB THAT WAS
CHALLENGING AND GENUINELY
EMPLOYER: ZS Associates
LOCATION: London
ENJOYABLE
”
have now been with ZS Associates for MONDAY
I approximately nine months; I joined

straight from university as a Business
Analyst. I studied Chemistry at university and
Throughout this project I have been spending
some time working in the Paris office. Working
abroad and travelling can be common in
although I discounted a career in scientific consultancy, although this has been my first
research, I was still very keen on finding a experience of it after six months in the job. At
career which used the analytical and problem ZS we tend to work in our office whenever we
solving skills which I had developed during can. This morning, I am back in the London
my scientific degree. This led me to consider office. I normally like to get in quite early, this
management consultancy as a career path. I gives me time to read my emails and plan
eventually chose ZS because of its highly what it is I need to do for the rest of the day.
quantitative approach and because I received I am flying out to Poland tomorrow
very good impressions of the company morning for the final meeting of our alignment
throughout the interview process. project. As a result, today I need to go through
and check all of our analyses and make sure
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT that everything is in order. My project manager
I have worked on a number of projects in my on this project is in the Paris office so I have to
time at ZS. Currently, I am involved in training call him on a regular basis to make sure he is
a client to use a sales forecasting tool, which I happy with the work that has been done.
recently updated for them. Before that, I was While I am doing this I get an email from
involved in a sales force alignment project for a another client concerning a project I worked
different client. The length of projects can vary, on a while ago, he wants me to explain
most of mine so far have been a few months. something in a tool I built and send him some
Below is an account of a week I experienced example data. As I designed and built the tool,
whilst working on the alignment project. I am his first port of call. It’s not urgent, but

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RECENT GRADUATES
rather than put it off, I decide to answer this amount of realigning that has to be done
email straight away as I will have more time to though, and we’ll have to do this before our
check through the alignment presentation final meeting tomorrow afternoon.
tomorrow. Monday evening, I go home to
pack and have an early night! THURSDAY
I meet my project manager at breakfast and
TUESDAY we discuss the final changes we’ll need to
I have to make an early start today as my flight make to the alignment. It’s not uncommon to
leaves for Poland at 10.00. Unfortunately this have to make changes, and it’s important to
involves getting up well before 06.00, however realise that the client are paying us to do this
as I did my packing last night I don’t need to work for them and whilst we can make
worry about doing anything in the morning. I recommendations, the final decision and
make my flight and arrive in my hotel room in alignment belong to them. We get our work
Warsaw in the afternoon. My project manager done and grab a sandwich for lunch before
is flying in from Paris later this afternoon, so I heading back to the client site.
am able to spend a few hours in my room We meet with the company’s managing
checking the results and presentation that we director and show him the final alignment and
are going to give tomorrow. results. Overall he is pleased with how the
At ZS we have developed some sales rep whole process has gone. We check which
territory design software called MAPS®. I had results and data they will need from us to
never used it until this project, and I’ve had to implement this alignment. In the taxi on the
learn how it works fairly quickly, I will be way back to the airport we make a list of the
demonstrating it to the client tomorrow! I check final results we will need to prepare to send to
through the MAPS® system we have built and them. I arrive back in London at 22.00 and fall
make sure all the settings and colours look just asleep on the train home!
as we want them to. It’s a small thing but it
helps to look professional if you’re giving some FRIDAY
important advice to a client! Back in the ZS office, I catch up with admin
My project manager arrives in the hotel in and my colleagues. I prepare my expense
the evening and we go out for a drink and reports for my trips to Paris and Poland. I
some dinner and relax ahead of our meeting. start to prepare some of the data from the
Polish alignment so we can send it to the
WEDNESDAY client next week. I have a training session
We head to the client office for 09.00. Today, today which will take up most of the
we are meeting with the national product afternoon. I also catch up with my next
managers to present our new recommended project manager to discuss a new project I’ll
alignment for their sales reps. It’s a long day, be starting soon. This will be another tool
and we don’t leave the client site until 20.00. building project, which I enjoy. I leave the
Overall, they are happy with our office early and head to the pub with a few
recommendations and very impressed with friends, it has been a very busy week and
the MAPS® software. There is a small I’m looking forward to the weekend!

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RECENT GRADUATES
Consultant, Niche
Bethan Ellis
UNIVERSITY: BUILDING STRONG AND
Queens’ College, Cambridge
DEGREE: MA English
“ LASTING WORKING
RELATIONSHIPS IS THE KEY TO
EMPLOYER: Metapraxis
LOCATION: Kingston upon Thames
IMPLEMENTING GOOD IDEAS
”
etapraxis isn’t the most conventional clients are blue-chip multinationals and work
M of firms and my introduction to the

profession was fairly unconventional.
The company hosted a recruitment event
has taken me to Mexico City, Paris and
Sweden. The one constant has been the need
to develop and maintain relationships with
during my second year studying English at clients whose first priority may not be my
Cambridge and I spent 20 minutes giving my project, and who have a host of other
future boss an outspoken insight into my demands on their time. After four years with
(undergraduate) opinions about management Metapraxis, I'm more involved with the project
consultancy. The moral of the story? It management and business advisory aspects of
sometimes pays to speak your mind and it our work than the technical application of the
certainly pays to keep hold of any business management library – although that doesn't
cards you are given. mean I can't roll up my sleeves and get
When I joined Metapraxis, I was clear involved when the need arises. My projects
about two things: that I didn’t want to be a have taken me to locations across Europe, and
small part of a big organisation and that I have varied from improving monthly reporting
didn’t want to become an accountant. I think and analysis to developing models to support
this was largely down to my reluctance to take strategic planning. I still enjoy building
a ‘safe’ job and I particularly value the working relationships with clients based on
autonomy and responsibility I have here. What trust, and feel that it’s a big part of my job.
I didn’t realise when I was challenging my Over the past couple of years, I’ve been
future boss on the worth of management involved in developing a strategic model to
consultants was that the challenge of support mid-term planning at a major global
demonstrating value is a core part of the consumer goods company. We’ve needed to
profession. find a way to support strategic discussions
Although I work for a small company, our right up to Board level, while opening up the

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model to financial managers who provide the own has its own enjoyment, particularly if you
localised input that forms the basis of the plan. know what to expect from the food.
This year has also brought a whole new
challenge: allowing planners access to our TUESDAY
model from far-flung corners of the globe. An early start, and over to my client’s offices to
The project was re-commissioned this year set up a room for training. A lot of my job this
by the director of a team that provides morning is introducing and discussing the
financial analysis to support Board discussions ideas behind the planning model. As the
and external announcements. The analytics group this morning are all senior managers in
team have a very high level of demand on the company but haven’t been involved in
their time, so a large part of my role this year designing the fine detail of the project, there’s
has been leading the project: making sure that a healthy level of challenge. This time last
we get the information and direction we need year, I was teaching users which buttons to
from the client sponsors, setting and delivering press rather than discussing the principle and
project timelines, managing user support and concepts behind the model. The moment
training, and identifying and anticipating any when I get their engagement, when the penny
issues that might put the project at risk. My drops and they’re happy with what we’re
weeks have been pretty busy – and the week aiming to do, is very satisfying, and a reminder
we rolled out our model to a large user that I’ve moved on almost as much as the
community was no exception. project has.
After a canteen lunch and a brief spell
MONDAY borrowing a desk in their offices, it was
In the afternoon I’m running some training another flight and then back to the London
jointly with our most vocal critic from last year. offices to formally agree that the model would
He’s been very enthusiastic about the changes go live in the morning. A few last tweaks and
we’ve made, and is a big advocate of allowing issues to discuss, but overall the team is happy
his team to take responsibility for their own that we’re ready to contact users and roll out
areas within the plan. This means that our the model.
training is held via the Internet with a large
globally-based team – with me and my former WEDNESDAY
nemesis alone with only a speakerphone for Our model goes live to users across Europe,
company. Luckily he’s very happy with what the Americas and Asia today. I send out a
we’ve changed this year, and the session goes tailored pack to each of them with the
well. information they need to use it, and then we
At about 17.50 I look up at the clock on the have to watch and wait. All seems well – our
wall, and realise that I have about an hour first users get on line without too many
before my flight takes off. Luckily everything’s difficulties, and we start to explore the picture
to hand, so I shoulder my laptop and head for of the business with them.
the door. I arrive at City airport with a couple
of minutes to spare, although I’m sure I’m by THURSDAY
no means the last to check in. A particularly We meet with some of the key stakeholders
bumpy ride this evening, but I make up for it to discuss how they would like to visualise
by remembering my way to the place I ate last and understand the information from the
time I was over in Rotterdam – eating on your model. This is one of the core areas of our

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business, and it’s always interesting to FRIDAY

communicate the things we think are End of the first week post go-live. The
important: sharing forward-looking project team takes time to review progress,
information, ensuring better understanding and we come up with a proposal on how to
into key issues and questions, and manage the next few weeks. Planning has
encouraging curiosity and exploration. The become an increasingly important part of my
biggest step forward is an agreement to role, and it’s when you try to break a project
share analyses across the business. This will down into steps that can be shared across a
offer users insight into how their plans will team that choices and issues become
be assessed at the top of the business, and apparent. Communicating and sharing ideas
should contribute to better engagement can be as important as coming up with
with the planning process and more robust solutions in the first place; sometimes doing
plans. so can be the biggest challenge of all.

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Human Resources
Consultant
Kate Woods
UNIVERSITY: I AM ALWAYS KEPT ON MY
University College London
DEGREE: BA (Hons) Geography
“
TOES AND BEING CHALLENGED
EMPLOYER: Towers Perrin

LOCATION: London
CONSTANTLY
”
hen I finished university I knew that specific, and possibly rare, roles in the
W I wanted to enter the corporate

world, but not financial services like
many of my friends who are now
market. We also provide pay information on
how an executive should be remunerated
based on what competitors are paying. The
accountants. I wanted to understand what work is varied with some projects lasting 1-2
makes people tick in the workplace; if weeks, whilst others can last 1-2 years, plus I
people really are the greatest asset in a do not work on just one client at a time, but
company, how do you release that potential? often support 5 - 6 clients simultaneously –
So HR consultancy seemed like a good place some will be private sector clients, others
to satisfy my curiosity. I have now been here public sector clients. It means that there isn’t
for four and a half years and the penny is really a typical day in consulting as each day
beginning to drop! brings its surprises, so I’ll recall what I did
The crux of the job as a reward last week.
consultant, the area I specialise in, is to
support clients in finding the optimum way MONDAY
to reward, motivate and engage their I am currently seconded into a government
workforce. Some clients will ask me to work organisation as their interim reward
with them to build a new pay structure, or specialist, so I work there two days a week.
perhaps to design a bonus scheme for I’m helping them to complete their pay remit
employees, or possibly to design a for the year. This entails them asking HM
performance management system which pays Treasury for permission to spend what they
a bonus. Other typical requests for our need to in order to recruit, motivate and
services include building competency retain staff via base pay, bonuses, allowances
frameworks, running customised surveys to and benefits. It is great exposure to a client
gather pay and benefits information on environment. On a daily basis I will work

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with other HR colleagues to propose how and individuals. Today I drew up the project
the reward structure needs to change in plan and designed the interview guide and
order to be aligned with civil service focus group guide.
guidance and also aligned with the strategy
of the organisation. Once the proposals are THURSDAY
decided, I work with the finance team to Finally, a day in the office! I love being out
model the cost implications to see whether with clients, but sometimes it’s a relief to get
or not they are feasible. back to my desk and take stock of my other
client projects as well as the projects that
TUESDAY other colleagues are working on. It is
Work is sponsoring me to do an MSc in Human important to be aware of new projects so
Resource Management at Kings College that as I finish working with a client, I have
London and this was my final study day! I have new work to pick up in order to stay busy.
been doing it for two years part-time and am The day started at 08.30 with an interview.
due to finish very soon! I cannot wait to get my We are currently recruiting and I was given
weekends back. It has been incredibly tough the opportunity to interview the candidate
working full-time and studying as well – but a for half an hour. I had been checking my
great opportunity and has really helped my emails remotely in the evenings, so luckily I
technical knowledge. Towers Perrin does not had been able to keep track of my other
require extra qualifications for my role, but I client projects over the week. I look after the
have found it useful to understand the theory billing for my clients so look at how many
behind the practical solutions that we design hours we have spent on a project that
and implement for clients. It is enabling me to month, ensuring that it is within the
understand the broader suite of HR issues that estimated fees we quoted and send out the
my clients face and hopefully provide them bill. I have five other client projects going on
with better support as a result. at the moment, so took the time in the office
to catch up with the colleagues I am working
WEDNESDAY with – we do a lot of team-based work – and
Back to my secondment! We worked more corresponded with clients to ensure the
on the remit, especially on the modelling of project is on track and we are prepared for
how certain pay awards could affect the upcoming meetings.
overall pay bill. Someone in their finance
department is helping me to model these. FRIDAY
We also started a review of their I spent the morning in the office designing a
performance management system to training needs analysis tool for a client I have
understand whether it is still fit for purpose, been working with over the past two
prompted by employee survey results which months, as well as writing a proposal for a
suggest this may not be the case. I will be project to conduct research on how much
conducting some employee research which lawyers should be paid in the media sector.
includes focus groups and leadership In the afternoon I went to a different
interviews to work out what employees government department to deliver a training
currently like/dislike about the system and session to a group of managers on how to
how they would like it to be improved and successfully manage the performance of their
become more meaningful for them as teams employees. Towers Perrin research shows

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that the top factor that influences whether or Therefore, managers are critical to a happy
not an employee is engaged and wants to and high performing workforce. Once the
stay with an organisation and do their best session finished, I sneakily slipped out the
for that organisation is the line manager door to head home at 17.00 – a couple of
taking an interest in their well-being. hours earlier than normal!

