Hi everyone! I am new here and to the consulting world, so please don't judge my stupid question ;) I stumbled across terms like top tier, tier 2, tier3 consulting firms and I am wondering what that means? Do they vary for different countries or is it internationally the same?
Hi there,
Thank you for this question! It's not stupid at all. Everyone starts somewhere and I believe the answers by our case coaches have helped a lot of candidates to get a feeling of the industry.
If you have already decided to give your career in management consulting a chance, we have some valuable resources you should definitely check out before applying and during your preparation. I will try to give you a chronological timeline:
1. Before applying
Make sure to read our consulting resume guide! Since the CV in consulting looks quite different from the CV when applying in other industries, it is important to be aware of these differences and make an instant good impression!
2. Initial tests
If your CV convinced the recruiters, you will probably receive an invitation. Sometimes this hurdle comes in form of an online test. Consulting firms conduct different tests such as the Problem Solving Game by McKinsey or the BCG Online Case by BCG. It is important that you inform yourself about the different processes within the company and, if needed, practice for these kinds of assessments.
3. The actual case interview
The probably most feared part of the recruitment process in management consulting is the case interview. Make sure to read through our case interview guide to learn the process and important skills that are needed for the interview.
4. Personal Fit
You might have already heard of the personal fit interview. We already offer some articles that help you answer such questions during the interview:
I hope I could give you some helpful insights and resources with this answer.
Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions. I am happy to help! :-)
All the best for your case interview preparation.
Christine
PrepLounge Community Management
Hey there,
Most consulting firms hire PhDs and all have a generalist track. These two are not mutually exclusive and PhDs are hired as generalists all the time.
If you want to be sure and discuss your specific situation, reach out to HR of the firms you are interested in and clarify.
Siemens Consulting, as an engineering company, for sure is also looking for PhDs!
Cheers,
Florian
Hello,
I believe that most consulting firms are interested in hiring PhDs - generally you should be able to apply for Associate-level positions that are aimed at MBAs, and there is often a particular track for candidates coming from an academic background (ie. you work with different recruiters, have a specific training program upon hiring, etc.). It seems like you are interested in the generalist track, but if you would also be interested in something closer to your specialty, you could take a look at expert tracks, applying to specific practice groups, and/or boutique consultancies that specialize in a particular industry. I'd recommend doing some research and reaching out to HR at any particular companies you would like to apply to where you aren't sure which position you should apply for given your experience.
(edited)
Hi there,
The definition of Tier 2 for strategy consulting is pretty “fluid”. Different people consider different companies as Tier 2.
In general, I would consider “clear” Tier 2: Oliver Wyman, Strategy&, Kearney and Roland Berger.
However, that also depends on the country. In some geographies, some so-called Tier 2 are stronger than even MBB (eg, Strategy& in the Middle East is stronger than Bain). Moreover, the same Tier 2 may have a very different penetration in different countries (eg Roland Berger in Germany has a very strong presence compared to the one they have in the United States).
Brand management and marketing is not a clear focus for strategy consulting companies – that’s a very specific niche. Usually you join as a generalist and may cover a variety of sectors.
If you want to focus specifically on marketing from the beginning, you may want to look for a boutique (however exit opportunities with that will be more limited).
Best,
Francesco
Hi,
you already have exhaustive answers. Let me just add as en example the “Tier1/Tier2/Tier 3” hiearchy in a specific country - Italy (best of my knowledge)
This is “perception based” and not “set in stone” hierarchy. Moreover
1) hanging over time
2) Strongly dependent on PRACTICES/INDUSTRIES especially in Tier 2 / Tier 3
3) Not entirely fact-based / quality-based :)
Tier-1
1) McK → “oldest” Tier-1 presence in country. Historically and still strongest in Banking, largest alumni network
2) BCG → strong contender to #1 with fast expansion. More balanced in terms of Practice/industry Strength
3) Bain → Very effective also in “mid-market” (e.g. smaller firms, PMIs, …) and constantly expanding. Currently full part of Bain & company (historically run a bit “independently”. Strongest in Luxury/Fashion historically and Consumers but present across the board
Tier-2
1) Strategy&, Kearney - generalist with strongholds (e.g. Kearney in Procurement/Ops)
2) Alix Partners - strongholds in restructuring
Tier 2/Tier-3
1) Lot of specialized “boutiques” (e.g. Altman Solon for Telco, ZS for Pharma, …) can either be Tier 3 or 2 depending in which industry you are analyzing them: Altman Solon, ZS, OC&C, LEK, …..
