Advice on Audit -> Strategy Consulting Transition? [UK]

Hi Everyone, 

I hope you're doing well. I am a 27 year old auditor in the UK who has been wanting to enter strategy consulting ever since my undergraduate degree. I am due to qualify with my CA in December of this year before trying (for a third and hopefully final) time to transition into strategy consulting (I.e. EY parthenon' LEK, OC&C etc, not something like implementation). My CV reads as follows, roughly: 

- A*A*A A-Levels 
- Economics first from Imperial/UCL/LSE. Tried to get into consulting during final year, but did not even get a case interview
- Unrelated (wasted imo) masters, Merit, second of the above unis. Again, did not get a case interview despite practicing considerable number of cases. 
- non-negligible period of unemployment
- 2 years in B4 FS audit (2 exam fails led to them firing me)
-6 months so far in other B4 UKI audit, due to qualify in December 2022, when I will try to get into consulting yet again. Last 3 months will be as a senior leading juniors. I am still a staff auditor for now. Both stints have been in London.  

Aside from preparing for case studies and having friends at 3-4 T2 firms refer me, is there anything else i can do to ensure that I get to the interview stage where I can demonstrate my competence? Has anyone else in the UK made a similar transition? Thank you in advance.

8 Comments
 

IB particularly at the Elite Boutiques is a easy yes

consulting im not sure. check LinkedIn for people who have made the move? If you work for EY/Deloitte maybe network with the guys in EYP/Monitor? but regardless, its worrying that you didnt get a single case interview over two years of applications. Maybe theres something youre missing on your CV or its bad formatting? theres a thing that got leaked from BCG which gives the stuff that they look for when inviting someone to an interview which may help you. 

 

Is it really that easy to move over from Big 4 audit to IB? I was under the impression you had to network into a corporate finance role at a B4 and then moving over there was straightforward, but it was quite competitive to move over to a big 4 corporate finance team.

 

Really? Pretty much everyone I have seen on linkedin etc have moved into the CF team before moving from audit and I thought that was somewhat competitive to do.

Something to keep in mind though I didn't know it was that easy.

 

Absolutely possible if your willing to start as a fresh graduate again? Many people in friends (new grads) joining class in strategy consulting firms are late 20s

 

Expedita perferendis dicta alias totam rerum neque et. Nulla voluptas vel occaecati minima. At qui nihil saepe culpa cumque.

Sed ut officiis vero aut qui. Sit explicabo sunt non vel harum minus id. Voluptas accusamus reprehenderit dignissimos qui. Officiis aperiam unde itaque quia perferendis. Natus natus nobis ad vitae. Soluta quia dolor aperiam commodi.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Consulting

  • Boston Consulting Group 99.5%
  • Bain & Company 99.0%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.5%
  • Oliver Wyman 98.0%
  • LEK Consulting 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Consulting

  • Cornerstone Research 99.5%
  • Bain & Company 99.0%
  • Boston Consulting Group 98.5%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.0%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.5%
  • Boston Consulting Group 99.0%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.5%
  • Oliver Wyman 98.0%
  • LEK Consulting 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $361
  • Principal (30) $294
  • Director/MD (58) $274
  • Vice President (53) $247
  • Engagement Manager (111) $232
  • Manager (167) $172
  • 2nd Year Associate (185) $142
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (115) $135
  • Senior Consultant (354) $132
  • Consultant (635) $122
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (162) $121
  • 1st Year Associate (575) $121
  • NA (16) $114
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (390) $104
  • Associate Consultant (175) $100
  • 1st Year Analyst (1152) $90
  • Intern/Summer Associate (205) $83
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (625) $67
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”