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Associate Consultant
Rakhi Bodhani
DEGREE: BA (Hons) PPE, MSc I REALLY ENJOY THE FAST
Management IMEX
EMPLOYER:
“
PACED NATURE OF THE JOB AND
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP THE NEW CHALLENGES EACH
LOCATION: London
UNIVERSITY: Oxford
DAY BRINGS
”
fter completing my undergraduate for over eight months now, I am convinced
A degree and a Masters in management

at the LSE, a number of career paths
lay open to me, but I became interested in
that I made the right choice. I work with a
supportive, bright and diverse set of people
and have been exposed to a range of
strategy consulting. The chance to analyse industries and interesting business problems.
key business issues and gain exposure to a Although a relatively new joiner to the
variety of industries and organisations was group, I have had significant client contact,
really attractive. I also liked the emphasis on often with top management teams. We are
problem solving and creative thinking, as really encouraged to take on early
well as the client interaction. While at Oxford responsibility and everyday brings a new
I had always been fascinated by the business challenge.
world and so strategy consulting seemed like It is difficult to describe a typical week in
an ideal career choice. Strategy since every week is different! We
Having chosen to pursue a career in work on a project by project basis, with each
consulting, I was confused as to which of the one usually lasting about three to four
many consultancies to join. I attended a weeks. One week you could find yourself
presentation given by the strategy group with interviewing industry experts in the
PricewaterhouseCoopers and was really doughnut market and the next you could be
impressed by the group’s friendly and analysing the business processes of a large
‘boutique’ culture. Its focus on the deal household name. However, I have made an
environment was also appealing, providing a attempt to describe a fairly typical week, so
varied client base (corporate businesses to here goes…
private equity houses) and different types of
work, ranging from due diligence to pure MONDAY
strategy work. Having been with the group I get into the office at 08.30, just in time to

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set up and read my emails before our project with the management team to discuss their
team meeting. I am currently working on a new business plan and the assumptions
joint project with our business recovery team behind it. The CEO explains the new
to examine the recovery plan of an ailing initiatives the company plans to put into
retail chain. We have already completed two place in order to drive growth going forward,
phases of the work looking at the short and such as more targeted promotion and
medium term market prospects. In today’s development of their internet channel.
kick off meeting we discuss our approach to I then spend the rest of the afternoon
the third phase of work, which is an analysis finishing my previous analysis, this time
of the retailer’s business plan and store looking at co-located stores ie locations
portfolio. Management would like to see a where there is more than one store close by,
draft of our work by the end of the week, so and whether this has any financial impact on
we get to work right away. the business.
I spend the rest of the day becoming
familiar with the store data we have and WEDNESDAY
thinking about the type of analyses we could Weekly training sessions are organised for
undertake. new joiners to the group. This morning I
attend a two hour session on the pyramid
TUESDAY principle, an effective method of structuring
It’s another early start as I attend an reports. After the training session I have a
industrial products team meeting in the coffee with my counsellor to discuss my
morning. We have a bi-weekly meeting to progress so far. We talk a bit about my
inform us of new project work in the sector current project and he gives me some good
and potential leads. I am aligned to the advice about how to tackle this type of
industrial products sector, but we really work assignment.
across sectors and can specialise later on. After lunch with my colleagues in the
Today, some of my colleagues present on a canteen, I get back to the store portfolio
recent project that they worked on. analysis. I sit down with my manager to
I spend the rest of the morning learning discuss the key messages we want to bring
how to use a software programme which out in our report. After drafting some blank
allows you to perform various analyses on a slides together, I spend the rest of the day
company’s store portfolio. I use the software analysing the data and trying to understand
to place the retailer’s stores on a map to the key findings. A particularly interesting
indicate high areas of concentration. I then piece of analysis which I carry out examines
define the store catchment areas and analyse the rationale behind management’s planned
the characteristics of these catchments, for store closures. I find that co-located stores
instance the catchment population by age are amongst the least profitable and
and social grade. This allows some insight management is planning to close most of
into the factors driving store profitability. I these stores. However, I also identify an
find that stores tend to be more profitable in additional 11 stores that are co-located but
areas of higher social grade, which makes not planned for closure. This is an issue I
sense due to the group’s focus on luxury plan to discuss with the management team
goods. later on.
In the afternoon I attend a conference call In the evening I attend a celebratory

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dinner for a project I worked on a few everyday work. After the lecture we head to
months ago. It’s a great chance to relax with a nearby pub for a drink to end the day.
my colleagues and to get to know them
better, with it satisfying to know that the FRIDAY
client was happy with our report and ended I spend the morning looking at
up buying the target. management’s projected sales growth by
product and comparing it to our assumptions
THURSDAY on market growth. Management’s forecasts
In the morning, we have another call with appear to be reasonable, although there
management in which we discuss the seems to be risk around some areas where
outcomes of our analysis. Management gives our research suggests a more pessimistic
us their views on each of the additional view of the market in the future. As an
stores we identified for closure – some of outcome of this, I propose some adjustments
which we find are either profitable after all to their future revenue forecasts, essentially
or have slightly different store formats. We reducing their expected growth rate to reflect
also discuss the new initiatives management the tougher market conditions that we
plans to implement and gain a good identified.
understanding of the potential revenue uplift In the afternoon I begin generating charts
these could lead to which we expect to and relevant commentary to display our key
partially offset sales declines from store findings. It is nice to finally outline our
closures. conclusions after having completed the
In the afternoon we have a business analysis.
group event where we work through some Finally, I have some time to catch up on
case studies in small groups and attend a my week’s admin. I check my diary for next
lecture on strategy frameworks given by a week and then head to a nearby bar with
professor from London Business School. It is some friends from the office. It has been a
interesting to draw comparisons between the busy week and I am looking forward to
strategy frameworks and examples from our relaxing over the weekend!

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:31 Page 39
Career paths
Strategy Consultant
Consulting Director
E-Commerce Consultant
Management Consultant
Partner, Internal Audit & Risk Management
Head of Executive Compensation & Rewards Practice
Consultant Trainer
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CAREER PATHS
Strategy Consultant
Tabitha Elwes is currently one of 12 partners leading the London firm of
Spectrum Strategy Consultancy. A specialist firm, Spectrum focuses
exclusively on the content and telecommunications industries. Tabitha’s focus
is on media and private equity.
CURRENT POSITION the first 18 months was really an experience of

I am currently one of 12 partners leading the being thrown in at the deep end and learning
London strategy consultancy firm of Spectrum to swim. If I had realised what I was getting
Strategy Consultancy. My focus is on media myself into I would probably never have taken
and private equity. In February of this year the job, but, much to my surprise, I loved the
Spectrum merged with the Value Partners work. I was given huge amounts of
Group. We now have over 400 professionals responsibility, worked extraordinarily long
in Barcelona, Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Hong hours and found that I really enjoyed rising to
Kong, Istanbul, London, Milan, Mumbai, Rio, all the challenges.
Rome, Shanghai, Sao Paolo, Singapore and After 18 months I was sent to the New
Sydney, focusing on key growth markets. York office and became part of a more
structured career programme, which included
THAT FIRST STEP three months of comprehensive training
As the end of university approached I found alongside all the new MBA recruits. I was
the prospect of choosing a career asked to specialise in one area – which I think
overwhelming. I had no vocational calling as was valuable at this stage as it allowed me to
such (that dream of being an opera singer start to build confidence and a reputation. I
fortunately stymied by complete lack of talent). chose to work in the media team, because it
As a result, this being 1987, I decided to follow was an area where there were huge amounts
the crowd into investment banking. The fact of change and where there was an interesting
that banking was both fashionable and offered range of clients.
sums of money beyond my wildest dreams
was certainly an incentive. However, what BUSINESS SCHOOL
made banking particularly appealing was that After four years with Lehmans I decided to go
it would allow me to keep my options open. to business school. Again, it was for a mixture
I chose Lehman Brothers primarily because, of reasons. First, though I enjoyed my job, I
as I trawled through the milk round, they were was not sure that I wanted to stay in finance (it
the people with whom I felt the greatest was the media industry that fascinated me
personal affinity; not the most systematic rather than the balance sheets). Second, having
approach, but it served me well (and should worked extremely hard for four years, I
not be discounted). Lehmans had just started a wanted to have a year where my only
small corporate finance team in London and responsibility was to myself. Third, I felt that I

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AS A FOUNDING MEMBER OF A SMALL Career Path

“ FIRM, I HAVE HAD THE BENEFIT OF Tabitha Elwes
Spectrum Strategy Consultancy
WORKING OVER THE YEARS WITH MY
COLLEAGUES TO BUILD THAT FIRM
”
needed to complement what I had learnt at
Lehmans with more systematic learning at
business school.
I chose INSEAD because I’d been in the US
for two years and wanted to go somewhere 1987
different; because the course was only one Graduated, Oxford University
year and because I had friends who had loved
their time there. It was a wonderful year – very 1987
intensive teaching and extremely hard work, Joined Corporate Finance team at
but very stimulating. I learnt most from the Lehman Brothers, London
team work – at INSEAD they put you in teams
that are designed to be provocative – and it 1989
really works. It was also a year of enormous Moved into the Media team, Lehman
fun, wild parties, cabarets and jazz bands. Brothers, New York
AFTER BUSINESS SCHOOL 1991

Coming out of business school I was nervous INSEAD, Fontainbleau, France
that whatever career decision I made would be
definitive (in fact that is not the case and some 1992
of my contemporaries have shifted directions Joined Media & Telecoms practice, Booz
successfully several times since leaving Allen & Hamilton, London
INSEAD). I chose a management consultancy
(Booz.Allen) because I felt that I needed to 1994
consolidate my learning from INSEAD with Founding member of Spectrum Strategy
further project based experience and because Consultants, London
they had a strong media team. My original
plan was to spend a couple of years at Booz 2001
before going into an industry position. Sabbatical in Africa
My experience at Booz was broad – three
months helping to restructure a news 2007
gathering agency, six months working on a Spectrum merges with Value Partners
fixed licence bid for the second network in
Hong Kong. I learnt a lot, but felt a bit like a
cog in the wheel of a large firm. As a result,

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CAREER PATHS
when I was asked to join Spectrum I leapt at member of a small firm, I have had the benefit
the chance. of working over the years with my colleagues
As a founding member of a small firm, I to build that firm – that is both exciting and
have had the benefit of working over the years nerve wracking at times.
with my colleagues to build that firm. Two years ago I took a 12-month
sabbatical to work in Africa on HIV and
FROM START UP TO ESTABLISHMENT AIDS projects (after eight years at Spectrum
There were six of us involved in the starting I needed a break but did not want to
up of Spectrum. The founding partners had leave). I then returned to focus on running
recognised that there was a huge amount of our commercial media practice. I now work
work in the convergent services sector that part-time as I have a small daughter. This
was not being addressed by the bigger gives a good balance to my work and
consultancy firms. It was highly speculative for family life and, to date, has worked
the first year – we had only a limited amount successfully.
of capital and did not know how quickly we My experience of consultancy has been
could build the business. As a small firm, we very positive – on successful projects the
all quickly became adept at turning our hands team sees the benefit they are delivering and
to whatever was required. Though I have there is always a new challenge and problem
continued to focus primarily on media I have to solve. However, it is not a cushy life: it
been sent to manage telecoms projects in Asia can be very hard work and can be
when the need has arisen. unpredictable – ‘We need you to be in
Over the course of the last 12 years I have Johannesburg on Monday for the next four
grown with Spectrum. I rose basically by weeks’ may sound exciting at 21, but one’s
broadening my experience base, taking enthusiasm for such trips quickly wanes.
increasingly senior roles in projects – rising to However, despite this, I am still a consultant
manager and then partner. I never imagined 15 years after leaving business school
that I would stay in consulting for so long but because I love the challenge of the work and
it is so stimulating – every project brings the joy of working with intelligent,
something new. In addition, as a founding stimulating people.

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Consulting Director
Nicola Davis has been a Management Consultant for the last 14 years and is
now one of the Founding Director’s of N2 Consulting based in the Midlands.
The company focuses on developing business strategies and translating these
into deliverable solutions to achieve sustainable growth and change for
organisations. N2 now has clients within SMEs, the public and not-for-profit
sectors.
riginally I started off life wanting to be a the MD was so impressed by my letter and
O barrister, the years of study followed by

a pupilage soon changed my thinking
on that! So by the time university loomed and I
proactive approach that he decided to
interview me and offered me the job anyway.
I quickly rose through the ranks with this
still didn’t have a clear picture of my future, consultancy, ending up with a team of ten
taking a more generic degree seemed the most consultants and responsibility for the education
sensible option. On that basis I graduated in sector three years later. The firm only
1994 from Leeds Metropolitan University with employed 20 people so managing 50% of it at
a 2.1 in Business Information Management. 25 years old was quite a feat. As much as I
As I still did not have a clear idea of what I loved my time with this small consultancy
wanted to be I decided to look for an (which later became part of the Tribal
interesting job that constantly changed – at Consulting Group), after five years I decided it
least then I would not be stuck with was time to move on and experience a larger
something that later turned out not to suit me. firm.
I originally started life as a graduate associate It took me a while to find the right firm to
for Leeds Met University, working on a move to, I have always trusted my gut instinct
European funded project with a local textile when meeting new firms and insisted on
company to do some process re-engineering further meetings following the interviews to
work. Whilst I didn’t stay long with this make sure there are common values amongst
company, it did help validate for me that the people I would ultimately be working
management consultancy was what I really with. In the end it took 18 months to find the
wanted to do. right firm and it was a medium-sized
From here I applied, without success, to a consultancy based in London specialising in
number of larger consultancies. However I did performance management but looking to
see an advertisement for business consultants widen its service offering. That was a real
at a small, boutique consultancy in attraction for me as I, amongst others, would
Nottingham. I did not meet any of the criteria be responsible for setting up and selling the
within the advertisement but decided to apply new services. And so I joined this forward-
anyway. I actually started off the letter thinking and fast growing consultancy.
recognising that very fact! Fortunately for me consultancy.

