FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Booz & Company different from other top-tier consulting firms?
How is the firm structured?
What are the differences across offices in terms of size, industries served, types of clients served, and type of work being done?
How would you explain the work that Booz & Company does?
What does Booz & Company look for in a candidate?
I am trying to decide between consulting and investment banking. Why should I choose consulting?
Can you describe the types of things a Summer Associate actually does?
How much say do I actually have about the types of projects I work on? Can I focus more of my projects on one area?
I hear you have a well-established mentoring program at Booz & Company; how does that work?
What is the culture/work environment like at Booz & Company?
How much should I expect to work, travel, and be away from home? How many weekends should I expect to work? I’ve heard that people at Booz & Company travel more. Is that true?
How do I know which consulting firm is best for me?

How is Booz & Company different from other top-tier consulting firms?

Our major differentiator is our focus on strategy-based transformation

Helping clients face change brought about by discontinuities in their markets (e.g., deregulation, new competition, convergence of technology, mergers and acquisitions)
Working with clients that want to drive to a new future through major, cross-functional change
Covering the entire CEO agenda, including corporate portfolio, business unit strategy, and functional strategies (e.g., marketing, technology, operations)…with precision, speed, and certainty.

A strategy-based transformation includes:

Understanding industry structure and dynamics
Developing a strategic agenda—including both business and functional strategies
Driving the CEO’s agenda forward through skilled program management
Cascading the strategy throughout the organization through effective leadership and organization strategy.

This strategy-based transformation work is more focused on the full CEO agenda than the work of most of our competitors.

How is the firm structured?

Booz & Company has a straightforward corporate structure. The firm is made up of several business units: North America Commercial, Europe, and International.

Our senior staff are all members of industry- or function-focused teams.

The industry-focused teams are:

Automotive
Aerospace & Defense
Consumer
Energy, Chemicals, and Utilities
Financial Services
Health & Pharmaceuticals
Industrials
Insurance
Media
Telecommunications
Transportation

The function-focused teams are:

Information Technology
Operations
Organization & Strategic Leadership

What are the differences across offices in terms of size, industries served, types of clients served, and type of work being done?

Unlike most of its general management consulting competitors, Booz & Company does not follow a regional consulting model. We staff the best people for a specific engagement on the engagement, even if they don’t happen to live in the office closest to the client’s location. However, our industry and functional teams are often located closest to the markets they serve. For instance, partners in our Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit offices lead most of our automotive work; most of our media partners work in the New York office; partners in Dallas and Houston lead most of our energy work. As a result, many of our staff who work on those jobs come from those offices. We also factor our staff’s career development needs and interests into staffing opportunities and will staff employees on a job in another city to meet their needs and interests.

How would you explain the work that Booz & Company does?

Although we have long-term relationships with many clients—we have worked with several clients almost continuously for 40, 50, or 60 years—people come to consulting to do a variety of different things. Our goal is to keep you on one project for no more than six months. Thereafter, you may stay with the same client, but you will be working on something different—something that will help you develop and take you to the next level in your consulting career. Team size can vary, depending on the project, but most times you will be working on a fairly small sub-team, focusing on a particular aspect of the client’s issue. A typical sub-team could be made up of three to a dozen people—and almost always, you’ll be working side by side with members of the client organization.

What does Booz & Company look for in a candidate?

Booz & Company looks for candidates with the following general attributes:

A high level of general intelligence and academic achievement
Real thought leadership, combined with strong analytical and problem-solving skills (which includes both a quantitative and a qualitative orientation)
Personal leadership qualities, including an ability to manage people, drive change, and accomplish challenging goals through and with others
The ability to work independently, while simultaneously being able to forge productive team relationships
Business judgment and maturity, including the ability to develop a "big picture" view and use it Intellectual curiosity
Strong personal presence, combined with compelling and professional presentation and communication skills
Initiative, personal organization, motivation, and ownership of one’s work.

One of our senior partners said it best:

“What kind of person makes it at Booz & Company? Someone who has done something very hard and very well, like compete in a marathon or sing in an opera—something at which they strive to excel for the sheer self-satisfaction of the quest. People here are driven to excel for the feeling, the personal satisfaction of being the best.”

I am trying to decide between consulting and investment banking. Why should I choose consulting?

