FAQs

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.

I am trying to decide between a corporate career and a consulting career. What are the major differences and how will I know which is right for me?

A consulting career will usually expose you to a more expansive range of situations and opportunities than a corporate career. As a consultant, you’ll be able to learn about a variety of industries and functions, work on different teams with many interesting people, and experience growth that will be anything but linear.

Consulting is, by necessity, an open-ended, flexible, and interactive process. You will work with the best and brightest people across the firm, approach problems from a broad perspective, and be allowed to grow in many different areas.

Ask yourself:

Do you enjoy diving into an ever-changing portfolio of new projects?
Does the thought of transforming organisations excite you?
Do you thrive on seeing your ideas through to implementation?
Do you enjoy meeting people at various levels of organisations and synthesising their perspectives?
Do you demand an environment in which you are constantly expanding your horizons, seeing new perspectives, and facing new challenges?
Do you enjoy working with new and interesting teams of people in a fluid environment?
Do you want to make a difference?

If you answered “yes” to all or a majority of these questions, chances are that consulting, and Booz & Company, are a good fit for you.

What does it take to be a successful consultant?

In many ways it is their differences — in training, backgrounds, and areas of expertise — that make consultants invaluable to clients with specific needs. But the most successful consultants share several important attributes. They:

Feel passionate about the work they do
Enjoy working in teams of colleagues and clients
Focus on results
Listen eagerly to their clients’ needs
Exhibit a drive to effect positive change where it is needed
Possess the tenacity to work through the details as well as the vision to keep clients’ goals and the “big picture” in mind.

People who succeed at Booz & Company have demonstrated strong team and thought-leadership skills in their previous jobs or on campus. They are analytical in approach, thorough in charting a course and, most importantly, have a curiosity and passion for solving problems. As long as you excel at what you do, almost any academic or industry background can be a good fit at Booz & Company — our business spans most industries and functional disciplines.

Why Booz & Company?

At Booz & Company you’ll be energised and challenged. Every day you’ll make an impact on a variety of interesting projects, learn new things, and teach others. You’ll feel the excitement as you work with the best and brightest people for the most prestigious clients. And you’ll be rewarded with world-class compensation and benefits programmes.

What is the culture like at Booz & Company?

We succeed because of the way we work. In setting the standards of our profession, our approach is noticeably different. We think ahead; we are undaunted by tough challenges; we are direct, honest and unambiguous; practical, pragmatic and committed to making things happen; and we bring the best people in the world together, realising the power of our multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural teams to make the greatest impact.

Some companies produce things, but at Booz & Company our only commodity is the innovation and know-how of our people. That’s why we hire the best and the brightest and why we do everything we can to keep them.

One way is by providing a culture in which people at all levels are encouraged to think out of the box and raise issues. We applaud innovative ideas, encourage feedback about the firm, and recognise exceptional efforts through a multi-tiered awards programme and a 360-degree appraisal process that helps ensure your efforts don’t go unnoticed.

What can I expect from my career at Booz & Company?

Professional development begins on your first day at Booz & Company and continues throughout your career. All new hires undergo an extensive orientation, which imparts Booz & Company’s heritage, culture, and approach to consulting. You will continue to find opportunities for personal and professional growth including:

Targeted courses in consulting, management, and business development
Coaching and mentoring
Cross-functional assignments
Immersion programmes to help you develop skills as you progress through your career
Tuition assistance for academic and technical certification

From your first day with our firm, we’ll continually add to your "toolbox" of skills and capabilities. This toolbox will serve you on every Booz & Company assignment and provide an invaluable foundation for your future.

At Booz & Company, you will create your own destiny and carve out your own individual career path. The firm will support your decisions through our world-class training, career development, and mentoring programmes.

But perhaps the most important way you’ll grow will be in your interactions with colleagues and clients over the course of your time with us. Once you become part of Booz & Company, you’ll begin building relationships that will stay with you forever. You’ll refine your consulting skills through day-to-day interaction with senior members of your team, and you’ll work alongside the movers and shakers of industry and government — our clients. Time and time again, our alumni tell us that it’s the people, at Booz & Company and among our clients, that they miss the most once they move on, and it’s the number-one reason many alumni choose to return to the firm.

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.

How can I balance my career and my life?

Booz & Company realises that there’s more to life than work and that we all benefit when employees are happy, healthy, and leading a well-balanced life. That’s why it’s important to Booz & Company that you are able to rejuvenate through personal activities that are important to you; that you are involved — not only in the business community, but also in the community where you make your home.

Booz & Company has programmes for your personal well-being, opportunities for flexible work arrangements, and impressive benefits packages. If you want to join a professional association, or go back to university for another degree or a certification, we’ll help cover the costs. The firm supports your need for community involvement with a full-time community relations department. To take your mind off work, many offices field sports teams and plan other after-work activities.

Every company is talking about diversity. What does diversity mean at Booz & Company?

We recognise that teams comprised of individuals with diverse backgrounds and styles produce richer results for our clients and ourselves. We believe that diversity within our own community enriches us as individuals by enlarging our sense of who we are and what we can become.

What is the typical interview process at Booz & Company and how can I prepare?

The interview process at Booz & Company will generally be conducted over two ‎rounds. Each round typically consists of two 45-60 minute interviews‎, each of ‎which involves:‎

General CV discussion so we can get to know each other
Case discussion in which we try to understand how you go about analyzing ‎real-world business problems
General consulting skills and industry knowledge where applicable
Answers to any questions that you might have.‎

After each round of interviews you will receive feedback on your interviews and the next steps within a week.

For interviews that are held during campus milk rounds this feedback will be provided on the same day or later the following day.

If you are invited to sit for interviews, a case preparation is recommended. Practice ‎as many case scenarios as possible, talking aloud with a partner and ‎generating defensible hypotheses and solutions. Here are some tips that ‎should help you succeed in the case interview:‎

Listen carefully; ask questions if there are any points you do not understand
Once the interviewer provides you with the case parameters, summarize the case to ‎the interviewer in your own words to be sure you understand the problem
Then, take some time to think for a minute. Be confident and, perhaps most ‎importantly, relax.
Find a way to structure the problem; this will guide your discussion with the ‎interviewer. Briefly describe the framework you plan to use to the interviewer, ‎allowing him or her a chance to offer comments. In general, the simpler the ‎framework, the better
Begin with the first element of your framework, and work through the answer out loud ‎so the interviewer can evaluate your analytical structure and help you along
Try to be aware of the time you have, moving through your framework at a pace that ‎allows you to touch on all the elements you described at the beginning of the case ‎discussion
Pause periodically during the discussion to give your interviewer a chance to “course ‎correct.” If your interviewer gives you some advice, take it — the interviewer wants to ‎help you!‎
Toward the end of the case discussion, be prepared to take a stand. Most case ‎discussions will seek some sort of recommendation from you.

What are the application process and deadlines for campus recruiting in 2011?

Please submit your application for Graduate Consultant position online through the Applications & Interviews pages of our website. Your application should include your CV/Resume, academic transcripts and a covering letter. Applications that do not include academic transcripts will not be considered. Applications can be addressed to Grace Lococo, ANZSEA Recruitment Manager.

A list of full application dates for 2011 can be found under Graduate Opportunities (Undergraduate) or Post-Graduate Opportunities (MBA) applications.