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THE EXPERIENCE WITH DELOITTE GAVE of doing the right thing for your client and
“ ME THE CAPABILITY, NETWORK, AND
delivering value to them.
The experience with Deloitte gave me the
CONFIDENCE TO SET UP MY OWN capability, network, and confidence to set up
my own company.
COMPANY
” After five years with Deloitte I started to
think longer term. The larger consulting
model often works on the partner principal,
I stayed with this medium-sized consultancy whereby you work to become a partner
for the next two years. Unfortunately their (perhaps over a five to seven year period)
ambitions were not to be realised and they and share in the equity of the firm. I decided
started to struggle financially. I effectively not to pursue this option, mainly a lifestyle
became a contractor only earning a salary choice. By this point I was 32 and had lived
when I was on fee earning work. At 27 I felt in hotels or company flats for the past 12
too young and inexperienced to be years. I wanted to be able to settle in one
operating within this environment and place and cut down on the travel and long
wanted more financial and organisational hours. I also wanted to think about a family
stability. I started to look around for a new and achieving more of a work life balance.
job and for the first time used an agency. Last but not least I wanted more autonomy
Within one week I had several interviews over the type of consulting work I did and the
lined up, the first of which was with Deloitte business model I worked within. I actually left
Consulting (this later became part of Deloitte in May 2005 and delayed setting up
Deloitte). N2 Consulting until September 2005. When I
Following my interview with Deloitte I left Deloitte I had an outline idea for the
was offered a post. I wasn’t sure about company, but no real detail of what or how I
joining mainly because of its size and more was going to make the company work. I took
complex range of consulting services – both the summer off to write the business case and
of which were new to me. I spent some time terms of reference for the business. The
with a few people from Deloitte, who had experience with Deloitte gave me the
interviewed me originally, to help me decide capability, network and confidence to set up
whether we had common values. I liked the my own company and of course the CV to go
people I met and on that basis accepted an back into mainstream consulting should the
offer with Deloitte. need arise.
I spent the next five years working for The last two years has been hard work
Deloitte and truly enjoyed my time there. but incredibly fulfilling. My business partner
Personal development was rapid, the work (also my husband!) joined N2 in November
incredibly diverse, opportunities constantly 2005 and since then we have gone from
available to you and a great bunch of strength to strength. We have a number of
people to work with – many of my good associates we work with, some fantastic
friendships now were formed during my clients and are just in the process of
time at Deloitte. There was a period in the employing our first junior consultant. We
middle, which was somewhat difficult, only have ourselves to answer to and can
when the consulting market (and general really be innovative in our approach, as we
economy) was in decline. Even so this was are not constrained by a large organisational
good experience learning the importance structure. However, we do live with risks –

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not having any client work effectively means

no cash for the business and therefore no
Career Path
salary for us. Our reputation is key and we Nicola Davis
need to balance the time we spend earning N2 Consulting
money against the time we spend setting up
the next lot of opportunities for the
company. Even so, being a director of a
consultancy is definitely the job for me.
1994
Graduated, Leeds Metropolitan
University (LMU)
1994 – 1995
Graduate Associate, LMU
1995 – 1999
Ben Johnson-Hill, Associates
1999 – 2001
PMI Management Consultants
2001 – 2005
Deloitte Consulting
2005 – Present
N2 Consulting

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E-Commerce
Consultant
Richard Martin is an independent Management Consultant. In 1997, after
seven years, he left Andersen Consulting to start his own company and
explore new areas of business that were not possible from his position in a
mainstream consultancy.
he opportunities within management truth that there is never no market for
T consultancy have to be unparalleled in

the career market. This career, by
definition, has to be at the vanguard of
consultancy, just no market for poor value. It
has been equally possible for corporate and
individual consultants to thrive or fail. There
business thought-leadership in whichever is something fairly Darwinian about the
sector you choose, or it is nothing. industry that is re-emerging and a warning
It is strange, having looked through these not to mistake corporate size as a predictive
pages 17 years ago and decided that factor in consulting success when the
management consultancy was 'for me', to find market’s yardstick is quality and value.
myself now contributing to the same career My own consulting values are based on
guide for tomorrow's consultants. If this frankness; a passion to improve absolutely
summary of my experience motivates others anything; to bring people along with me and
to choose this career, as I was motivated to, to demonstrate unassailable professionalism
then this will be a job well done. I have in the workplace and in my work. I have a
avoided using the style of a 'typical day' in the reputation for taking on work that people
lines that follow, as I have never had one. either will not touch – or have touched
Any attempt to construct one would be already and now need to fix; possibly my
artificial and probably meaningless. This may best accolade came from the job description
be the first factor about consultancy that either for my replacement on one client’s site: ‘can
attracts or deters you from this career path. you find us someone like Richard Martin’.
The second factor, which will hopefully Market opportunities do exist for
attract you, is a summary of my own career independent consultants, to take forward
as it stands today (with emphasis on the business thinking and become renowned for
word ‘stand’). The consulting industry, it. This was something I resolved very early
consultancies and representative institutes on that I would like to try to do and it
have been through the mill in the last five explains both my departure from Andersen
years, exposing overcapacity in the Consulting as well as the amount that I cram
consulting market; the decrease of big-ticket into any given 24-hour slot.
opportunities for single suppliers; increased As a consequence, I feel that pinch of
client and shareholder scepticism of excitement in my career as a whole that one
consulting value-added and so on. Yet there does when undertaking a new piece of client
has been no fundamental shift in the basic work: things can go one of two ways…

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CAREER PATHS
THIS CAREER, BY DEFINITION, HAS TO Career Path

“ BE AT THE VANGUARD OF BUSINESS Richard Martin
Independent Management
THOUGHT-LEADERSHIP IN WHICHEVER
Consultant
SECTOR YOU CHOOSE, OR IT IS NOTHING
”
THE DIVERSITY OF THE JOB
E-commerce consultancy and
management consultancy
This is my bread and butter. I have been 1991 – 1997
involved in e-commerce projects since 1998 Andersen Consulting. Worked on
and am actively engaged in one now. What finance and energy markets both in UK
excites me about this sector is the pace and and abroad
power of technological development on
electronic channels (eg, web, digital TV, 1998
mobile phones) and the application of these Independent Consultant, helped
technologies right across the business / Woolwich Plc with the Open Plan
consumer spectrum of activities. We are still banking launch
on the nursery slopes of integrating physical
and electronic channels within businesses 2002
and embracing the re-structuring of business Assisted with the merger of two major
operations and change management that this UK banks
integration mandates. There is a long way to
go in delivering the full value of these 2003
technologies and consequently much Successful small business start-up
consulting to do!
Personally, I am usually involved in 2004 – 2005
defining companies’ business and technology Became Fellow of the Institute of
integration strategies, determining the Management Consultancy
organisational implications of these and in
mobilising and managing large programmes 2006
of change. I have sometimes been the only Assisted an international bank with
external consultant involved in client teams mortgage service delivery over
and at other times work with individual or electronic channels
corporate consultants in client engagements.
2007
Public speaker, author, sounding board Assisting a large UK bank virtualise its
My second career path is more public-facing. local desktop applications, data and
I have been a keynote speaker at public infrastructure
events and have addressed audiences at

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institutions such as IBM, the Cranfield School would get itchy feet fairly rapidly. So I
of Management, The Giga Information guessed that professional services would
Group, the Institute of Management fulfil me more.
Consultancy, The Association of MBAs, the Second, with a business-oriented
Said Business School, Oxford and The British university course and a compulsion to build
Computer Society. I have been published on things, I steered clear of services I saw as
Electronic Commerce and its organisational purely analytical – such as accountancy –
implications. I have also reviewed a number and searched for something that would
of pieces of research for the press and am exploit my analytical background, but also
occasionally asked to quote or write opinion allow me to put things back together again.
for industry magazines or for market research It so happened that most of the major
organisations, such as the Giga Information accountancy companies also offered
Group. management consultancy and it was to
guides such as this that I turned to find out
Developing small businesses more. The rest, as they say, is history.
My third career path is membership of a Having become independent, I said that
London-based 'business angel' venture my career could turn one of two ways. The
capital company. The theory behind business picture I have painted demonstrates
angel assistance is to provide quality advice reasonable success, backed up by a huge
to small companies without charging them amount of work – much of it in my personal
prohibitive consulting fees. Remuneration is time – the nurturing of a good set of
usually success-based and often takes the contacts, membership of the Institute of
form of part financial payment, together with Management Consultancy and the CMC
a share of equity in the company. I am an certification and lastly, a large amount of
e-commerce adviser and consequently have good luck. Private practice for me has
the opportunity to see a number of the provided remuneration, motivation and
smallest companies that have ideas for e- opportunity that I could not realise in a big
businesses. This makes a valuable contrast corporate consultancy. I believe that my
for me when compared with my work in success can continue so long as I remain
large, established companies on exactly the independent, fleet of foot, well briefed and
same subject! Both large and small firms tend so long as there is something to which I feel
to attribute failure to ‘under-funding’. In both I can contribute.
cases I would suggest it is primarily because
of ‘under-managing’. Again – much mileage THE DOWNSIDE AND THE RISKS
for consultancy! Be under no illusion, however, that the life of
the independent management consultant
WHY MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY? requires an acceptance of risk that you will
The question you probably want answered is not experience in larger companies and levels
‘how did you know that management of entrepreneurialism that would credit
consultancy was for you?’ The answer is Richard Branson. It is not for the faint-hearted.
twofold. First, I could not justify choosing If I had one piece of advice for early entrants
one organisation in one industry and opting to the independent market, it would be to be
to spend the next 30 or so years within it mindful of what your 'bolt-hole' career would
when I had no basis for assessing what it be if business was not coming your way.
would really be like and a fair inkling that I Determine too what criteria (probably

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CAREER PATHS
financial) would force you down this 'bolt- THE OPPORTUNITIES

hole'. At least this makes the management of There is a lot of opportunity out there at the
your personal risk an objective thing and moment. The rate of change in business
should prevent such uncertainty colouring since I joined 16 years ago has grown
your more important business thoughts. exponentially and every new opportunity
Perhaps the words of one of my mentors seems to open more and more doors. The
would help frame the right mindset: ‘Richard, horizon is expanding as fast as technology
there is no such thing as a financial problem. and our imaginations will let it and there is
It means implicitly you have an ideas, room for anyone who will take the
opportunities, or contacts problem!’ chance.

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CAREER PATHS
Management
Consultant
Rory Burghes is a Management Consultant in Consulting Services at
Capgemini. He has over ten years of experience working for clients engaged
in large change programmes.
o, ‘Why did you choose Consulting?’ is the Having experienced a diverse and varied
S question I am often asked. To be honest I

didn’t – not exactly. I started out with a
degree in Geography, which didn’t readily lend
two years I needed to select the area of
consulting I wished to specialise in. This was
easy for me as I had learnt my strengths and
itself to a specific business career, and I hadn’t where my interests lie – within the human side
really thought too hard about my next move of managing change.
following my graduation. I made a decision that I therefore joined the change
I needed to work in an environment that was management and organisation development
both challenging and rewarding, whilst offering group. Now it was time to develop a more
the breadth of experience and development, deep routed skill set and an area of
which would give me excellent commercial expertise. Again, developing this in a
experience once I had decided what I really consulting environment proved invaluable as
wanted to do. it offered the chance to work with experts
Having spent a second gap year travelling who had many years’ of experience in the
and working in a number of temporary field, access to the latest thinking, and the
positions I joined Ernst & Young Consulting as opportunity to work on varied projects,
a Research Associate in what was later utilising these skills to deliver sustainable
Capgemini’s Consultant Development change for the client.
Programme. After Capgemini took over Ernst & Young’s
Five days later I found myself in the project consulting practice, I continued to develop my
office of a pan-European change programme technical and management skills as part of the
for a global finance company managing the change management team, until I was in a
project for five European countries! While this position to manage the entire change
seemed a fast start it confirmed my thoughts of component of a good size programme.
a career in Consulting – you are quickly It was at this point that I sought a change
involved, given early responsibility and hands of direction. This time my motivation was to
on development of your business skills. expand my knowledge of business and
The two years as a junior consultant business issues, but at the same time retain my
continued apace and I experienced five projects, link to change management and utilise the
three of which were pan-European. Don’t be project experience I had developed over the
fooled, I received both formal and informal years. This led me to my current role working
training for my different roles, but the benefit is as a facilitator in Capgemini’s unique
that you are doing it for real from the word go. Accelerated Solutions Environment. I currently

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I RECEIVED BOTH FORMAL AND Career Path

“
INFORMAL TRAINING FOR MY DIFFERENT Rory Burghes
Capgemini
ROLES, BUT THE BENEFIT IS THAT YOU ARE
DOING IT FOR REAL FROM THE WORD GO
”
run events for up to 120 people to help them
solve their biggest and most complex business
challenges. For each client we develop a
bespoke event, similar to an interactive 1994
workshop, with a team of up to 15 consultants Graduated, Bristol University
and contractors. This is held in a unique space
we have developed to help clients solve their 1995
issues creatively, but in a structured and Ernst & Young Management Consulting
focused way. Each event is different, tackling Services, Research Associate
a new business problem for a new
organisation with it’s own unique culture and
challenges. Now I get to work with a broad 1997
range of clients on a hugely diverse range of Promoted to Consultant
topics, and often with some of the most senior Ernst & Young Management Consulting
people in these organisations. Challenging? Services, Change Management
Yes. Rewarding? Hugely. Consultant
One final myth it might be worth
dispelling. There is a life beyond consulting. 2000
Do you work hard? Yes. Are the hours Promoted to Senior Consultant
sometimes long and involve time away from Ernst & Young Management Consulting
home? Yes. Do I still get the chance to go Services
mountain biking at the weekends, get to
concerts and spend evenings at home with 2003
my family? Absolutely. Promoted to Management Consultant
It’s ironic that I started out in consulting Ernst & Young
with a view to using it as a stepping stone.
What I have learned is that with it’s range of 2003
opportunities, the diversity of the work, the Moved to Accelerated Solutions
quality of the people and the flexibility to Environment, Capgemini
move within the organisation, consulting as
an industry, and Capgemini as a business,
provides me with exactly the career I was
after.

