Views on Kearney? Comp/exits/brand rep

Hi,

I have received an FT offer from Kearney, L.E.K and Accenture Strategy. I am leaning towards Kearney just based on who I have met from the firms, the kind of work they do, my interview experience etc. I have a few questions I wanted to know on Kearney in particular:

1. Most importantly, what are the exit opps like? Has anyone worked at Kearney and exited into PE or VC? Would also like to here from other alumni that pursued other exits, what was your journey?

2. I wanted some thoughts on the comp in Kearney, i know the bonus is only around 10% (not great), but overall how does the base salary stack against other T2 and MBB? (London)

3. What is mobility like? Interested in moving from the London office to a US office at some point or pursue an MBA.

Any thoughts on the above will be greatly appreciated!

10 Comments
 
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Realistically, this decision should be between Kearney and LEK from a learning/growth/exit opps standpoint. Seems like you aren't so drawn to Acc strat so I wouldn't consider it but it is definitely a good place to be.

1. Exit opps should be similar to most T2 consulting but if you want PE then undoubtedly LEK will set you up better - they are DD specialists and so that will be relevant experience. Also heard Kearney is more supply chain/opps while LEK is more DD/strategy. For sure, Kearney will have a decent amount of DD and strategy because it is a reputable firm but just not as much relative to LEK and some other places.

2. Who cares how the comp compares to other places that you don't have an offer at. Compare to the places where you have offers. In any case, pay at entry-level across T2 and MBB is similar, so this shouldn't really be a factor in your decision. a 3k-4k difference per year is not worth swaying a decision but you should focus on office/type of work/culture/exit opps

3. No idea about mobility but have seen people from the US at Kearney move to places across the world like Singapore, Dubai, etc. LEK has a swap program dedicated to this I think where you can go to any other office in the world for 6 months with an option to move permanently (again, unsure about this). Kearney might have something similar.

You're in a good spot so no stress. All three are great places to be

 

Thanks for the reply, very interesting. I want to know more about LEK vs Kearney. So I have spoke to a lot of the associates at Kearney who do constant DD projects so would they have a good shot at PE recruitment? Would they be considered strategy consultants because they don’t actually class their consultants as management or strategy consultants. 

Also I’ve also read PE is increasingly looking for “value creation” not just the financial modelling skills that IB offers. So does mean the ops/supply chain specialisation at Kearney can actually help in recruiting for PE? or is this just wishful thinking? 

 

I am sure Kearney does DDs but it is widely known that LEK is more DD-focused, which means you'll probably have more opportunities to get staffed on those kinds of projects. Have seen people go to PE from Kearney but I think it is less frequent. This could be a function of self-selection though. I can't answer your second question because I don't know enough and don't want to give false info

 

Thank you. Could you provide the names of the PE firms that you’ve seen Kearney consultants go to by any chance? It would be very helpful, because reading posts on this forum makes it seem impossible to go from T2 consulting to PE, especially from an operations focussed shop. Thanks a lot for your advice! 

 

Yes, I have not seen a single example from Kearney go direct. Really only seen OW, LEK, EY-P, and the good restructuring consulting firms.

 

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