In this short post, we will briefly explore how consulting firms work, the hierarchy within firms, the main types of firms, and a few ways to learn more about a particular firm as you chart your career path, prepare your applications, and get ready to matriculate into the consulting industry.
1. How do Consulting Firms Work?
Learning how consulting firms operate can help you better understand what you would do as an analyst. Imagine you are a CEO of a Fortune 500 business in the technology industry. Your business just launched a new product and needs to market it. Market trends have changed, and you want to make sure the product will reach the correct target customer. As a result, you hire a team of consultants to explore and recommend marketing strategies.
Consulting clients are generally businesses, government entities, non-profits, and NGOs. They will be facing some form of challenge that they would like to overcome. Clients may need help with market research, competitor analysis, growth strategies, supply chain optimization, product development, or a range of other issues. Rather than exploring this on their own, client firms often hire a 3rd party consulting firm.
2. Consulting Firm Structure
Although each consulting firm has slightly different structure, they generally have similar roles including partners, managers, associates, and analysts.
- Partners managing client relationships and are responsible for deals that the firm will engage in. They are usually senior members of the firm that have significant experience.
- Each project will have a manager that is the go-to person for the overall success of the project. They are the bridge between the client and team of consultants. They manage the entire team, direct deliverables, and ensure client needs are being met.
- Associates are experienced analysts that sometime serve as a bridge between the project manager and analyst. They constantly review, edit, and improve analyst work products.
- Analysts are entry level consultants that get placed on project teams. They work closely with fellow analysts and associates to develop solutions to client problems.
3. Types of Consulting Firms
Consulting firms usually have areas of expertise that make them credible experts to be solving a particular challenge.
You can assess a firm’s capabilities in two ways (a) the services offered and (b) the sectors they service. Examples of consulting services are technology, organization design, M&A, IPOs, and business transformations. Examples of sectors serviced are financial services, healthcare, and consumer packaged goods.
Boutique Consulting Firms
Boutique firms are generally much smaller, having only a small number of offices. They could specialize with certain business practices or industries. Analysts here may be expected to take more ownership over projects and could have more client interaction. Working at a boutique firm could be a great fit for you if you enjoy working on small tight-knit teams and have a passion for a specific niche.
In-House Consultants
By definition, a consultant’s job is to consult a client. They are generally 3rd parties trying to offer an objective point of view. Many companies have their own internal consulting teams that work directly with senior leaders. They generally work on strategic and high priority projects within the firm. This may be a good fit for someone who enjoys consulting projects but prefers the context of working with one client and receiving a stable and predictable workflow.
Large Consulting Firms
These firms have international presence, wide knowledge bases, and reputations of success across many industries. MBB (McKinsey, Bain, and Boston Consulting Group) are the three leading management consulting firms, and offer clients a combination of reliability, high quality, and very strategic recommendations. The Big 4 (EY, PwC, Deloitte, and KPMG) are known for offering a combination of strategic and implementation services.
4. How To Learn About Consulting Firms?
The following are two approaches that I have used to gain an understanding of particular consulting firms.
Company Website
Company websites are a great first stop to learn about the firm’s practice, executive partners, and intern/first-year programs. Firms publish reports that collate and showcase their findings in a certain industry. They also publish information from partners including their backgrounds and expertise. Career pages explain intern/first year programs, and the recruitment process. If you are interested in recruiting for a consulting internship or graduate program, visit the firm’s careers page and read about the specific program.
Coffee Chat with Employees
After visiting a firm’s website, you should aim to speak directly with an analyst at the firm. Visit LinkedIn to reach out to university alumni. Ask them about their experience working at the firm, what kinds of projects they have worked on, what challenges they have faced, and what is unique about the culture. Speaking directly with a consultant will give you unique insight that a website cannot offer.
Zuhair Imaduddin is a labor relations student at Cornell University. He was a Product Management Intern at PNC Bank and is an incoming Innovation Development Summer Analyst at JPMorgan Chase.
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