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Partner, Internal Audit

& Risk Management
Kirsty Searles is a Partner at Deloitte, having previously worked for Andersen.
She graduated from Oxford with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and
Economics in 1993 and qualified as an ACA four years later.
applied in my final year at uni, but I knew I year with the firm and was responsible for
I wanted to take a year off after I graduated

to improve my language skills and so I
applied for a deferred placement and joined
coordinating all the services we provided
across Europe. This took me to various cities
including Barcelona, Berlin, Houston, Milan,
Andersen in 1994. In my year off I was an au Moscow, Paris, Prague, San Francisco and
pair for three months in Germany and then Warsaw. I've done a lot of work for retail
worked in French speaking Switzerland in organisations including Safeway, Boots, and
Verbier for the winter ski season, returning for Dixons and am currently running a large
the summer season. controls project in Munich for a global
The thing that most appealed about joining multinational.
Andersen was the valuable ACA qualification. I I never stop learning and experiencing new
knew I wanted a career in business and I had things here at Deloitte – my role has continued
had a couple of work experience to evolve and challenge me – you learn
opportunities and vacation jobs in finance, so something from every experience, even if it
the ACA qualification appealed. I applied to isn't what you were expecting to learn.
the audit division as the aspects of team work, I believe that my success is due to the
varied projects and the range of different determination to do your best – find what you
clients attracted me. This proved to be a great enjoy doing and then work hard at delivering
training ground as I worked for clients of the best you can to clients. I think you need to
different sizes and in different industries genuinely like the people you work with and
including telecoms, oil and gas, manufacturing enjoy working with them – my advice to my
and marketing organisations. I also worked staff is get on with your clients, be interested
on a couple of due diligence assignments and in their business, and have fun with your
also several internal audit assignments. The colleagues – and that you need to set high
thing that appealed about these internal audit standards and commit to delivering the best
assignments was that they were a lot more quality services to your client that you can
operational in nature and got me out of the every day.
'finance' function – I was talking to client staff I’m proud of the fact that I was promoted to
in procurement, the warehouse, HR, sales and Partner at a young age and consider it one of
really getting to understand how the business my biggest achievements in my career so far.
worked from the ground up. I’ve really enjoyed my time at several clients –
I was also given the opportunity to manage particularly Safeway and Boots – as I love
a European internal audit client in my fourth shopping! Another aspect of my work that I

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YOU LEARN SOMETHING FROM EVERY Career Path

“
EXPERIENCE, EVEN IF IT ISN’T WHAT YOU Kirsty Searles
Deloitte
WERE EXPECTING TO LEARN
”
really enjoy is the overseas travel. As well as
travelling throughout the UK, I've also worked
in Mexico, Norway, Sweden, the US and am
now spending four days a week in Munich. 1993
You never know what you're going to get Graduated from LMH, Oxford
out of a career experience and the next project
you get involved with – go in with an open 1994
mind and you'll probably be surprised, as Joined Andersen and started ACA
things rarely turn out exactly like you expect training
them to.
1997
Qualified as ACA
1999
Promoted to Manager, Andersen
2002
Joined Deloitte
2003
Promoted to Director, Deloitte
2006
Promoted to Partner, Deloitte

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Head of Executive
Compensation &
Rewards Practice
Mark Reid, a partner of Towers Perrin, heads up the firm’s executive
compensation & rewards practice in the UK, a group of about 50 consultants
providing advice on pay levels and structure to private and public sector
organisations. He is a qualified actuary (FIA) and has a degree in
Mathematics from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
was idle at university and didn’t achieve the I recall my first project being to help a large
I degree result I was hoping for.

Consequently, I was fortunate to secure a
job as a pensions actuarial trainee at Towers
retailer devise a retention package tailored to
one of their star executives who was under
threat from a private equity house. I relished
Perrin during the recession of 1991. I think that the fact that we started with a blank sheet of
this actually helped me in my first few years, paper and that our solution had to take
since I was determined to use the actuarial account of what Jeeves calls the ‘psychology of
exams to prove to myself and others that I the individual’.
could succeed at something challenging. I was then lucky enough to be offered the
I enjoyed actuarial work, particularly the opportunity to work in our New York
blend of analysis and client-facing consulting. executive compensation practice for a couple
However, a year after I qualified, I was offered of years in the late 1990s. This was primarily
the opportunity to spend a year working in the memorable for the experience of living in
HR consulting business, the idea being to build Manhattan. However, from a professional
bridges between the actuaries and the real perspective I was able to work on a couple of
world and also to broaden my own large M&A transactions, which taught me a lot.
experience. In particular, I learned about the role that pay
It became evident to me after only a few plays within the broader HR framework. I also
weeks that pay consulting, in particular, was learned a more quantitative and analytical
exactly what I had been looking for in a career approach to incentive design.
and since then I have been a lapsed actuary. I Since my return to the UK my role has
enjoyed the fact that the work blended skills increasingly been a blend of management and
from a number of disciplines such as strategy, client work. This is very challenging as you
HR, accounting, tax, and legal. However, the have to balance short-term client demands
main attractions were that you really engaged with, often less urgent but just as critical,
with clients in a practical sense to solve real people issues.
business issues and that there was a little more What my consulting work now involves is
room for creativity and tailored solutions than perhaps best illustrated by a couple of
in the somewhat more ossified world of examples:
pensions. • Providing ongoing advice to a continental

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I AM REALLY ENJOYING THE

“
MANAGEMENT SIDE OF MY ROLE NOW.
Career Path
Mark Reid
THE CHALLENGE IS TO KEEP FOCUSED Towers Perrin
ON THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS;
CLIENTS AND PEOPLE
”
European multinational client. In this case,
although the client is headquartered in a
relatively small country, most of its
executive cadre are spread over the globe, 1991
where local pay norms are very different. Graduated, Cambridge University.
We have worked with the client to help Joined Towers Perrin as an actuarial
devise a pay structure that is robust analyst in the employee benefit
enough to deal with these differences and services practice
yet be fair to internationally mobile
executives. This work involves working 1994
with HR, the CEO, and the remuneration Qualified as an actuary (FIA)
committee.
• Helping a global client redesign its 1996
incentives for its top 1,500 executives. The Transferred to the executive
diagnosis phase involved interviewing compensation practice of Towers Perrin
their top 30 business leaders, as well as
designing and running a conjoint survey of
the executives in question to ascertain 1997
their individual pay preferences and trade- Started short term transfer to the New
offs. We then worked together with the York office
client, blending the data from these studies
with pragmatic experience, market 1999
practice, and knowledge of what the Returned to the executive
business was trying to achieve to come up compensation practice in London
with a solution that would actually work.
We then had to sell the solutions to the
CEO, remuneration committee, and 2002
ultimately shareholders. Became a partner of Towers Perrin
Both these cases illustrate the often high-level 2003
client contact involved. This is obviously Head of executive compensation &
challenging but is one of the main attractions of reward practice for the UK
the job. In particular, compared to other careers,
I think that one gets board contact at an early

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age, helped by the fact that one’s area of them, it is simply bureaucracy.
expertise is relatively narrow, making it easier to Looking back, I never really felt I had a
be credible. However, although narrow, it is an career path. I just concentrated on doing a
area that certainly gets the attention of clients. good job on whatever was in front of me. This
I think that all consulting jobs are similar in rather passive approach has luckily worked so
that the features that you enjoy are simply the far for me, since Towers Perrin has been active
flipside of those you hate, namely that you are in giving me diverse opportunities.
always working to solve difficult problems for Looking forward, I still don’t feel I have a
demanding people to tough deadlines. Mostly career path. I suppose I do have a choice to
that translates into a great buzz, sometimes make at some point about the balance of my
into long hours and stress. career between consulting and management
I am really enjoying the management side and I’m not sure I know the answer to that
of my role now. The challenge is to keep yet (and perhaps the choice won’t be mine!).
focused on the only two really important things However, I’d be very surprised if I didn’t try
which are clients and people. If anything that and retain a reasonable amount of client
you do doesn’t make a difference to either of contact, since consulting is pretty addictive.

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Consultant Trainer
After experience with PA Management Consultants and Spicer & Pegler
Associates, Calvert Markham FIMC set up his own practice in 1987. He is a
Human Resources Consultant, with a special interest in training consultants,
and managing director of Consultancy Skills Training Limited, which
specialises in this area. Calvert was President of the IMC in 2004 and in
2005 was appointed visiting professor in the practice of management
consultancy at Cass Business School in City University.
t’s hard to see how a schoolboy aspiration wasn’t very good at it! So I looked for a job
I to be a research physicist can be fulfilled

in training consultants.
Almost certainly at some time in your
in industry.
What a difference to the experience of
most graduates of today: I applied to five
childhood a well-meaning adult asked you, organisations and got two job offers. One
‘What do you want to do when you grow was to do radar research; the other, which I
up?’ This is hard to answer at any age, but took, was to be an instrument manager with
particularly so as a child – your self- ICI. This was to manage the maintenance of
knowledge is only beginning to grow and process control instrumentation on
your understanding of the world of work is petrochemical plants.
very limited. So most answers are quite likely I rationalised my change of ambition as I
to be subsequently proved wrong. reckoned that a manager is a more sociable
The reason for starting with this health animal than a research scientist and it was a
warning is because my career has taken penchant for things social that prompted the
several unexpected turns. So if you’re not neglect of my academic studies.
sure what you want to do, take heart; don’t I would certainly commend joining a
believe a well thought-out career plan is large organisation at the start of your career
essential, or even useful! Let me explain. as a way of getting a firm foundation in
From aged 13, I knew I wanted to spend business. ICI spent about six months training
my life doing academic research in physics. me and other graduate colleagues in the
Although not my best subject at school, it arcane mysteries of process control
had a seductive appeal. So I read Physics at equipment before letting us loose in line
Cambridge – surely a Mecca for physicists. management positions.
Among the Nobel Prize winners in Physics at In those days (late 1960s) ICI was similar
Cambridge at that time were John Cockcroft, to military service; graduates joined as young
who was master of my college, and Anthony officers, but were knocked into shape by
Hewish who was my director of studies. NCO’s – the experienced foremen and
There was one small problem, however; I supervisors. And so it was with me.