Investment banking and consulting are different career paths—comparing them is like comparing well-paying apples with well-paying oranges. Consulting is, by necessity, a longer, more open-ended, and more personally interactive process than the more transactional process of investment banking. General management consulting presents a variety of different types of problems that require unique solutions. The consulting experience guarantees variety from project to project and client to client. It is important to choose what you would be happiest doing.

Can you describe the types of things a Summer Associate actually does?

We want our Summer Associates to get a good feel for what it’s like to be a consultant at Booz & Company. So you’ll do the same kind of work that our Associates do. You’ll be staffed as a fully functioning member of a client team, generally working side by side with your team members at the client site and tasked with your own responsibilities and your own deliverables. As is typical with any new Associate, you will concentrate on the fundamentals of consulting—fact finding, analysis, developing recommendations for change, writing, presentation skills, and building client relationships.

How much say do I actually have about the types of projects I work on? Can I focus more of my projects on one area?

Your individual development preferences and needs play a huge role in the projects on which you’ll be staffed. Additionally, our clients’ needs and the overall availability of staff play a significant role in the staffing process. You’ll work with your mentors and the staffing team to find the right projects to develop your core consulting skills and your personal preferences.

I hear you have a well-established mentoring program at Booz & Company; how does that work?

At Booz & Company, we recognize that everyone needs someone to talk with about their careers, someone they can use as a sounding board, someone with more experience with the firm who can give them advice. Therefore, we have a formal mentoring program in place that’s worked very well.

When new employees join the firm, they are assigned a Junior and Senior Mentor. Junior Mentors are people to reach for regarding anything from how to book your travel and where to stay to writing a self-assessment during your appraisal cycle. Your Senior Mentor is someone who can provide insights into your long-term growth at Booz & Company and who often works to ensure that your development needs are being met through your staffing assignments. In addition to your formal mentors, you can certainly form less formal mentoring relationships with other colleagues based on your personal or professional interactions.

What is the culture/work environment like at Booz & Company?

The culture at Booz & Company is unique. The best and brightest people—highly experienced individuals from a variety of backgrounds and areas of expertise—come together to help clients succeed by solving problems on the CEO agenda. Our culture is one of the key reasons people decide to join us.

The firm places a strong value on:

Individuality
An ability to thrive in a team environment
Intellectual integrity
A drive for excellence
A commitment to servicing clients

People who do well at Booz & Company have demonstrated a strong team orientation and creative thought leadership in their previous jobs and campus activities. They are analytic in their approach, they are thorough in problem solving, and, most importantly, they are intellectually curious and have a passion for solving problems. Almost any academic or industry background appeals to Booz & Company because the business spans most industries and functional disciplines.

We also value diversity. The wide array of backgrounds among our people serves as a competitive differentiator, a source of individual and corporate pride, and one of the selective secrets underlying the power of our teamwork. The solution we derive for our clients using a diverse team who bring a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives to the job will always be better than one that is derived from a team without that diversity.

How much should I expect to work, travel, and be away from home? How many weekends should I expect to work? I’ve heard that people at Booz & Company travel more. Is that true?

The consulting business inherently is a fast-driving business. There is no doubt that we work hard. And if you are looking for a 9 to 5 job, then this is not the right industry for you. Challenging, demanding work sometimes requires long hours; however, fourteen- hour days are not business-as-usual at Booz & Company.

We believe that our consultants work hours that are typical of those at our competitors. We encourage you to talk to members of our firm: they will tell you different stories—about some really tough projects, and about others when the hours were very reasonable; about those times when they traveled a lot, and about those where they didn’t hit the road for months.

The reality is that every project has peaks and valleys. Teams generally work together at the beginning of an assignment to lay out a project schedule and try to anticipate when those peak times will be so that you can better plan your schedule.

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 to you 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. From the beginning, you’ll be making contributions to businesses in a global marketplace. You’ll be developing an international perspective, building strong team leadership skills, deepening functional and industry capabilities, and gaining cross-functional understanding.

We believe that the best measure for determining a firm’s fit for you rests in how you feel about its people: Will they help you learn skills, lead others, grow personally, and have fun? Talk to as many people as possible—including people who are currently working there as well as former 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.

At Booz & Company, we encourage you to get to know us. Participate in the various activities we host on campus. Get your information firsthand to gain valuable insight into our corporate culture and environment.