I'm looking to chose between AT Kearney and Roland Berger. The factors I'm taking into account for my decision making are the following:
- Future career opportunities
- Entrepreneurial spirit
- Sustainability competencies
Based on these factors (or important other factors I might've forgotten), which of both companies would you prefer?
Thank you for your insights!
Edouard
Hi Edouard,
I'd like to complement the perspectives from another regions: Asia Pacific and Middle East.
Looking at the Asia Pacific region, AT Kearney has a much stronger presence to Roland Berger. In some countries, AT Kearney was even the first mover and had dominated the market before MBB comes in and started dividing up the pie.
In the Middle East region, mainly Dubai, AT Kearney also has an established footprint compared to Roland Berger and even Bain & Company.
Answering your inquiries regarding the 3 consideration factors:
- Future career opportunities: There are 2 factors that influence this:
(1) Exposure towards specific industries and functions within the firms. Opportunities to get involved in emerging topics such as digitalization, fintech, Industry 4.0, etc (depending on your areas of interests) will put you in a good shape for your next endeavor.
(2) Brands. This will varied across regions, e.g. In Europe, especially Germany, Roland Berger eclipsed AT Kearney. Hence, it's important to determine this aspect while taking into account your specific location / office preferences as well as the potential exposure towards industries and functions in the area.
- Entrepreneurial spirit:
Typically, the firm with smaller footprints and presence in a region presents higher opportunities for entrepreneurship, allowing one to shine and participate in different initiatives, even building up practices and offices, as opposed to a more established ones.
All said though, consulting firms generally highly encourage consultants to be actively involved in coming up with new initiatives as it will positively impact the business.
- Sustainability competencies
I can speak only for Asia Pacific region on this. Roland Berger has exposure towards a variety of projects within the sector such as aquaculture, while AT Kearney's focus mainly lies in conventional industry with operations focus such as oil & gas as well as manufacturing.
From industrial perspective, Roland Berger will have an edge in sustainability sector in Asia.
However, that is not to say that there are sustainability-focused projects and initiatives even within conventional industries that AT Kearney serves.
Hope it helps!
Kind regards,
Nathan
Hi Eduard,
generally speaking, in terms of your dimensions, they are similar. However, especially for brand and future opportunities, it can strongly depend on the country (e.g. in Germany RB is stronger, in US ATK).
Another dimension I would consider very important is the main expertise: it depends on the country, but I would compare them also in terms of clients served and industries & practices handled.
Best,
Antonello
Hi,
Having worked in ATK before, I confirm that ATK's brand is stronger in US, whereas RB is stronger in Germany. However, all in all, there is not much of a difference from a global perspective, they are both great companies to work for.
Best,
Deniz
Hi,
Roland Berger has a bit stronger brand. The rest depends on the particular country
Best
Dear Edouard,
Kearney ME is the most quickly growing consulting company in the region. In fact it has been growing over 30% year per year over the last 2 years consequently and April 2020 has been the most successful month to the company in the whole histore, even the COVID. They have introduced the hiring freeze in the first half of the year, but they are graduallu starting again in a smaller pace since I have already get som inquiries from them.
I have 3 former colleagues and friends working there as a senior associates, managers and partners.
All in all it's a great company and great opportunity, especially in the deffence and transportation, energy infrastructure. They are extremely ctching up to BCG and Strategy& (McKinsey and Bain are not that strong in the Middle East) so from the reputation wise they are pretty good and they also pay really well.
During the past Partner Boot Camp in Barcelona Roland Berger nominated 20+ new partners and senior partners, including 3 new partners in the Middle East. This is probably for the first time in the history of the company that so many people were promoted at once. The company has added 2 new offices in Doha last year and Riyadhin 2018 - with managing director of Qatar was elected as partner just within less than one year. The company's stuff has almost doubled from ~50+ employees in 2017 to ~100 nowadays. Performance bonuses have been really generous.
RB is pretty competitive compensation offering. Total compensation is more than 80K US dollars per year plus bonuses and housing allowance.
If you need further insights about the company and their recruiting process, feel free to approach me since I used to worked at RB in Dubai for a couple of years and I also have friends in all major companies in the region. So I can provide you with the latest insights.
Best,
André
Hi Eduard,
congratulations on your offers! In terms of exit opportunities, I agree it is difficult to answer without knowing where you could join ATK or RB. I would recommend checking on LinkedIn how many former employees of the two companies are working in your target geography in fields interesting for you, adjusting for the size of the company – this should give you an idea of which company could be more suitable given your future goals.
Best,
Francesco