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study weekends, over three years. It was a

LIFE IS A DELICATE BALANCE
“
BETWEEN SELF INDULGENCE AND SELF
really useful grounding in the generality of
business, but I still don’t know how I made
the time.
DISCIPLINE. YOU NEED TO GET THE
PA Management Consultants offered me a
BALANCE RIGHT FOR YOU
” job as a production consultant, so I was
trained in work study (I still have the
stopwatch they gave me) But a year or so later
I was allocated to a newly-formed human
resources consultancy group – mainly, I
My first boss was very supportive; and believe, because at that time I happened to be
throughout my career I have found that a working on an HR project.
good boss makes all the difference. At the My intention in joining a consultancy was
start of your career, you look up; but as you to acquire a much broader experience of
become more senior, remember the truly situations and organisations than I was able to
excellent bosses you have had, and look in ICI and then return to a senior position in
down. Show care for those who work for line management. After three years, therefore,
you by giving them your time and attention. I visited various recruitment consultancies but
John Harvey-Jones ran the ICI Division in found that the jobs they described to me were
which I worked, and he instituted a large- far less interesting than my job that I described
scale change programme which I found to them! So I stayed in consultancy.
fascinating. Outside consultants were used One of the questions I think that you need
and I liked the type of work they seemed to to ask of any organisation is, ‘Does this bring
do. As so the journey to management out the best in me?’ I learned a lot with PA, but
consultancy started. But there were other it required a high level of time commitment
jobs to be done first. that I was happy to give, but my wife was less
I was promoted to manage one of ICI’s happy with. So I joined Spicer & Pegler
petrochemical plants. It was not a happy Associates (SPA) to run their HR consultancy
time. My boss and I did not get on and – to practice. SPA was City based, so there was
tell the truth – it was not a job I liked, so I much less travel than in PA.
started looking for a job in management Spicer & Pegler was a distinguished
consultancy. accountancy firm and had all the blue chip
Before receiving a job offer, however, ICI City businesses as clients. By now (this was
decided that I should move into international the mid 1980s) the City was going through Big
marketing. One of the advantages of working Bang – a period of de-regulation that involved
in a large corporation is that there is a wide a lot of change and merger activity.
variety of job opportunities without the need Being a consultant with an accountancy
to change employer. So I put my firm meant that I was more involved with
management consultancy ambitions on hold boardroom activity than before; it gave me a
while I got some marketing experience. much better corporate understanding than I
At the same time, I started (and eventually had previously. And although the period
completed) a Diploma in Management when I worked with SPA was turbulent,
Studies. This was a course that involved again I had a very supportive boss.
lectures two evenings a week, plus a few One of the activities that fell to HR

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consultants in PA was to deliver training,

internally as well as externally, and for my
Career Path
last couple of years there. I ran the induction Calvert Markham
training course. So when my boss at SPA Consultancy Skills Training Ltd
introduced me to Accountancy Books, it
seemed natural to write something on
consulting skills (that book, Practical
Management Consultancy, was published in
1987 and has remained in print ever since;
the fourth edition appeared in 2003).
I was headhunted from time to time and
on one occasion I met the top team from the
consultancy associated with a much larger
accountancy practice, who wanted someone 1968
to run their HR practice – a job substantially Graduated and joined ICI
bigger than the one I was doing. I quickly
concluded that I didn’t like them or the job 1974
and I don’t think they liked me! It was then Joined PA Management Consultants
that I decided that I wanted to go it alone.
Again, my boss was very supportive, and 1976
arranged for me to continue to work with Completed Diploma in Management
SPA on a part-time, sub-contract basis. This Studies
was tremendously helpful as you have to
keep paying the mortgage while you build 1984
up your own personal sales pipeline. Joined Spicer & Pegler Associates
Not surprisingly, one of the activities I
was asked to do was to design and run 1987
training courses for consultants. I started on a Set up own consultancy practice
sub-contract basis, and then ICL asked me
and another independent consultant trainer, 1989
Ken Dietz, to run a course jointly. We formed Launched
Consultancy Skills Training Ltd (CST) simply Consultancy Skills Training Ltd
as a means of sending ICL a single invoice
rather than one from each of us. 2004
CST has now been running for more than President of IMC
15 years and consumes most of my time,
although I continue to do other consulting 2005
work. Besides this, I took an interest in Professor, Cass Business School
consultant development more generally
through the Institute of Management
Consultancy. I became increasingly involved
with the Institute, finally becoming its
President in 2004.
So what’s the connection with research in
physics? I now recognise that I like to

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understand things and then explain them to 3. Recognise that problems in work-life
others. It’s what drew me to physics, and balance are as much down to you as because
then to consultancy; and now is satisfied in of your employer. And recognise that
the training and other work I do. consultancy is a particularly intriguing
activity.
And what are the messages I’d draw from
my career to help others at the start of theirs? 4. Regularly test the job market, not only to
find new work – it may convince you that you
1. Don’t worry if you’re not sure what you are well suited where you are.
want to do. Try different things and be quite
prepared that you may make mistakes. Learn 5. Develop your own definitions of success –
from them. don’t accept others’ without question. I say
that, because life is a delicate balance
2. Work with good bosses; and when you get between self indulgence and self discipline.
promoted, be a good one yourself. You need to get the balance right for you.

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Finding the right job

Routes into Consultancy
Finding and Getting Work Experience
Graduate Training Schemes
Salaries in Management Consulting

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FINDING THE RIGHT JOB
Routes into
Consultancy
Management consultancy is unquestionably a very attractive career option for
many people. This means that there is always an over-supply of candidates
aspiring to enter the arena and, as an inevitable consequence, the entrance
criteria are rigorous.
strong academic background, to degree entrants are likely to have to complete an MBA
A level or equivalent, is a standard

prerequisite, as are good interpersonal
skills. Beyond this there are certain
(sponsored by their employer) in preparation
for promotion to their first front-line
consultancy role. However, it is certainly the
professional benchmarks which will also case that many of these graduate
dictate the route of entry. recruits do not survive the early years – the
Consultancy is typically the ‘second step’ in work is demanding and there is little
a fast-track career. The reason for this is one of opportunity for direct client contact.
commercial credibility. That is to say, in order For the majority of consultants entry into the
to be marketable as a business profession is made later, typically after having
adviser an individual’s background must show armed themselves with a broad-based
direct, first-hand experience of background of commercial experience and
commercial issues. Additionally, the often often a professional qualification (for example
sensitive or ‘political’ nature of a consultancy ACA, ACMA, IPD). Most often this is achieved
assignment requires a certain maturity. as a result of completing a graduate training
There are, however, exceptions to this programme with a blue-chip employer.
general rule. Some of the largest practices will Described as being at the ‘experienced hire’
recruit at graduate level. The strategy houses, entry level, it is likely that such candidates will
for example, will take a few of the highest have acquired, to a greater or lesser extent,
fliers of their year – typically candidates who skills and expertise in one or more functional
have achieved a 2.1 or first-class degree from and/or industry-facing areas. For example,
one of the most prestigious universities – and skills in strategic planning and analysis, BPR
usually with a strong numerical basis to their (Business Process Re-engineering),
academic background. These bright, high- organisational change, financial or IT systems
achievers will be recruited into the most junior and marketing are valuable, and exposure to
consultancy grade, generally described as any of the key consultancy markets, such as
‘analyst’ and, as the title suggests, carrying a financial services, FMCG (fast-moving
remit that concentrates on the research and consumer goods), technology, telecoms or
analysis of technical information to support public sector, is also attractive to potential
more senior consultants in the provision of employers.
their services. Previous consultancy experience is not a
After a period of about two years such prerequisite at this level, but only one or two

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 18:27 Page 63
practices will take candidates who have no or her field and will have taken a front-line
relevant commercial experience – and where role in developing a particular field or business
this does happen, the successful applicants or technical specialism.
will be of the highest academic calibre. In summary, it is possible, in principle, to
A subsection of this level of entry is the move into consultancy at various stages in a
MBA graduate route. The MBA is certainly career. However, it is also true to say that the
recognised as a useful springboard into profession is very dynamic, and is
consultancy for someone seeking to transfer constantly changing in response to economic
from a specialist line background into a more climates and market forces. As a consultant
broadly focused business role. Potential you must be someone who relishes this
employers recognise that an MBA qualified volatility and the challenges it imposes.
candidate is usually highly committed to
advancing their career; however, in what is an
extremely competitive recruitment market, an
MBA does not automatically guarantee entry ANGELA HEATH is a Senior Consultant in
into consultancy. the management consultancy recruitment
Finally, entry into management consultancy division of BEAMENT LESLIE THOMAS.
at the most senior levels is usually prompted She specialises in the sourcing of
by a very specific – and highly marketable – management consultants — and those
skills set. Furthermore, in the majority of cases wishing to enter the field — for consulting
the candidate will have a background that firms. BLT recruits for most major
evidences significant commercial achievement consultancies and numerous smaller
with what might be described as a consultancy operators in various niche consulting
orientation. For example, it is likely that the markets.
individual will be a well-known ‘name’ in his

ManCon p1-86.qxd 3/8/07 13:58 Page 64
Finding and Getting

Work Experience
Work experience is an important factor in helping graduates get the job they
want. In today's competitive environment, employers now look for graduates that
are able to demonstrate commercial skills, as well as having a strong academic
background.
WHAT KINDS OF EXPERIENCES ARE develop softer skills or vice versa. It will also
AVAILABLE? provide candidates with some good practice
Work experience can take a variety of forms – for those all-important application forms and
it can be part of a degree, for example a interviews. Candidates will feel more confident
sandwich course, during which an in their own skills and abilities when they go
undergraduate will take a year out and join a for job interviews if they have practised their
firm, where they will be treated like a normal skills in a professional environment.
employee. Work experience can also take the It is important to get the most out of a
form of a course-related project, a summer work placement. If a placement student shows
internship, work-shadowing or an on-campus the right enthusiasm and determination in the
project where they can develop commercial job, they could end up being offered a
skills. permanent graduate position at the end of the
year.
BENEFITS TO STUDENTS A placement can also be beneficial to a
Apart from looking good on a candidate's CV, candidate on their return to university. As well
work experience is an opportunity to gain as gaining valuable commercial insight into
valuable experience in a real work their area of study it may also have helped
environment. It is a chance to think about with broader skills such as prioritisation or
future career paths and try out some options presentation skills.
first hand, as well as gaining insight into a
specific organisation. These opportunities also BENEFITS TO EMPLOYERS
help develop awareness of professional codes Most employers actively encourage work
of behaviour and the world of work, and placement opportunities. They are often used
allow you to build a network of contacts in as a way of screening students for the
your industry of choice. following year’s graduate jobs – the industrial
Work experience can make a candidate placement allows an employer to see an
look more attractive to employers, by individual at work and assess their abilities as
demonstrating a proven interest and a potential employee. It will develop potential
commitment to that particular career. It may future employees – making candidates more
make a candidate more ‘rounded’, for example mature, with good abilities in team-working,
if a candidate has studied a technical communication and interpersonal skills, as
discipline, it will offer the opportunity to well as an awareness of the workplace culture.

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 18:30 Page 65
WHEN TO START THINKING ABOUT they buy', whilst developing their technical and
WORK EXPERIENCE business skills. They will also pick up
The earlier a graduate starts planning their work transferable skills, such as teamwork and time
experience the better. This could be towards management, which all help when completing
the end of their second year, if not earlier. job applications or attending interviews.
Students are trained in an area that
HOW DO STUDENTS FIND WORK interests them, without the commitment of a
EXPERIENCE? full-time job, but with the rewards that they
There are various sources that students can use deserve. In our case, this is £1,300 per month,
and one of the best sources available is the subsidised accommodation in the company
university careers service – the careers advisers house, paid holidays and team morale events.
are sent vacancy information from employers,
ALISON HANNANT is Recruitment Manager
around September time. Alternatively, students at DATA CONNECTION.
can use their industrial placement tutors, or
apply direct to companies – most have an
online application form. But students shouldn’t When we talk to our business about the key skills
constrain themselves to formalised work they look for in graduates it is work experience
experience programmes. If you know someone which comes out on top. At LogicaCMG we
who works in the industry or job that you are recognise that we can play a part in helping
interested in, contact them to see whether you future graduates to obtain the necessary
can get some informal work experience. experience by offering placements. Placement
students have continually provided us an
AOIFE KILPATRICK is Graduate Recruitment excellent pool of talented workers who are
Manager at PA CONSULTING GROUP. enthusiastic, have up to date technical skills and
She has specialised in graduate recruitment
a re keen to learn more. Many of our placement
for six years.
students receive offers to join our graduate
programme before they return to university for
their final year. This presents a great campus
Companies comment marketing opportunity for us.
The following gives an insight into what you In an increasingly competitive job market
can expect from a placement scheme as for graduates the importance of experience
well as some of the benefits of doing one. gained through an industrial placement
cannot be overstated. A placement will provide
Internship placements are an extension of you with real experience – real projects, real
our Graduate recruitment programme. They clients, real teams. This experience will provide
a re an excellent way of attracting students a context for learning in your final year, help
who are in the early stages of deciding which to clarify your career choices and perhaps even
career path to follow. Our experience has secure you a job after graduation. Even if you
shown that vacation students provide do not rejoin the company after you graduate
excellent resources and make a significant the experience you have gained will give you
contribution to projects. many examples you can use to enhance your
Placements typically last around eight weeks CV and discuss at interviews.
and allow students to gain exposure to a real
MARK DONMALL is Graduate Recruitment
work environment. They also provide an Co-ordinator at LOGICA CMG.
opportunity for undergraduates to 'try before

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 18:47 Page 66
Graduate Training
Schemes
Graduates are essential to an organisation. The individuals on Capgemini’s graduate
programmes come from a diverse range of backgrounds and are always in demand
from different business functions for the commitment, innovative thinking and
flexible approach that enables us to deliver leading edge solutions to our clients.
WHAT DO EMPLOYERS LOOK FOR IN A an individual. Do be aware of correct

TRAINEE? grammar and spelling and ensure you ask
Most organisations will have set criteria that they someone to proof your applications.
assess every application against and although
these will vary between companies there are WHAT DO GRADUATES GET FROM
some key themes. SCHEMES?
• Academic results – employers are looking Most schemes provide graduates with entry-
for candidates who have achieved level roles within a set profession or industry,
consistently and most will ask for a set allowing the individual to gain a wide range of
number of UCAS points and/or the experience over a set time frame.
attainment of a specific level of degree At Capgemini, we have structured
qualification, eg, a 2.1. programmes: for technology, management
• Work experience – this shows that you consultancy and outsourcing. The schemes
have a genuine interest in the field that you differ in type of work, roles involved, location
wish to enter and that you have researched and length of projects. Some graduates will find
the industry and have an understanding of themselves frequently changing roles, clients
what the career could involve. It can also and locations. Some may take different roles
demonstrate drive and motivation. If you with the same client and others may specialise
do not complete a formal placement year in a specific discipline early on in their career.
with your degree you should look to have Every organisation’s scheme is different,
secured some relevant experience during even with companies in the same industry
one of your vacations. sector. Thorough research is therefore
• Extra-curricular activities – tell employers essential to ensure individuals are fully aware
about them! We want to know about your of the differences between companies and
non-academic achievements, what you’ve their schemes and to consider how this fits in
been involved in, your positions of with their career expectations versus work/life
responsibility and whether you’ve balance.
travelled. Show your enthusiasm and Most schemes provide graduates with entry
proactive approach to life! level roles, allowing the individual to gain a
• Attention to detail – Finally, I cannot stress wide range of experience over a set time frame.
how much emphasis employers place upon
attention to detail. Poor communication THE INDUCTION
skills, verbal or written, reflect badly upon Your graduate training scheme is likely to

