Strategy& digital practice

Hello!

At the beggining in consulting, it´s normally recommended to go through a variety of engagements and industries, to become an "all road"

However, truth is that in McKinsey, for instace, some business analysts (hence, graduates) are hired form the beggining in the Digital or Banking practice -depends on the office-. 

At this point, best would be to clarify with HR from your geography, since I see it feasible. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hi there,

So I spend some time on secondment in the D&A (data and analytics) group at Strategy& so can answer this from a first-hand perspective. 

Truthfully, you don't need to worry about not being able to move to switch after you get onto the normal graduate programme. There is a lot of flexibility internally in seconding or doing projects with the Digital practice and certainly not a case of being "closed off" afterwards.

What I would recommend to you, is if you are applying to the normal grad programme, you should continue on that, and then do some projects once you join within Digital. That way you retain optionality and can also see if you like the work!

The issue with going straight in is, it's quite difficult (not impossible) to transition from Digital to Strategy but slightly easier the other way around. So unless you are certain you want to do data, then not the best option. Its a commitment to join straight in as (a) different compensation, (b) different career track, (c) specific sectors

Hope that helps, and feel free to ping me if you want to know more.

Raj

Hi,

Usually fresh graduate is no recommended to directly focus on a certain practice. You can alwasy demonstrate your preference early and the staffing team will try to accomodate your aspiration. However, I would still expect to have a more or less balance experience in different practice / industry at least for the first 2 years of your tenure in the firm

Hi there,

normally in MBB you cannot specialize as new graduate – that usually happens once you reach Senior Associate/Manager level, unless you work in a specific practice (eg Digital or Implementation). I would assume the same is true for Strategy&.

Having said that, you can ask HR if they may consider you for industries you prefer and if possible they will try to accommodate that. Also, once you have done some projects related to an industry and you performed well, it becomes easier to be staffed again on similar projects since you know the people and shown your value.

Best,
Francesco

Dear A,

Thank you for your question

You are absolutely right, because nowadays, and in the coming future, digital projects will be really key to the consulting business and will bring a lot of money. So it's already great that you have applied to the program. However, what you need to do are 2 things:

1. You need to be accepted by Strategy & and pass though recruiting.

2. During the recruiting process you need clearly indicate that you're extremely passionate about digital practice and you competences, so you would like to join it. 


So, indicate it as soon as possible during the recruiting process and hopefully you will make it to be accepted, and also to join digital team. 

Last months I have helped 4 mentees in different geographies (Middle East and Europe) to join Strategy&. So if you need any help, feel free to reach out. 
 

Best,

André

Hi,

Like with anything in life (particularly consulting), nothing is easy.

I would recommend asking them what the typical career progression is from the graduate program (answer: general consultant) and if there are options to specialize quickly into digital. Just be upfront about your goals+passions.

Importantly, never stop raising your hand for those types of projects, network aggressivley (even once in the firm), and participate in digital pratice related get-togethers.

Hi there,

If you applied through the usual graduate program, chances are that you would be expected to join as a generalist, since Digital practice quite often has its own recruiting. 

However, it might not be a bad thing to join as a generalist. As long as you perform well, it is quite possible to do an internal transfer after 2 years to Digital practice. You can also do internal networking or even ask for short term assignment in Digital practice, to figure out whether that's really someting fits you or not, before you commit yourself. You would have more options as a generalist, and one of those options is to go Digital sometime down the road. 

Best,

Emily

Usually you would not specialize that soon, unless you join the dedicated analytics practice as that practice is often separate from the others and has a different career track (or even a different brand name).