1. What is Consulting?
Presentation to aspiring entry level hires
J-P Martins, Consulting Careers Team
9 September 2009
Page 11
Page

2. Who are we?
The Consulting Careers Team
J-P Martins Associate 7 years’ experience spanning BCG and Bain
Director
Also held strategy and corporate development
roles in Mining and Financial Services
BCG, McKinsey, Deloitte, KPMG and EMB client
June Senior 10+ years’ experience at London Business
O’Connor Relationship School
Manager
Long standing and deep relationships with all
significant consulting recruiters from the school
Page 2

3. Who are you?
MBA and MiF students
Novice Onlooker Participant Player
• I have no • They’ve • I’ve worked • I’ve worked
experience been on a project as a
of involved with them consultant
consultants with my
company
No experience High experience
3

4. The start of the ‘1st year’ autumn consulting
programme, leading to January recruiting
How
What Who
…do I get a
…is …are the
job in
consulting? consultants?
consulting?
9 September 11 14 October
September
‘Is consulting ‘How do I best
for me?’ ‘Which firms prepare?’
should I apply
to?’
28 Oct 30 Oct 4 Nov 6 Nov 20 Nov 4 Dec 18 Dec
Problem Case Solving ‘Which ‘CVs for ‘Cover Case
Solving for workshops Complex Firms and consulting’ letters for workshops
Case Business How?’ workshops consulting’
Interviews Problems workshops workshops
Sessions in red are presentations, others are workshops MiFs welcome to all sessions
One-on-one sessions for MBA 2011s available from 29 January 4

5. Also: comprehensive ‘2nd year’ consulting
programme, focused on Autumn recruiting
18 Sep 26 Sep 28 Sep 16 Oct 4 Nov
Case workshops ‘Super Saturday’ One-on-One Case workshops One-on-one
sessions begin sessions begin
 CV review
(MBA 2010) (MiFs)
 Cover letter review
 Application strategy 5 Oct
Consulting Club
 Pitch
‘Crack a Case’
 Case workshops programme
Recruiting*:
W/C: 21 Sep
Bain Accenture Booz Diamond OC&C CapGemin 2020 Everest
i
BCG AT LEK Roland Marakon
Kearney Berger FINCO
Parthenon ZS
McKinsey
FINCO: Finance and Consulting networking event, 15 October
* Preliminary list – individual firms to be confirmed 5

6. Don’t forget FINCO on 15 October!
Finance and Consulting Networking event
Consulting attendees include (preliminary list):
 Alvarez and Marsal  Gallup
 Cambridge Associates  Molten
 Celerant  PRTM
 Deutsche Post  PWC
 Efficio  Schlumberger
6

7. Today’s agenda: Two main questions
Introductions
What is management consulting?
Is it for you?
Recap and next steps
7

8. What is a management consultant?
Any professional who provides
advice and assistance to others,
‘Consultant’ usually for financial reward. This
covers many roles operating in
almost any industry
‘Management Identifies, diagnoses and solves
Consultant’ business problems and issues
8

9. That’s very general - what distinguishes
what management consultants do?
Logic
Management consultants:
 Identify, diagnose and resolve business issues
 Provide resources
– People Provide an
– Access to data and expertise objective view of
– Impartiality the way forward
and/or help the
 Operate at many levels client to achieve
 Work with others something they
– Clients can’t do alone
– Case teams
 Work on projects ('cases' or 'engagements’), Speed
lasting from a few weeks to several years
9

10. How do they do that then? – Workplan,
analyse, communicate!
Strategic Problem Solving Process
Problem Framing Problem Structure Issue Prioritisation
• Impact and Hypotheses • Speed
Business
Problem • Insight • Key elements • 80:20
• Early hypotheses
Work Planning
• Efficiency
• Leverage
Output Synthesis and Analysis
Next Communication Recommendations • So what - insight
iteration? • Buy-in • Solutions • Justification –
New • Implementability • Actions how do you get
priorities? the data to prove
it?
10

11. Sorry, what do they actually do?
The case team leader The team (consultants & clients) will work
(typically 2-3 years post together to solve the problem:
MBA) will:
 Work through the issues in a logical way
 Ensure the problem is
correctly defined and  Discuss approaches and solutions as a team
scoped  Conduct desk research, interview and
observe clients, ask awkward questions,
 Understand what the
client needs to achieve collect and analyse data, consult experts
 Substantiate conclusions with data, data, data
 Sound out approaches
and potential solutions  Obtain buy-in from team members and client’s
(hypothesis based) senior management
11

12. Example project 1: Merger between two
global airlines
Problem: Asked by CEO of XYZ Air to assist build a business case for merger, to present to Board
Project: Two teams, each led by a manager with 2 or 3 consultants/associates, three month
timeframe
Identified likely areas of synergy and estimated quantity of each
‘Killer’ analysis was reconstructing the other airline’s operating and maintenance
schedule by working backwards from published timetables
Also lots of detailed working through organisation charts and expense details with XYZ
Air’s senior managers
Developed detailed brand and service strategies to minimise top-line erosion
Workshopped findings with select senior managers from both airlines
Findings: Validated key assumptions and overall value - £1+bn synergies
Results: Work was presented to Board – they continued to move forward with the project
Merger was eventually announced to markets, but rejected by regulators
12