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 18:50 Page 67
Projects do vary in length but the average

THOROUGH RESEARCH IS ESSENTIAL
“ TO ENSURE INDIVIDUALS ARE FULLY
length can be between four and six months.
In this time you will often work on client sites
integrating with their workforce to achieve the
AWARE OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
set project objectives.
COMPANIES AND THEIR SCHEMES
” Social activities such as sports teams,
regular group and scheme socials, plus the
opportunity to get involved with the
commence with an induction programme, community through assisted learning schemes
which will provide: and other established Corporate Social
• An organisational overview – the history of Responsibility initiatives are also aspects of
the organisation, its vision and corporate your working life that Capgemini support.
strategy for the short and longer terms. Finally you will find that many firms are
• A summary of the roles you may be keen for you to progress and will support
involved in as well as talks from different further learning, both in-house, through a
business areas regarding the type of work number of structured skills courses, and
and clients, as well as talks from current externally with certified courses.
graduates on the scheme. The timescales involved will differ from
• General administration such as allocation company to company and also on your own
of resources and billing time will also be personal development, so do ask these
covered. questions at interview stage to ensure you fully
• There could also be the opportunity to understand the level of support you will
meet established members of the graduate receive from an employer.
programme through networking lunches
and social dinners, an essential element to WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END OF THE
any induction. SCHEME?
It is likely that through your experience you
Although at times it might feel as if you are will soon establish where your preferred area
being supplied with endless amounts of of expertise is and during your training you
information, do take notes and use this time to may be asked to submit a preference as to
ask as many questions as possible. This time your desired business area.
is for you to fully understand the structure of At Capgemini we encourage individuals
the organisation and your role within it as well to foster greater links with their desired
as opportunities open to you. business unit and on occasion do require the
individual to be interviewed to ensure the
WORKING LIFE choice is right for both parties.
Once your induction is complete you will be Once completed you should make a
available for assignments. You will often work smooth transition into a business unit, where
with your mentor and resource manager to you will be given the opportunity to develop
determine your objectives and the projects you your individual work ethic and shape your
will be involved in during the training scheme. future!
You should receive regular reviews with your
MAXINE PACKER is Graduate Recruitment
project manager as well as mentor reviews at
Manager at CAPGEMINI.
the end of your project.

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 68
Salaries in Management
Consulting
Beament Leslie Thomas's latest (March 2007) survey of management consultants
(no self-employed consultants are included) shows that the demand for
consultants remains high for a fourth successive year. Confidence amongst the
consultancy firms is strong and the competition for staff should now be having an
impact on salaries. As staff turnover rates increase and the supply of consulting
talent diminishes, a 5 – 7% increase in remuneration is anticipated for 2007/8.
he systems integrators Accenture, consultancies’ needs.)
T Capgemini and IBM are hiring in

significant numbers – the highest we’ve
seen since 1999. In addition, other Top 20
There are particular shortages of good
consultants in financial services consulting.(We
estimate that around 25% of vacancies are for
firms such as PA Consulting and Deloitte financial services consultants.)
report healthy increases in consultants, and the So what does this mean for salaries?
new consultancy/advisory units being With inflation running at 3% and the
established at Ernst &Young, KPMG and PwC demand/supply balance now in favour of
are also competing for staff. employees, salaries have started to creep up,
The strategy houses are a leading indicator but modestly: after a short burst of improved
of the health of the consultancy sector: they rates of pay in the summer of 2006, the
are all hiring again in (comparatively) small average settled to around 4% above 2005
but meaningful numbers. Other big levels.
operational consultancies have stopped Firms are reluctant to pay improved salaries
pushing generalist consultants out the back to new hires: we have seen a number of
door whilst welcoming sector-specific consultants turning down offers from
consultants though the front door. The many consultancies because salaries are barely
new small consultancies which have sprung above current earnings. This is frustrating for
up in the last four years, particularly in the consultants wishing to move and foolish for
Government space, tell us they are finding it consultancies with hiring needs.
hard to attract experienced consultants. There The retention packages for experienced
is considerable hiring activity in these houses. consultants reported by the large firms seem to
The pool of consultants looking for a new be becoming more imaginative however: these
home diminished rapidly during the year, so include a widening of salary grades with a
the many MBAs who chose the right year to greater overlap between grades, a higher
graduate from business school are now in with incidence of and improvement in,
a good chance of entering consultancy. (For discretionary bonuses and a round of
business school graduates, their attractiveness promotions.
to consultancies depends on whether their At the other end of the scale, graduates are
pre-MBA work experience is relevant to still being recruited in substantial numbers and

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 69
salaries are attractive enough to compete with management responsibility; newly-minted

all but the best City packages. MBAs entering consulting for the first time.
The main message from the salary survey is
that consulting firms of all sizes are now under Senior consultant/manager: £66,000
real pressure to increase pay. Those that Here consultants could be: more experienced
continue to emphasise the improvements in (five to seven years) delivery consultants; fast-
some of the 'softer', non-cash areas: more track industry candidates; and top business
home working or improved holiday school MBAs joining mid/top tier strategy
allowances, for example will find that these houses. At manager level and with
don’t compensate for cash in pocket. sales/business development responsibilities,
the range extends to £90,000.
SALARY STRUCTURES AND BENEFITS
Below we list the grades, salary mid-points Managing consultant: £82,000
and our comments. Please bear in mind that These tend to be consultants with eight plus
the figures are drawn from employed years’ experience in the full-service
consultants (no self-employed consultants are consultancies, or engagement
surveyed) who work in firms of all sizes, managers/project leaders in boutiques. Sales
sectors and functional areas. The only involvement was claimed by about 60% of the
common thread is that they are working in or consultants we surveyed at this level.
around London. Salaries in the rest of the UK
are 12 – 15% lower. Principal/associate director: £112,000
Again, this salary band includes consultants as
Analyst: £27,000 different as strategy consultants with three to
These are roles for raw graduates or those five years’ experience and old hands with 10 –
with up to two years post-grad work 15 years’ at a more traditional consultancy, or
experience. As recruiters we are rarely asked those with senior project
to find candidates at this level, so the figures management/programme management
come from the consulting firms themselves. responsibilities.
Junior consultant: £41,000 Director/salaried partner: £180,000

Consultants at this grade typically have around These experienced consultants ranged from
three years experience in consulting, or are those with seven plus years at a boutique to 15
fresh recruits into consulting but with a plus years in general consulting.
recently obtained professional qualification or All firms surveyed review salaries annually:
comparable level of competence eg, ACA, most at a fixed date in the second quarter of
CIPD, NHS training programme graduate. the year. Some employers undertake the
exercise biannually. The majority of firms still
Consultant: £59,000 provide a car once an employee reaches the
At this level, the backgrounds of consultants 'up and running' consultant grades. All offer a
start to diverge. Examples include: mid-tier cash alternative to a vehicle, typically worth
strategy house/boutique-experienced £5,000 – £8,000 per annum. However, a
consultants with two to three years’ number of firms have withdrawn the car/cash
experience; average performers with four to option for lower consulting grades. The bigger
six years’ experience at a systems integrator or consultancies offer comprehensive benefits
a full-service consultancy and some field packages, with 'cafeteria' or 'pick 'n' mix'

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 70
benefits policies (choosing between a higher recruit only potential partner/director material,
salary or a longer list of benefits) becoming there is still a high turnover of consultants who
more common. Smaller independents do not see a three to five year spell as a means to
tend to offer extras such as private health widening their business exposure. It is these
schemes and gym memberships, but we are consultancy ‘foot soldiers’ who straddle the
seeing more ‘home-working’ amongst their mid-range of the salary bands at all levels up
consultants. to manager.
The closure of final salary pension schemes The industry sector background of
and some firms’ reliance on stakeholder consultants, or their functional specialisation,
pensions is starting to cause concern. The also has a bearing on salary. This is commonly
value of a pension scheme is being scrutinised seen at the large operational firms and
much more carefully by those considering a independents, rather less so at strategy firms or
move. Consultancies trying to attract public niche operations. Industry sectors that offer
sector talent are losing out in this area high levels of remuneration – pharmaceuticals,
particularly. financial services, telecoms – are serviced by
At the large operational consultancies consultants who have themselves usually
bonuses and profit shares tend to be less worked in those sectors. Consequently,
generous (7 – 15%) than those offered by the consultants hired from these industries can
strategy and boutique firms (25 – 40%). command a premium over their consultant
Signing-on bonuses are still rare. The large peer group. Those at the lower end of the
partnerships are secretive about partner salary bands tend to have come from the
earnings but press reports indicate that senior public sector, manufacturing, or retail – still the
partners enjoy packages in excess of one lower-paid activity areas.
million pounds. Salaries are also influenced by billings.
Partner/director packages in niche firms Consultants are expected to bill fees of around
vary enormously, with some earning the three to four times their annual salaries.
equivalent of a mid-week Lottery jackpot and Therefore, consultants who work in sectors
others who would be better off as senior where high profits can support high fees fare
managers in larger firms. These niche firms rather better than their colleagues who work in
traditionally find it hardest to retain their areas where fees reflect the lower profits of
experienced consultants and so bonuses can their sector.
be as high as 50% of salary. The relationship between salary and
billings becomes increasingly important the
SALARY DIFFERENCES EXPLAINED further up the ladder consultants rise. At
Salaries are banded and the bands overlap to manager level and above, the ability to win
take account of the level of remuneration work is crucial. More and more time (typically
necessary to attract and retain the high fliers 25 – 40%) is spent cultivating clients, writing
on their way up and experienced specialists proposals and participating in beauty parades
who are approaching the summit of their (where a client chooses a consulting firm after
careers. The ‘up or out’ promotion policy of seeing a number of presentations). It is very
earlier years is now less rigidly applied outside difficult to rise beyond this level if such
the strategy houses. Consultancies are business skills are lacking.
recognising that experienced consultants who No one should be attracted to consultancy
do not aspire to the highest levels are worth purely for the financial rewards. Although
retaining. Whereas consultancies still claim to remuneration at partner/director level is

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 71
comparable with the very best in other look forward to a well-remunerated future.
professions, there are many downsides. Job
security has become poorer in recent years.
Despite more attention being paid to the BEAMENT LESLIE THOMAS (BLT) is a
work/life balance, consultants still work long leading management consultancy recruitment
hours and not just Monday to Friday. As much consultancy. It specialises in the sourcing of
management consultants and those wishing
of the work is carried out at client sites,
to enter the field for the first time, on behalf
frequent travel is common and a willingness to of consulting firms. It is a preferred/tier one
stay away from home for at least half the year supplier for many strategy houses, most
essential. (Some firms are asking new joiners major full-service consultancies and
to commit to 100% travel.) Yet consultants who numerous boutiques. It handles work in the
choose this lifestyle do so because they enjoy £40,000 to £200,000 salary range
the variety of work on offer, the opportunities The firm is the most highly ranked
to continue personal and professional recruiter in the Top-Consultant reader poll
development and the range of career openings for best management consultancy
available when they wish to leave. Those who recruitment firm from 2002 – 2007.
hold a post with a well-established consulting
organisation and those who choose to enter Contact DON LESLIE dfl@blt.co.uk
the profession over the next few years, can still

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 73
Education, training
and development
Professional Consultancy Qualifications
The CMC® Award
MBAs: The Key to Consultancy
Other Master’s Programmes
Continuing Professional Development

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 74
EDUCATION, TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
Professional
Consultancy
Qualifications
Increasingly, people who buy consultancy are looking for assurances that the
consultants they employ are appropriately qualified and adhere to high ethical
and professional standards.
s the professional body for business CHOOSING YOUR QUALIFICATION
A consulting in the UK, the Institute of

Business Consulting offers consultants a
structured professional development
The Certificate in Management Consulting
Essentials provides an introduction to
management consultancy. It is intended for
framework to support ongoing learning and people who are considering a move in to the
development. As part of this framework, the profession from a functional discipline, or for
Institute has introduced professional those who wish to obtain an introduction to
qualifications - the Certificate in Consulting the skills and knowledge needed in the field
Essentials, Diplomas in Management of management consultancy.
Consultancy and Business Support.
Highly relevant for all those with an interest As an aspiring management consultant, it will
in business consulting, they are suitable for help you learn about:
those new to consultancy as well as
experienced individuals wanting a formal • the consultancy role
structured qualification. The qualifications were • the consultancy cycle
developed by combining established • the client relationship
professional standards with the qualifications • communication for consultants
expertise of the Chartered Management Institute. • effective project delivery
For those who are new to consultancy or • structured knowledge, research and
simply looking to extend their skill set, the analysis.
Certificate in Management Consulting
Essentials focuses on essential foundation There are no specific entry requirements for
skills. For individuals requiring a greater depth this qualification, but it is expected that most
of study, the Diploma in Management candidates are intending to enter in to a
Consultancy builds knowledge and management consulting role and will therefore
understanding of the skills required to be a be educated to degree level or hold a
management consultant. It provides a sound minimum of two years’ business experience.
foundation for those who want to progress to The Diploma in Management Consultancy
achieve the competency-based award of will develop your knowledge, skills and
Certified Management Consultant (CMC®). behaviours to operate as a management

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 75
consultant. It is intended for people who want • group techniques

to enter management consultancy from a • communicating with impact
functional discipline, or for those who wish to • effective project management
develop the skills and knowledge needed to • tools and techniques for effective
operate in the field of management consultancy. consulting.
As a developing management consultant,
you will learn about: It is recommended that candidates are
educated to degree level or equivalent, or
• professional practice hold a minimum of five years' business
• professional development experience.
• managing consultancy interventions To find out more about both qualifications
• organising structure and culture and to download syllabi, see the Institute of
• entry and diagnosis Business Consulting website at
• interpersonal interaction www.ibconsulting.org.uk.