2) Big-4 Consulting Arms: EY-Parthenon, Monitor Deloitte, Accenture Strategy → growing and poaching MBB talent with price points very different from Tier 1-2
Hope this helps
Happy to deep dive here. if anyone interested in Italy's market
Hi there,
Big4 is a subset of Tier 2! So, Tier 1 is only The Big Three (MBB). Tier 2 is Big4 AND a bunch of others (you mentioned a few i.e. OW, LEK).
The best way to check all os this and understand relative rankings is to simply google rankings :)
If you'd like to focus on brand management/marketing, you generally will need to go more boutique (i.e. not Tier 1 OR Tier 2)
Big 4 is not tier 2 Strategy& and EY-Parthenon (which very much are tier 2) are NOT the same as Big4 consulting
Hi there,
I am not sure any of those firms (MBB, tier2, Big4) focuses on marketing/ brand management.
Regarding PE, Bain and EY-Parthenon are particularly strong in that area, quite above all other competitors.
Regarding your question on tier2, Parthenon was able to retain its core values, practices and talent even after being acquired by EY (probably because the founder Bill Achtmeyer remained leading EY-P). Also because there was a well managed integration and no relevant overlap on how it was done. So definitely a Tier2 for EYP.
Not sure whether this was the case for the other Big4 acquisitions/strategy arms in the US.
(edited)
I do agree with Sara’s sentiment on focusing on culture/people and the business focus alignment to your area of interest, but I am not sure how I feel about the segmentation. I do agree there is not a hard line, but below is a different approach to how the industry might be segmented (read how folks describe the industry or folks in industry might perceive themselves):
Strategy Consulting Firms: Main focus is to provide high level strategic advice to companies leadership (C-level and Board). They partake in other things, not limited to, but including implementation, operation etc. These companies would include:
Tier 1- which typical refers to MBB
Big 4 - Which refers to the Strategy side of Deloitte (Monitor), KPMG, PWC (Strategy&), EY (Parthenon)
Tier 2- Typical Non Tier 1 or Big 4, could be called "Other Boutiques"- example could be Oliver Wyman, A.T.K, Accenture strategy, Z.S Associate and a host of others.
Management Consulting Firms: Now this includes everything including strategy consulting, IT, Supply Chain, Operations, Finance, Deals or M&A etc. again the companies above mostly offer such services, but the industry has its way of branding MBB as Strategy, Accenture as IT, A.T.K as operation and Big 4 as financial services based. The irony is that they are all management consulting firms that do a bit of everything, so do more than the others do, but you can do strategy work or IT implementation work at most of those firms.
That being said, it is true that MBB gets a lot of strategy projects, but so does Monitor, Strategy& and Accenture Strategy, just like its true Accenture gets a ton of IT projects, but so does MBB and Deloitte. I don’t have exact data to tell you who have what share, but point is you can end up doing what you want at any firm, if they offer/ sell the service you have interest in.
More specific to your question on if they are the same globally, for the companies described above they operate globally, but sometimes with a slight change in focus (read what the business opportunity might be in that region – Houston firms focus on Energy, San Francisco’s would focus on Tech, Middle East- Oil and Gas and maybe Retail etc.)
Obviously there is more to this, but hopefully this is sufficient to get you a sense of the current industry position.
● Thank you for such thought provoking views on chartered accountancy. This really gives a broad understanding about how one should approach this sector and bring qualitative results. https://sarcassociates.com/
(edited)
Hi I will write this list from the top of my head, some firms might be missing, especially smaller one where you might argue they are Tier 3.
Tier 2:
Tier 3:
Thanks, well I do have a list based on the staufenbiel.de, but there are many companies that are not in the top 20 and are small, thats why this question.
Hello,
Great question. They do vary per country. However, as a general rule of thumb, top-tier refers to McKinsey, Bain and BCG.
Tier 2: Here's where things get a little geographically different and subjective. Typically firms like Roland Berger, Oliver Wyman, Kearney fall under T2.
Tier 3: Typically the management consulting arms of Big4 i.e. Strategy& of PwC, Monitor Deloitte, EY Parthenon fall here. Some even argue that boutique firms sit in Tier 3.
Best,
Rushabh
Germany:
Tier 1:
McKinsey
BCG
Strategy& (due to pay and prestige of the people they are hiring atm)
Bain (depends - strong name, but a strong focus on PE here)
Tier 2:
SSCO (even though small pretty prestigious in Germany)
Tier 3
EY Parthenon (took over OC&C)
Simon Kucher
Accenture Strategy
Hovarth
LEK
United States
Tier 1:
McKinsey
BCG
The rest not so sure.
