How does Oliver Wyman differentiate itself as a consulting firm?

Hi,

There are three key differences if you compare Oliver Wyman to MBBs:

1. Projects:Larger experience and better expertise in Financial Services related topics than MBB: Depending on the geography you work in, it is very likely that you end up on a FS project. However, OW covers all industries, just on a different scale.
2. Culture: The OW culture is very down-to-earth, collaborative and fun - I believe that, compared to MBB, consultants are less focused on pursuing their own career and interests, but rather on the future of the firm, which makes it pleasant to work within the OW community
3. Size and ressources: Compared to MBB, OW is a smaller-sized company. This means that certain support functions (e.g. slide service) are staffed with less ressources and are hence used less intensively by consultants (you do that stuff mostly on your own)

Hope that helps.

Best

A couple more things to consider that haven't been mentioned:

• Outside of the focus areas listed, there are also a few smaller but still sizeable practices that make up the bulk of the company. For example, while financial services are quite large in the US, there is a tail of 5 or so other practice areas that together with financial services make up 90% or so of the projects you get. This means that it is not immensely difficult to focus outside of financial services, but means if you have no interest in the handful of sectors OW has a lot of presence in in your geography, you are much more limited than you would be at a larger consulting firm
• OW has a large emphasis on growing through the ranks. Historically this means that the majority of people joined straight from undergrad, and the apprenticeship model that is common in the industry is truly core at the firm (e.g. you see many fewer MBA/experienced hires relative to other firms). 

All above comments are valid but geograpgy is going to be key in terms of the projects you are most likely to be staffed on: US: FS/Digital; Europe: FS; Middle East: FS/Telco/Public Sector)

Hi there!

One that I'd like to add in addition to the above, is the opportunity to travel. Compared to other firms, Oliver Wyman runs a much more fluid global model which means it is possible to be staffed overseas from day one.

My own project experience illustrates this well - I've worked in Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Korea, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Peru, France and the UK.

Hope this helps!

Kind regards,
Kurt

One thing I have not seen mentioned is that OW is a subsidiary of Marsh McLennan, which provides other services as well. Marsh McLennan is a publicly traded company, which means that it is not a partnership as MBB are. That would be a large differentiator. 

They do less strategy work, and depending on what office you are in, you will do a lot of financial services projects.