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 76
The CMC® Award

‘The CMC® is a differentiator and a guarantee for clients to get a ‘real'
consultant with the right skills-set and experience.’ Successful CMC®
applicant
he award of Certified Management competencies are the behaviours, skills and
T Consultant (CMC®) provides formal and

independent recognition of a consultant’s
competency, skills and experience.
knowledge that a management consultant is
expected to understand, apply and
demonstrate as set out in the Institute's
Independently awarded by the Institute of Management Consultancy Competence
Business Consulting, the CMC® is a guarantee Framework.
to clients that the consultant has the
experience and knowledge to deliver THE COMPETENCE FRAMEWORK
impartial, professional and cost-effective The Competence Framework was developed
interventions. over a period of several years with input from
The CMC®, awarded only by the Institute senior management consultants, clients,
of Business Consulting, is recognised in all the academic bodies and other interested parties.
countries that belong to the International The framework presents the knowledge, skills
Council of Management Consulting Institutes and behaviours that define today's
(ICMCI). It is awarded through an assessment management consultant, all of which are
process that requires applicants to present supported by a code of conduct and
evidence of competence in management professional ethics. The framework sets out
consultancy processes and in a particular area three broad groupings of competencies:
of technical specialisation against the Institute's
Competence Framework. A Certified Market capability and knowledge –
Management Consultant also demonstrates to • the application of fact-based knowledge,
clients, the value placed on ‘working to’ a bringing together the combination of;
professional code of conduct and recognised • technical skills
ethical standards. • business understanding
• sector insight and;
WHAT IS COMPETENCY-BASED • external awareness.
ASSESSMENT?
Competency-based assessment is a method of Consulting competence –
establishing competence in the performance of • defines the core consultancy skills
a task or a range of tasks – and competent • tools and;
performance of tasks is measured against • techniques which are essential in
specific criteria. In the context of CMC®, the delivering consultancy services.

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 77
Professional behaviours – If you don’t have sufficient experience as a

• are the entry-level professional management consultant to be able to
behaviours and attitudes which act as apply for the CMC® Award, you can still
‘enablers' in achieving market capability become a member of the Institute of
and consulting competence. Business Consultancy and gain valuable
support from fellow members of your
Each category of competence has three levels professional community as you build your
– Development, Independence and Mastery – experience.
all underpinned by generic behaviours and To find out more about the CMC® and
this can be used as a platform for ongoing Institute of Business Consulting membership,
development. The CMC® Award is assessed check out the Institute’s website at
against the Independent level competencies. www.ibconsulting.org.uk
AM I READY TO APPLY FOR CMC®?

THE AWARD OF CERTIFIED
You can assess your readiness via a web-based
diagnostic on the Institute of Business
Consulting website at www.ibconsulting.org.uk.
“
MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT PROVIDES
Broadly, you will need to meet the following FORMAL AND INDEPENDENT RECOGNITION
six requirements: OF A CONSULTANT’S COMPETENCY, SKILLS
•
be a member of the Institute of Business
Consulting
have three years’ experience as a
AND EXPERIENCE
The Institute of Business Consulting

”
management consultant will, over the next year, map the
• have relevant qualifications and experience Management Consultancy Competency
to support your technical competence Framework on which the CMC® is based,
• be experienced in all elements of the onto the standards of competency
consulting lifecycle required by business advice. The outcome
• have clients who value the contribution, is likely to be a set of core competencies
delivery and impact you make to their covering consultancy and business advice
business with a range of specialist competencies
• At least one year’s experience in a within the full remit of business
management consulting role in a primary consulting.
technical competence.

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 78
MBAs: The Key to

Consultancy
The MBA (Master of Business Administration) is a graduate management
degree, which prepares professionals for management responsibility. It is one
of the best-known degrees in the world and more people take it than any
other postgraduate course. Deciding to take an MBA is a crucial step in your
career.
THE CONSULTANCY BOOM IN 2007 can post jobs for free at

The consulting industry had been growing at www.topmba.com/careers/recruiter.)
phenomenal rates for the last 20 years, Global Workplace (www.global-workplace
becoming a $100 billion industry and after a .com), the career platform for global
temporary slowdown at the start of the new professionals, including the community for 50
millennium, the sector is again hitting new top business schools around the world, has
highs in 2007. seen the number of jobs listed on its site grow
Initial responses to Topmba.com throughout the past four years. Mike Holmes
international recruiter survey 2007 suggest from Global Workplace says, ‘In 2006, over
that larger strategy consulting recruiters are 4,600 consulting jobs were listed on the site,
actively seeking many new people this year. an increase of over 20% in two years.
In addition, the professional services, Consulting job listings feature all the major
technology and outsourcing firms are re- consulting firms.’
staffing their strategy departments – many of In particular, the big strategy players like
which were decimated in the downturn. Last Accenture, Bain, BCG, Booz Allen Hamilton,
year Ernst & Young re-launched its business McKinsey and Roland Berger are recruiting
advisory/business consultancy division with aggressively. Accenture historically hires
targets to grow revenues to $2 billion by between 10,000 and 17,000 people, globally,
2009. each year. William Ziegler, Global Head of
Topmba.com/careers, which is the careers Recruiting at Accenture, says ‘Accenture has
site of TopMBA Career Guide, has also seen a strong commitment to balancing our
many smaller companies become active in the resources and will continue to identify
MBA marketplace. We are seeing a growth in MBAs in the marketplace who possess the
companies recruiting MBAs in: Argentina, skills needed to serve our clients. We
Australia, Chile, China, France, India, Japan, continue to anticipate hiring more people in
Mexico, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Ukraine and the next calendar year. Outsourcing remains
the United Kingdom. Since China joined the the fastest-growing segment of consulting
World Trade Organisation, we have seen a real services, accounting for 65% of Accenture's
surge in MBA opportunities within China with new-business.’ IBM Consulting is also a
no sign of this trend slowing down. (Recruiters large player in outsourcing consulting

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 79
projects and is benefiting from this trend. Director and Associate Dean of Chicago GSB
reports that application numbers have
WILL MBA HIRING CONTINUE TO increased by over 100% in the last two years.
GROW AS LONG AS THE CONSULTANCY Schools which feature prominently in
MARKET EXPANDS? TopMBA.com international recruiter research
Hiring predictions from MBA recruiters suggest continue to experience steady increases in
that MBA demand worldwide will set a new applications. High-quality British MBA
record in the summer of 2007. The programmes, such as Bath, Judge Business
TopMBA.com Index of MBA Recruiting, based School – Cambridge, CASS Business School,
on responses from over 500 MBA employers in Cranfield, Tanaka Business School – Imperial
30 countries, predicts a 10% increase in the College, Manchester Business School,
total number of MBA jobs on offer in 2007, Nottingham, SAID Business School – Oxford,
following on from a 22% increase in 2006. Strathclyde and Warwick, are all reporting
The consulting sector reports a 15% increase in between eight and 15 applications for every
demand in 2007 following a massive 35% place available on their full-time programmes.
increase in demand for MBAs in 2006. This positive picture is very different from
McKinsey are one of the largest recruiters the recession years of the early 1990s when
of MBAs and typically hire over 500 MBAs demand for MBAs in Europe actually fell and
each year. Bain, BCG, Booz Allen Hamilton the qualification was severely questioned.
and IBM Consulting all hire over 100 MBAs What has changed? Professor Ray Wild of
each year. Henley Management College, believes those
Mike Holmes of Global Workplace says, recession years sowed the seeds for the
‘...the big demand for MBAs this year is again resurgence of the qualification: 'Confidence in
coming from the service sector – banks and lifetime job security was lost, career mobility
consultancies – not just the big name firms, became the norm and as a consequence,
but also many smaller organisations. An managers realised the need for a tradable
ongoing trend in recent years is for MBA qualification which would help them make
alumni, who are now in a position of hiring necessary career moves. Since the early 1990s
responsibility, to return to their school to pick the MBA has become the world's best known
up new talent.’ and largest management qualification; its
Many consultancy firms see a top MBA as emergence in Europe, in the face of much
an essential management entry-level scepticism, has been remarkable’.
qualification. Without an MBA, it is almost The MBA seems to have moved from a
impossible to become a senior consultant at a 'nice to have' to a 'need to have' qualification
top consulting firm. In terms of roles offered to for those set on an international management
MBAs, we see that consulting is once again the consultancy career. International applications
largest function on offer to MBAs. Marketing, for business schools have doubled in the past
finance and strategic planning are also popular five years. A good MBA establishes a standard
roles. E-commerce roles feature less of management excellence that can be relied
prominently than in recent years. upon. The common language of study is
English. Most candidates are interested in an
APPLICATIONS TO BUSINESS SCHOOLS international career and are internationally
REMAIN STRONG mobile. MBAs entering consulting also tend to
2007 is a banner year in terms of MBA make the most money. Average salaries for
applications. Rose Martinelli, Admissions those entering consulting in the UK is £67,000

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 80
per annum, compared to £58,000 per annum much broader field than strategy, ranging from
for all sectors. Most strategy firms are paying operations and systems consulting to
new MBAs in excess of £70,000 per annum. engineering, human resources (HR) and
Average salaries for MBAs graduating from US remuneration consulting. If this career tempts
schools are on the whole slightly higher than you, there are a far greater number of schools
those from European schools, partly because to choose from. Many regional schools have
of the higher average salaries in the US market ties with local offices of the 'professional
compared to Europe. service' consultancies. These are: Accenture,
Capgemini Ernst & Young, Deloitte Consulting,
SHOULD I TAKE AN MBA? IBM (PricewaterhouseCoopers) and KPMG.
So you want to take an MBA, you must decide
where. There are hundreds of degree
THE MBA HAS BECOME THE WORLD’S
programmes available. But you do not start
with school: you start instead with yourself.
The first thing to do is define the type of
“
BEST KNOWN AND LARGEST MANAGEMENT
career you think you want to pursue. The QUALIFICATION; ITS EMERGENCE IN
second thing is to take a hard look at yourself EUROPE, IN THE FACE OF MUCH
and decide what your abilities and skills are.
Are you already a consultant looking to move
from analyst to associate? Are you a manager
in industry seeking to change careers and
SCEPTICISM, HAS BEEN REMARKABLE
TopMBA Career Guide is designed to

”
become a consultant? Do you want strategy provide potential applicants with information,
consulting or general management consulting? based on expert experience and hard facts, to
Do you want to specialise by sector or help them make an informed decision on one
function, or remain a generalist? These are the of the most important career choices they will
questions to ask. Your answers, which will ever have to face. Profiles of executives and
reflect your background and your objectives, MBA alumni offer valuable insights and
will help focus your choice on the business examine the criteria you will have to meet in
school that's best for you. order to make your selection. They also
If you think you want to become a strategy indicate which schools are preferred by
consultant there are roughly 60 international employers, both local and international.
business schools where these companies
recruit. Typical candidates have good grades at FINANCING AN MBA
university (2.1 or better) and at least two years' Although many schools have become more
work experience. Work experience is flexible recently, the standard period for a full-
important because it demonstrates time international MBA in the USA is still two
achievement. If you have a more modest years. The cost of the programme at The
academic background, no language Wharton School at the University of
proficiency and little or no experience in the Pennsylvania is $40,000 a year, to which you
workplace, your chances of getting into one of should add another $20,000 for living
these schools and then into the profession, are expenses and books. Other blue-ribbon
much slimmer. If this is your case, why not American schools, such as Harvard, Chicago,
target schools with better networks into your or Stanford, are much in line with these
national or local business community instead? figures, which represent the top end of the US
General management consultancy is a market.

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 81
In Europe, the London Business School often with classes at weekends.

