Which offer is better: EY or ZS for consulting?

Hey guys. Trying to decide on an offer between EY Business Advisory and ZS Strategy Insights and Planning (main consulting) role. Pay and location at ZS is significantly better but I'm not too concerned with that. I'm mainly concerned with prestige and what looks better/exit opps. I know that EY is better known, but I think that may be mainly due to their accounting practice. ZS, although less known on my campus/overall, had way higher quality people. For example, my interviewers went to Harvard, MIT, and Dartmouth for their MBA while my EY interviewers/fellow interviewees all went to state schools or schools that I've never even heard of. So what do you guys think is better and is seen better in the consulting world? Thanks. Is Big 4 advisory even really consulting?

5 Comments
 

Definitely ZS. Strong boutique that kills in pharma and marketing strategy. Trending towards becoming a T2 consulting firm.

Don’t know much about EY, but B4 advisory is typically heavier on the implementation side. You’ll have better exit ops at ZS where 1. You’ll be doing more strategy work and 2. You’ll have a more intimate environment to grow and develop in.

Sure EY may have a stronger brand in the eyes of the layman, but to the people who matter, ZS will be more respected.

 

ZS is not trending towards t2. The t2 firm all have very wide ranging strengths in strategy from either a functional and/or industry perspective. ZS is very strong in their area of specialty (pricing/portfolio/Salesforce optimization) and strong in their key end markets but have very limited presence anywhere else.

Regardless, they’re a great firm, I’d personally find them more interesting than EY if only to shake the big 4 bs you have to deal with at EY. Good b school ops, good lateral opportunities, etc.

 
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