Staffing - Play-by-play case?
I was wondering if anyone would be nice enough to go through a play-by-play of staffing from when they roll off a case to when they start a new one. i've heard different things about the extent to which you have agency over your cases (obv depends on your tenure), but the exact process is still kind of a black box to me. does it go something like this?
-end a case
-log into system and see what cases are starting up soon
-apply for the case that you want
-they review your past performance and experience (does the EM/PL/CTL do this?)
-you get selected (if not, you get put on a random one?)
-start new case
i just pulled that in-between stuff out of my ass but it makes sense based on the bits and pieces i've heard. anyone want to throw anything in? esp re: 3rd step -- can you apply for a case or are you given one upfront? what cases are your choices limited to?
one of the reasons that i asked was because i recently ran across a supposed-to-be confidential mck proposal to a public sector client and in the proposal it listed partners and potential EMs/associates/analysts with their academic backgrounds & relevant previous casework. so if i have a previous pharm.d or something, would i have a leg up on pharma cases? just wondering :)
danke!
ps i tried to search the past threads for anything useful but i only came up with this http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/how-does-staffing-work which was interesting but not exactly what i was looking for. if you know of a past thread, send it over!
I know of two models:
1) Pretty much as you laid out. Apply to be on upcoming cases/proposals, get picked by the EM/Partner This is common at McK
2) "Black box" staffing. You are free, you talk to the staffer and they tell you what is out there, you give an indication of what you want. You are then assigned a case at some point in the future based on the interaction between staffing and the partners i.e. when a case is staffing up, the partners get a list of who is available and choose, with the staffer trying to make sure consultants get what they want/need for their development but ultimately it coming down to business need. Bain is a bit like this
On the last week of the project, you would have a list of projects starting next Monday. You would then look at what are interesting ones and email staffing your preferences. However usually at the same time you would email the partners or managers to make sure they would want you. Since ultimately the project manager/partner has the say in who to choose. If your first choice also wants to staff you, then its done.
However it gets tricky when there is a project that you want to avoid that is looking for people. If the partner tells staffing they want you, then you would usually need to find another project to escape to.
After you've developed an expertise in certain area or work more with specific partners, usually couple weeks before you roll of you would already get a good picture of what is coming up and what there is to do.
What you saw in the McKinsey deck is pretty common - when making a pitch, they'll pull bios of a few junior staff to show that they have uniquely qualified people for the case, i.e. a former TFA member for a K-12 school district merger. Sometimes these people have no idea their bios are in the deck, let alone considering joining the case.
How staffing works at a junior level is really a function of performance, and a combination of the two models laid out above.
With a few weeks to go in my case, I start to see what's out there, and let the staffers know a) when I'm free and b) what I'm interested in doing next. At the same time, EMs/Principals are checking to see who's available when and how good they are, and reaching out to people, either through staffing or directly. At this point, I've been around for awhile and done well, so if I reach out to people, they're likely to say yes, and multiple Principals might be looking for me. In that situation, I talk to the Principals and pick which project sounds best. If I'm newer or have less of a track record, it's more like the "black-box" model because staffing has to do a bit more legwork on your behalf.
That said, this is just my experience - I know in other regions in my company it's more of the black box for everyone.
I was about to contribute to this thread but the guys (or girls) above said it all. At my firm it's more of a black box - you get regular emails from staffing every c. two weeks with a list of projects that are starting within the next few weeks and projects that will potentially be sold within that period. You also know which partners and sometimes managers who will be working on it. When you're finishing your project you usually schedule a meeting with the staffer to discuss options and your preferences. At the same time partners and managers have discussions with the same staffer about who is available and try to convince the him/her to push their preferred candidates into their project. They will often contact you directly if they have a strong preference and then it's harder to say no.
Sometimes you have no choice if you're uniquely qualified to do certain work. Sometimes the partners want you so badly that they will keep you on the beach between the projects for even up to a few weeks - during that time you will spend ~75% of your days working on proposals and ~25% doing nothing.
A piece of advice: when discussing options with staffing always name only one thing that is important to you: for example no travel or working in a particular sector. If you name a few they will always find something about the project you don't want to do that will fit your preferences. I found that in consulting it's a lot more important to avoid projects you would hate than get staffed on ones you would love.
"...and then I did"
Haha.. messing. Very helpful actually.
So so helpful.
Another question - what cases do you see when you get the list of what's available? Just in your region? (I know the whole "McK does global, BCG/Bain do regional staffing" thing...which is why I ask)
So...if I really wanted to do a public sector case or something but I'm not in whatever region DC is a part of (or if I want to do...idk...auto but I'm not in the Detroit/Chicago region) would I get to see those cases too? Or would I only see the cases in my own region/office?
(Background: I'm starting at a midwest BCG office but deferred to do a Fulbright in a region that I'm super interested in, so I was basically wondering if it'd be worth it to try and network with some of the partners in that region)
Definately not global - what's the point of getting emails about projects in China if 90% of my office doesn't speak Mandarin? It would be pretty useless, main consulting companies are just too big. If a Mandarin-speaking person in required such consultants will get contacted directly.
I'm in the UK so it's hard to talk about "region" either unless you count European offices which usually require local languages so it's not very useful either. Our staffing is primarily office-based unless the receiving office is very busy and can't physically staff the project.
I don't know what it's like in the US - I would expect regional staffing based on the experience of our German and Nordic offices which have regional staffing due to geographical proximity and no language barriers.
The Mck = Global, BCG/Bain is regional isn't quite true. I can see what's going on in North America very easily, and have a little insight into cases internationally that want North American staff.
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