(LBS) is one of the rare institutions to offer a Distance learning has become a growth
two–year programme, costing £42,000. In market and is likewise a serious alternative to
general, European MBAs are shorter. The the full-time MBA. Britain has the lion's share
programme at the International Institute of of such programmes. Over 20,000 people in
Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne the UK have opted for this form of study,
lasts 11 months. INSEAD's runs for ten and a compared to fewer than 4,000 ten years ago.
half months. Leading programmes in other Costs vary from £800 per course at Heriot-Watt
European countries are one year, 15 months or to £9,000 at the Open University Business
18 months. At INSEAD, located outside Paris, School and students usually have from three to
you will pay €45,000; again, figure another eight years to complete the course. US
€7,000 for accommodation and expenses. IMD business schools have recently entered the
charges €61,200. These two programmes are distance learning market with online courses.
among Europe's most expensive, but cheaper For example Babson offers a distance MBA for
courses exist. The 100 or so MBAs available in $62,000 over a two year period, as an
the UK provide a wide price range. A full-time alternative to it’s full time MBA.
course at Aberystwyth costs £9,950, at Warwick Distance-learning programmes most often
£24,400, Strathclyde £19,000, Cranfield £26,500 cited by HR directors in recruiter research
and Manchester Business School £30,500. conducted by TopMBA Career Guide are from
Financial aid can make the most expensive Aston, Durham, Henley, Heriot-Watt, Kingston,
programmes affordable. the Open University, Strathclyde and Warwick.
Many organisations offer scholarships (see We would advise you to take a distance-
the scholarship review at www.topmba.com) learning MBA as a refresher course, or to
and numerous local banks can provide low- broaden your horizons with your current
start loans for your period of study. When employer. It will not facilitate a career change
applying to the school of your choice it is a into consulting. Consulting firms prefer to
good idea to make specific enquiries about recruit from full-time programmes.
funding options. If you are not prepared to
give up your present job for a year or more, WHAT'S THE RIGHT MBA FOR ME?
but simply want to increase your We believe that the international reputation
understanding of management tools, you among recruiters is one of the most
might consider a part-time or a distance- important criteria for selecting a school. It is
learning MBA. Most schools that offer full-time especially important for anyone seeking a
MBAs have part-time versions as well and only career in strategy consulting. But other
their delivery, not their content, will differ. factors should also be considered: local
Part-time study obviously restricts you to reputation in the country you wish to work
schools located near your current employer. A in; teaching method (analytical or case-
reputable school near you will be a cost- study); the flexibility of the programme to
efficient option. Part-time MBAs are available meet your personal needs; core course
from Bath (£20,000), Durham (£14,500), content and elective courses available; areas
Nottingham University Management School of specialisation possible; languages required
(£17,000), Nyenrode (€3,800), Norwegian for entry and graduation; cultural fit; and
School of Management (Nkr180,000) and profile of its participants (average age,
Warwick (£17,500), among others. They educational background and work
generally run for between two and three years, experience).

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 82
INTERNATIONAL MBA RECRUITER • MBA salaries and benefits

SURVEY • Business school ratings amongst
Recruiters have a preferred set of schools at international recruiters:
which they will actively recruit and the 1) number of international
TopMBA.com international MBA recruiter companies targeting each school for their
survey has, for the past eight years, researched MBA recruitment
recruiter preferences to identify international 2) business school reputations in
schools most actively utilised by international specialist areas
companies. We seek to establish from which
schools MBAs are most sought by international WORLD MBA TOUR visits London on
recruiters, as well as trends in MBA recruitment. Saturday 13 October 2007. Over 120
Each company is asked a series of questions business schools will take part including
about their MBA recruiting for the previous year 17 of the top 20 US schools and all top
and the next year. These questions cover: European schools. Visit www.topmba.com
• MBA recruitment trends: for details.
1) demand for MBAs by sector and
region NUNZIO QUACQUARELLI has an MA
2) skill sets required from MBAs from Cambridge University and an
3) job functions hired into MBA from Wharton School, University
4) recruiting methods of Pennsylvania.
5) active recruiters

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 83
Other Master’s
Programmes
Both in the UK and USA, higher education institutions are showing an
increasing interest in developing curricula and programmes at postgraduate
diploma and masters’ level in consulting. Similar programmes exist, or are
under development, in France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
n many cases, the view has been taken that Northampton Business School also offers an
I consulting is a method applied by competent

persons whose main occupation is not
generally viewed as consultancy. To that end,
MA in Accounting and Consultancy. The
University of Reading’s programme covers
topics such as the structure and conduct of the
many institutions now offer Master’s degrees industry, its evolution, the role of consultant in
with a consultancy component or elective. the diffusion of new management know-how,
Included amongst these are programmes and patterns of consultancy work. This is
developed for Human Resource specialists, followed by a case-based course on consulting
such as an MA in human resources practice, focusing upon consultancy firms and
(consulting) offered by South Bank University, their services. The course is for young people
and an MSc in Human Resources Management doing a Master’s degree following up on a first
with a specialism in consultancy from UMIST degree and is designed to introduce them to
(University of Manchester Institute of various career options, as well as reflecting the
Technology). There are also programmes business advice services of accountancy firms.
developed more recently, for internal auditors These examples illustrate that Masters’
– MSc in Audit Management and Consultancy programmes can be designed to meet
(UCE Business School), or for information the needs of people with fairly extensive or
technology workers – MSc IT Consultancy little experience of working. In the former,
(London Guildhall University Business School). the aim is to meet the needs of those
South Bank has run Master’s degrees in already working in, or providing services
consulting for a nearly a decade. The to, a corporation. This can mean that
consulting specialism has been developed in specialists educated in consulting can add
recognition of the changing nature of the value to a corporation through their ability
human resources profession. The qualification to adopt a more informed strategic role,
is seen as particularly relevant for HR and through deeper-level inquiry skills
professionals, human resources and gained by undertaking project work
organisational development consultants, and required for a dissertation. In the
senior managers who have responsibility for accountancy example, an entry-level
organisational change and a desire to deepen qualification into the profession meets the
their strategic consulting skills. student’s need within a context to be
For accountancy specialists, the University determined in the future. Yet, even here,
of Reading has recently developed an MSc in corporations receive value when students
International Consultancy and Accounting, and make better-informed career choices.

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 84
Continuing Professional
Development
Management consultancy is a craft and, like the traditional crafts, develops
with practical experience. Those with long memories in management
consultancy can perhaps remember a time when the consultant was a
magician. Invite him (and in those days a consultant was almost always
male) into your business, and from his black bag he would produce a shower
of management tricks that would transform it. The consultant had arcane
knowledge, and the process of consultancy consisted of applying this usefully
to client organisations.
A MORE SOPHISTICATED CLIENT BASE individual and former employer, or even to

Since then, our client base has changed. I, like substitute for the word ‘salesman’. If
many others, entered consultancy with the management consultants are to be seen as
intention of spending three or four years in the valuable, they must bring distinctive worth to
profession, to take advantage of the variety of their clients.
experience it provides and emerge far more
attractive to future employers as a general SO WHAT DOES A MANAGEMENT
manager. CONSULTANT BRING TO THE PARTY?
Many people have subsequently graduated In 2003, the Institute of Management
from consultancy firms and now occupy Consultancy, now the Institute of Business
executive positions with our clients. This, Consulting published a carefully researched
together with widespread management statement of the competencies that consultants
education, means that the consultant is dealing need. (For more information on this, see the
with a more sophisticated client base. Institute’s website at www.ibconsulting.org.uk).
Nonetheless, it is still the individual One of the features of this framework is that,
consultant who is the bearer of value from the in some of the areas of competence, there are
consultancy firm to the client. Surveys of progressive degrees of ability defined – useful
buyers of consultancy repeatedly show that to the individual new to the profession and
the quality of the individual consultants fielded wanting to map their progression.
by a firm has a determining effect on the There are also other factors that
buying decisions for both new and repeat distinguish consultants: mental acuity,
business. bringing an outsider's view and, perhaps
most significantly, time, because the
THE VALUE OF A CONSULTANT reason a client may employ consultants is
In recent years the term ‘consultant’ has been not a lack of ability in the client
appropriated for other uses, sometimes to organisation, but that there is not enough
mean the contractual relationship between an of it to go round!

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 85
THE CRAFT OF CONSULTANCY practices are better positioned to offer their

No one becomes an expert cabinetmaker clients high-quality help.
simply by reading books on the topic; Consultancy practices, however, are
likewise, no one can be a fully competent perhaps more acutely aware of the costs of
management consultant without experience of training than many other businesses. Not only
executing assignments. are there the real costs of training, but also the
And, like a traditional craftsman, one can opportunity costs of removing consultants
see the progression of a consultant from from fee earning work. In 2005 we conducted
apprentice, through journeyman, to becoming a survey of the investment that is made in
a master of the craft. Initially, as an operating training by consultancy practices. It showed
consultant, the newcomer should work under that on average practices budgeted seven days
the guidance of more experienced colleagues. a year for training – but only five were taken
As time goes by, he or she may manage up! So there are good intentions, but practice
projects of increasing scale, perhaps selling the is somewhat weaker.
assignments in the first place. Finally, a
consultant may be responsible for a profit
centre or a whole practice. “LIKE A TRADITIONAL CRAFTSMAN, ONE CAN
SEE THE PROGRESSION OF A CONSULTANT
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT (CPD) FROM APPRENTICE, THROUGH JOURNEYMAN,
As an institute the Institute of Business TO BECOMING A MASTER OF THE CRAFT ”
Consulting recognises the progress that can be
made in the profession, and seeks to
encourage this. A number of practices are now PRACTICAL PROFESSIONAL
formally recognised by the Institute as meeting DEVELOPMENT
a high standard for the training of consultants, Ultimately it falls to individual consultants to
and individual members of the Institute are plan and implement their own professional
now required to log their CPD commitment development. This is an important task if you
aligned to the Institute’s Management are to keep your intellectual assets bright and
Consultancy Competence Framework. shiny and continue to be valued by clients.
There are a variety of benefits to all But you need to make time to address your
involved in management consultancy if every personal development agenda. This can be
consultant attends to planning and defined as follows:
implementing personal development activities. 1. What are the key tasks you need to
It is essential that consultants maintain the carry out?
value of their intellectual assets if they are to 2. What are the important skills you
be of use to their clients. CPD is therefore need to perform these tasks well?
imperative, and the responsibility for this lies 3. In what way do you need to
with the individual. improve those skills?
The provision of first-class training and 4. What are the practical steps that you
development can be a key element in a need to take for skill enhancement
consultancy practice's employment prospectus. over the next 12 months?
Consultants will be more willing to join 5. How successful were the key tasks
practices that offer active enhancement of their chosen and what would you do
personal value - and this also means that those differently next time?

ManCon p1-86.qxd 25/7/07 16:32 Page 86
Your personal development agenda can be After experience with PA Management

addressed not only through off-the-job activities, Consultants and Spicer & Pegler
but also through reviewing relevant activities Associates, CALVERT MARKHAM FIMC
during the regular course of your work. set up his own practice in 1987. He is a
A feature of work in recent years is that more Human Resources Consultant, with a
people are required to deliver their skills in a special interest in training consultants,
client environment. Management consultants and managing director of
are pre-eminent among these, but must CONSULTANCY SKILLS TRAINING
undertake carefully planned continuing LIMITED which specialises in this area.
professional development if they are to make He is also visiting professor in the
their distinctive contribution to developing practice of management consultancy at
business performance. the Cass Business School in City
University.

Company profiles
Detailed information on companies and vacancies are

provided on the web.
Company profiles
For the latest
up to date
Bain & Company
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
information on
BT
Capgemini
the web click on

Deloitte
Diamond Management & Technology
Consultants
the links below:

Ernst & Young
Hewitt
KPMG
L.E.K. Consulting
Graduate vacancies
Marakon Associates
McKinsey & Company
Work experience
Metapraxis Ltd
OC & C Strategy Consultants
Company profiles
Oliver Wyman
PA Consulting Group
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
Spectrum Strategy Consultants
Teach First
Towers Perrin
Watson Wyatt
ZS Associates
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Inside Careers

Inside Careers Guide to

For the latest up to

on the web click

on the links below:

Published in partnership with:

JEREMY WEBSTER is Chair of the INSTITUTE OF

I f you’re reading this guide, you’re probably

4| Management Consultancy 2007/8 www.insidecareers.co.uk

ANDREW CROWLEY is President of the

W hy did I choose management

www.insidecareers.co.uk Management Consultancy 2007/8 | 5

The Institute of Business Consulting

The Management Consultancies Association

The Future of the Industry

Frequently Asked Questions

ithin such a broad definition, outsourcing on a global basis. Many of these

W management consultants can be

requirement for urgent strategic advice to Strategy consultants

8| Management Consultancy 2007/8 www.insidecareers.co.uk

implementing computer applications and are interested in and talk to consultants in

WHAT IS THE RANGE OF A

www.insidecareers.co.uk Management Consultancy 2007/8 | 9

Human resources Environmental management

10| Management Consultancy 2007/8 www.insidecareers.co.uk

B varied profession. It is also demanding

www.insidecareers.co.uk Management Consultancy 2007/8 | 11

12| Management Consultancy 2007/8 www.insidecareers.co.uk

T for most of the FTSE 100 companies and

www.insidecareers.co.uk Management Consultancy 2007/8 | 13

14| Management Consultancy 2007/8 www.insidecareers.co.uk

The Future of the

T Craig, Vice President at AT Kearney,

www.insidecareers.co.uk Management Consultancy 2007/8 | 15

16| Management Consultancy 2007/8 www.insidecareers.co.uk

www.insidecareers.co.uk Management Consultancy 2007/8 | 17

18| Management Consultancy 2007/8 www.insidecareers.co.uk

? DO I NEED A DEGREE AND IF SO, IN

consultancy are graduates. They come from

? WHAT ARE EMPLOYERS

candidates meet their entry requirements.

www.insidecareers.co.uk Management Consultancy 2007/8 | 19

? WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I JOIN?

? HOW MUCH CAN I EXPECT TO

? WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE

If you wish to explore other issues please

20| Management Consultancy 2007/8 www.insidecareers.co.uk

Internal Business Consultant

Business Analyst, Niche

Human Resources Consultant

O a four-year degree was realising that I

22| Management Consultancy 2007/8 www.insidecareers.co.uk

www.insidecareers.co.uk Management Consultancy 2007/8 | 23

24| Management Consultancy 2007/8 www.insidecareers.co.uk

I starting out on the graduate scheme, or

www.insidecareers.co.uk Management Consultancy 2007/8 | 25

26| Management Consultancy 2007/8 www.insidecareers.co.uk

I approximately nine months; I joined

www.insidecareers.co.uk Management Consultancy 2007/8 | 27

28| Management Consultancy 2007/8 www.insidecareers.co.uk

M of firms and my introduction to the

www.insidecareers.co.uk Management Consultancy 2007/8 | 29