Can anyone kindly share some insights on consulting recruiting in London?

Can any current/past MBB professionals or students in London share some insights on consulting recruiting in London? As banking recruiting in London is very different from that in the US I heard, would the same insights carry over in consulting i.e. networking does not help much, A-level or college entrance test is important, and it is less competitive than NYC? Also, how important is grade?

6 Comments
 

London is exceptionally competitive. A-Levels matter, being Cambridge or Oxford student matters, university grades matter, online and paper tests of consulting firms matter a lot, previous internships are not irrelevant, but not as important as in the US.

McK, BCG and Bain are all good and firms like Oliver Wyman, OC&C, L.E.K. and A.T. Kearney are also really good. Big4 firms pay significantly less.

 
Best Response

From personal experience I would say that networking does not help almost at all. The recruitment process for graduate positions is very formalised/standardised - a referral only ensures that your CV will be looked at by an actual person than just an automated screening bot. University pedigree is critical as is case study performance. Lastly, it is a numbers game because of how competitive it is - if I were you I would also look at AlixPartners, Alvarez & Marsal and Roland Berger. Of the above mentioned I think LEK is particularly good in the UK. I also think that strategy teams at PwC, EY, Deloitte and Accenture are also worth a look to increase your chances. And one more thing - apply early.

 

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