13. Example project 2: Operational
improvement at flight catering centre
Problem: Asked by GM Catering of XYZ Air to advise on cost reduction and operational
improvement at regional flight catering centre
Project: One team, led by a manager with 2 consultants/associates, three month timeframe (one
of 8 or 9 such teams running simultaneously in the same client)
Hand-picked 15 client team members to perform the project analysis and act as change
champions
First day was met by a walkout of all staff leading to no food on planes for a 6 hour period
Identified likely areas of opportunity and quantified each
 Included sifting through all discarded meals from one day’s flights to identify what
passengers really want to eat, rather than what they say they want
 Benchmarked potential savings against wholesale outsourcing
Findings: Over £1m annual saving possible from reduced flight delays, re-scoped food menus and
efficiencies in ingredient procurement
Results: All recommendations accepted and implemented – XYZ went on to further reduce
scope of economy class hot meals as it realised these really were not valued by public
13

14. Example project 3: Energy coal supply
and demand study
Problem: Asked by Group CEO Energy of Global Mining Co to produce bottom up forecast of
energy coal prices for next 15 years based on comprehensive supply and demand study
Project: Sino-Australian team: 2 managers with 4 consultants/associates, with 1 senior manager
and two engineers from the client, 3-month timeframe (based in China for 2 months)
Completed survey of 300 Chinese mines using local market researchers, and
exhaustive electricity demand projections based on GDP growth and demand elasticities
Modelled all new planned power stations over next 15 years and likely impact on
demand
Thoroughly researched Chinese road, rail and sea transport infrastructure
Built global supply and demand model using company information
Findings: Ground-breaking (then!) view on explosion of Chinese natural resource demand
Confirmed availability of low cost coal production to meet this demand, despite likely short
term transport bottlenecks, and unviability of some of Global’s assets in the long term
Reviewed Global Mining’s cost position and made advised strategy for each mine
Results: Strategy not adopted – Global Mining instead reacted to short term price rises, raising
long-term price forecasts, and overinvested in acquisitions which destroyed value
14

15. Today’s agenda
Introductions
What is management consulting?
Is it for you?
Recap and next steps
15

16. The appeal of consulting is different for
different people – here’s a starter list…
A fantastic opportunity to accelerate or Opportunities to travel
transform your career
Variety: of problems to be solved; of
Extremely selective hiring – it’s like industries/organisations
winning a prize
Intellectual challenges
Immense capability of your colleagues –
smart, charming, driven people Interpersonal challenges
Great employers – training, benefits, Influence (power?)
offices, personal development Ability to create completely new
intellectual capital
Remuneration’s good – particularly if you
stick around a few years Value creation
 Base UK salaries for MBAs £60-70k Opportunities to develop, coach and
range for MBAs (+ sign-on) train others (clients, juniors)
Professional service – serving clients Looks good on your CV
16

17. …but it’s not going to suit everyone
(1 of 2)
You may not be good enough?
 Hiring is very selective
 Fewer than 10% of applicants from LBS get into the top firms
You have to be highly driven and work hard
 60+ hour weeks remain normal, and 80+ hour weeks are not unknown
Travel commitments can be onerous
 Consultants need to work with their clients. This may mean extensive periods of
travelling, living away from home 4 days a week
Things change
 Constantly. Project allocations, travel arrangements, meeting times, holiday plans,
development targets…
17

18. …but it’s not going to suit everyone
(2 of 2)
You’re not the smartest fish in the pond any more
 Your colleagues are bright and enthusiastic – many did better at school than you
 Your bosses really do know what they are talking about now, and sometimes you’re the
one who doesn’t
‘Up or out’
 Your performance will be constantly evaluated
 Every six months or so, you will be appraised by a career development committee
 You may be promoted at any of these appraisals
 If not promoted at regular intervals (usually around 2 years) you will be asked to leave
 Annual turnover at these firms is often around 25%
18

19. How does a consulting career work?
6-9 years
4-5 years
2 years
post MBA Partner1,3
Manager1 • Partner/
Typical MBA Director2
entry level • Associate
Case Team Principal2 • Vice
Leader1 • Principal3,4 President4
• Engagement
Consultant1,3
Manager2
• Associate2,4 • Project Leader3
• Senior
Associate Associate4
Consultant1
• Business
Analyst2
• Associate3
• Consultant4
1 Bain, 2 McKinsey, 3 BCG, 4 Booz
Note: Timings very approximate
19

20. Current market is down a bit, but
expected to bounce back
Growth in Consulting Hires
(%pa)
Source: ADD/MCA survey, 75 firms, 2008
20

21. Today’s agenda
Introductions
What is management consulting?
Is it for you?
Recap and next steps
21

22. Recap
Management consulting is a broad field, concerned with solving clients’
business problems at all levels
Value, rigour, speed and independence are key
Consultants work in teams, and apply a rigorous problem solving process
Consulting has many attractions, but will not suit everyone
Only you can tell if it’s for you – take today as a starting point and
research the sector, and firms…
22

23. Coming soon – Consulting Club kick-off
tonight & ‘Who Are The Consultants’ on Friday
How
What Who
…do I get a
…is …are the
job in
consulting? consultants?
consulting?
9 September 11 14 October
September
‘Is consulting ‘How do I best
for me?’ ‘Which firms prepare?’
should I apply
to?’
9 Sep 28 Oct 30 Oct 4 Nov 6 Nov 20 Nov 4 Dec 18 Dec
Consulting Problem Case Solving ‘Which ‘CVs for ‘Cover Case
Club Kick-off Solving for workshops Complex Firms and consulting’ letters for workshops
meeting Case Business How?’ workshops consulting’
7:00 Interviews Problems workshops workshops
Sessions in red are presentations, others are workshops MiFs welcome to all sessions
One-on-one sessions for MBA 2011s available from 29 January 23