FAQ’s

How do I know which consulting firm is best for me?

I am trying to decide between consulting and investment banking. What are the major differences and how will I know what is right for me?

What kind of training does Booz & Company provide its management consultants?

What is a standard mix of engagements for a management associate? 

How do I know which consulting firm is best for me?

When considering potential employers, think about your specific career goals and aspirations. Articulate what is important and evaluate each company you consider against these criteria to determine which one will give you the best opportunity to discover and develop your full potential.

Booz & Company offers an extraordinary range of development opportunities. Make contributions to businesses in a global marketplace, develop an international perspective, build strong team leadership skills, deepen functional / industry capabilities, and gain cross-functional understanding.

We believe the best measure for determining a firm’s fit, rests in how you feel about its people. Will they help you develop skills, lead others, grow personally, and have fun? Talk to as many people as possible - including people who are currently working in your target companies as well as previous employees. Ask the same questions repeatedly to see if you receive similar or different answers. Press for specifics on the criteria that are most important to you. 

I am trying to decide between consulting and investment banking. What are the major differences and how will I know what is right for me?

Consulting and investment banking share some similarities:

• You work on matters of major significance to CEOs 
• You work with outstanding professionals 
• Creativity and analytic ability are prized

However, the nature of the work and the way it is executed are fundamentally different between consulting and investment banking.

Consulting offers broad, cross-functional experience. You work directly with a company’s top management team over the long-term, creating and implementing strategies and capabilities that win in today’s challenging business environment. Success comes from working with the client organisation over time, turning winning ideas into reality using your own bright ideas and efforts.

Investment banking deals primarily with balance sheets and financial issues. It is transactional in nature, offering the ‘thrill of the deal’ where winning or losing is clear and immediate.

Consulting is, by necessity, a more open-ended, uncertain, and personally interactive process. Both fields pay very well. In good years, investment banking may offer higher financial rewards, but its hours tend to be longer and the work can be less controllable than consulting.

You need to choose a field based on what is most important and enjoyable to you. We invite you to talk to us about any aspect of consulting, and we strongly suggest you do the same with investment banking colleagues and firms. 

What kind of training does Booz & Company provide its management consultants?

Training begins the day you arrive and continues throughout your career at Booz & Company. When you start, you join new colleagues for a ‘New Hire Orientation’ that imparts Booz & Company’s heritage, culture, and approach to consulting.

The Booz & Company training curriculum embraces a comprehensive, competency-based approach to developing our people for success. Five channels are designed to deliver training in a variety of settings.

• Cohort Classes - off-site courses designed to develop craft and analytic skills, values-based leadership, and interpersonal skills
• Learning Laboratory Classes - off-site courses built to test new management and leadership skills in a ‘real-time’ interactive setting 
• Self-Study Primers - interactive self-study modules on a variety of analytical methodologies and interpersonal skills 
• Home Office Days - a vehicle for disseminating intellectual capital and delivering peer-directed training in local offices 
• Enhanced On-the-Job Training - a program for bringing training and relationship-building skills to the client engagement site

Additionally, practice groups hold global and regional meetings for further practice-based training and development.

Booz & Company also offers a mentorship program that seeks to build valuable relationships between senior staff and recent arrivals. When you join the firm, you will be assigned a mentor who will be responsible for helping you get started and answering your questions. Over time, your network will grow, you will acquire more mentors, and you will become a mentor to junior staff who will depend on your counsel and support. 

What is a standard mix of engagements for a management Associate?

The mix of engagements for a new Associate in his or her first few years with the firm is driven by the needs both of the individual and of our clients. We begin by considering the individual’s interests and development needs, envisioning how they may unfold over the first few years.

The Booz & Company client base is the other factor that plays a large part in determining an individual’s assignment mix. Opportunities will vary by practice and geography because Booz & Company has deep and multi-year relationships with the world’s top companies. This individualistic approach to staffing engagements ensures each Associate develops a professional path that aligns his or her career goals with the goals of Booz & Company and our clients. Regardless of the kind of client or the type of engagement, we measure ourselves and judge our work in terms of the results we help clients achieve.