Is there a general consensus on S& versus OW re: prestige, exit opps, B school placement, variety of experience, etc.?
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From what I've heard, S& has lost a lot of luster from talent leaving.
OW is definitely 2nd tier, close behind MBB. OW is strong in FS, so if that's where you want to concentrate, it's a great place to be. Salaries are also above market.
OW FS practice is heavily focused on credit risk/ stress-testing models. I would say Strategy& is of higher prestige. In addition to this, Strategy& would have higher remuneration, more diverse projects and a stronger toolkit to help you succeed in your role.
Strategy& is falling apart. Lots of talent leaving, and wouldn't be surprised if PwC closes it down in the next 3-5 years. Yes, on paper Strategy& is more prestigious, but joining a firm that's dying isn't very prestigious in my eyes...
Agree, fairly negative reactions from folks I know that interned at S& over the summer. Poor firm morale, layoffs, and a LOT of consultants on the bench. Some summers didn't even get staffed until 3-4 weeks into their internships which is ridiculous.
Yep - will shed some updated insider light on Strategy& here in London.
The firm has been growing. Growth has come from PwC partners networking Booze in with their connections leading to a strong increase in new clients & projects.
The so called 'brain drain' was due to auditing legal issues which meant some partners had to leave, HOWEVER the laws have just changed (use to have to wait 20 years since auditing clients - has now halved to 10) talent has been returning.
Bain took 38 people out of 5k applicants; Strategy& took 9 people out of 4k applicants. OW took 26 people out of 3k applicants. Strategy& is still incredibly selective.
No one likes change. Give it time before judging
1) Congrats on the offer at Strategy&... I noticed you've commented on every thread on this forum because you're now an expert. 2) The consulting industry in general is growing - MBB is growing, Big 4 are growing, Boutiques are coming out of nowhere. The question is in what direction is Strategy& growing: are they taking on interesting, prestigious strategy projects, or are they taking on more operations/implementation type projects that they are just throwing bodies at? 3) PwC has had plenty of time to integrate Booz (not "Booze") and frankly speaking, have botched the integration. For a look at a successful strategy integration into a Big 4, look at Monitor Deloitte. PwC internally promoted too many of its homegrown types (read: nowhere near as intelligent) into Booz, which already had a strong and tight knit culture. Result was a lot of the original talent from Booz is now gone. 4) Every strategy firm is competitive, but the numbers themselves don't tell you anything. For example, under that scenario, you could've had the same 3k people apply to OW, Strategy&, and Bain. Hypothetically, the top 38 take Bain, OW takes the next 26 and Strategy& is left with the next 9, leaving Strategy& with the worst talent pool. While that's probably not the case, numbers alone are hardly an indication of competitiveness.
I was going to comment on this, but aspiringchimp pretty much nailed it. @ella123" you seem to be posting on quite a few consulting posts with incredibly inaccurate information. Congratulations on the internship, but you should try to learn a wee bit more about the industry instead of simply shooting from the hip.
Take OW if you want to be sure you've got a job in 5 years. Strategy& is barely growing if not shrinking and they're the joke of the industry at the moment. OW will work you hard though, hours are very long and not encesssrily super exciting. Don't mind Ella with her strange numbers game. The initial pool of Strategy& is weaker, the recruits that accept an offer are most likely weaker, and the percentage of recruits that accept and offer is likely lower. Count your blessings, congrats on hiring 9 people where the rest of the industry is growing at incredible rates
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