Hi Akshay,
Tier-2
* Roland Berger
*Oliver Wyman
* Startegy&
* Kearney
Tier-3
*Big4
* Accenture
* Boutique firms
* Inhouse consulting
Best,
André
Hi Akshay,
this Vault ranking for Europe is a good start. All of these firms are present in Germany.
If you read German (or use google translate), this website also provides a similar listing:
Regards!
Thanks Henning
what surprises me is that "horvath-partners " has no mention in this list, I wonder why?
Tier 1, 2 etc. is not an official neither a good definition. Therefore, if I were you, I would not take it into account too much. When choosing a company to apply to, the most important thing to focus on is understanding which firm is right for you based on its culture and its business focus.
A very good way to differentiate consulting firms is their business focus. To make a very simple distinction:
- Some firms provide clients with a very high level strategic advice (here there are the so called MBB and other smaller firms);
- After the high level guidelines are defined, other consultants must help the client at executing the initiative in the day to day business (there are here some big names such as Accenture, pwc and other firms).
Of course the line that differentiate the two groups is not rigid.
In addition, within each of these two groups, subgroups by the dimension "industry focus" can be identified. However, these largely vary from country to country.
Don't spend too much time looking at informal sayings and classifications. You should look for the business culture you feel more confortable with. Having said this, the industry can indeed be classified in three groups, according to salary, type of work and exit:
1) Tier 1: MBB (McKinsey, BCG, Bain)
2) Tier 2: Accenture Strategy, AT Kearney, Oliver Wyman
3) Big Four: Monitor, Booz, Pantheon
Tier 1 (global leaders): BCG, McKinsey, Bain
Tier 2 (global players but not strong/present in every geography): Roland Berger, Kearney, L.E.K., etc.
Tier 3: Local boutique firms
Hopefully this helps.
Hi!
To add on top what´s been said, the geography is a key thing here. What is not so relevant in one market, can be industry leader in another one.
Clara
Coming from Monitor Deloitte, one important aspect in considering Big4 vs. MBB/ Boutiques in the breath of topics and size of project, you as well as the firm will work on / offer.
Consulting units of Big 4 firms tend to offer a wider range of services. Therefore, even as a consultant in their strategy arm (such as Monitor) you can offer your clients specilized insights into almost every business problem by bringing the right expert to the table.
My personal benefits from that are constantly learning about areas outside my focus as well as resting assured that you'll be covered whatever the client is asking for.
For further questions feel free to reach out.
Hi,
Tier 1 are mainly the 3 top strategy firms, the MBB - McKinsey, Bain, BCG
Tier 2 are e.g. Roland Berger, Oliver Wyman, Accenture strategy, strategy divisions of Big4 like Strategy&, Monitor, EY Parthenon,
Tier 3 are the Big4 (KPMG, PWC, EY, Deloitte) and other consultancies like Capgemini etc.
Cheers
Dear Akshay,
do add to this - in Germany there are also several Inhouse Consultancies that are considered T2/T3, some of them are even directly competing (projects, but also salaries) with T1 consultancies.
You can find details / a ranking in the following:
https://www.squeaker.net/de/Karriere/Branchen/Consulting-Unternehmensberatung/Karriere/squeakernet-Ranking-fuer-Inhouse-Consulting/p/2/t/Inhouse-Consulting-Ranking-Analyse-Event
BR,
Simon
In addition to what other coaches have said, if you are keen on Marketing check out Accenture (Accenture Interactive).
Hi,
At least in South East Asia there are several categorization but again this only a broad generalisatin and not rigid at all:
Best,
Iman
Hi there, I have been director in strategy consulting - for anybody new to the industry: If you seek to work in Germany/ Austria/ Switzerland: Please go and check the rankings of Brand Eins/ Statista where clients evaluate consulting firms into tier 1/2/3 by type of work and industry sector, not the HR marketing departments of the consulting firms. Think out loud where you want to be in 5 - 10 years, and research which firm has the strongest footprint in this specific sector / field. You will be surprised that some so called "tier 1 powerhouses" will not be your top pick after this excercise.
well, the chart of top ten management consulting firms are available in almost every business journal and the top-notch players like Accenture, Deloitte and MC Kingsley are well-known names. We have the list of top ten management consulting firms check here - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-10-business-consulting-firms-india-chandrani-jana/
But, many companies want to hire services of different companies who are no less than the above-mentioned names for obvious reasons.
Often start-ups and mid-sized companies want to hire management consulting firms who have rich experience and are spread all over the country as they have the potential to seep inside the client’s issues.
In this regard, Gyaanmart is the true winner in this regard. With a strong client base and the right amount of experience they have clients of all sizes and from every sector.
