Hi, I'm weighing up big 4 strategy arms (Strategy&, EY-Parthenon) vs a boutique firm. One criteria is work-life balance. Obviously this is dependent on project to project, but do the big 4 strategy arms have a reputation for particularly poor work-life balance over MBB/tier2/boutique? Do any of them have a culture for longer/shorter hours?
Get Active in Our Amazing Community of Over 452,000 Peers!
Schedule mock interviews on the Meeting Board, join the latest community discussions in our Consulting Q&A and find like-minded Case Partners to connect and practice with!
Work-life balance - Big 4 strategy arms in UK
Overview of answers
Upvotes
Best answer
Hey,
When you are doing something you really want to do and are having fun..question of work life balance doesn't arise. You make it work seamlessly.
Work-life balance is something that you must take control of. If you let the company dictate the rules, they will consume you. But it takes some time for you to be in that position of control. It wont happen from the day 1 when you join the company. If you are in such a company- thats great! But very few companies (including consulting firms) are getting WLB right. They are trying but success is in pockets. Also be aware that as long as you work for any big corporate (with profits & growth at the heart of the business) in a mid-manager or upwards role, your time & effort will be stretched. The corporate sector just doesnt work on 9am-5pm basis anymore.
Have a look at thread for more details on this subject- https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/does-work-life-balance-improve-with-time-8445
So my advice to you is this- get into consulting if thats what you really want to do. If its the right fit with you career aspirations, values and risk apetite. Go for it. Otherwise dont. Dont let WLB be the only deciding factor.
Big4 are not any better or worse than MBB specially in UK. Smaller/Boutique firms are generally known to be better in this space.
Good luck.
Was this answer helpful?
Hi there,
I completely agree with Antonello - the answer to this varies so much more across office/country, role, project, team, etc. than it does across firms.
Additionally, you can't just group MBB, Big4, and boutiques up! For example, LEK is known for being extremely tough as is McKinsey. They would both (on average/in general) be harder than, say, Bain.
The short answer is: all of them are tough, so be careful chosing solely on work-life balance (even the best ones you're looking at 60+ hrs/week)
Was this answer helpful?
Hi!
Reputation varies not only from company to company but also from office to office, team to team, etc.
My recommendation is to talk directly to current consultants and ask your questions.
Good luck,
Anto
Was this answer helpful?
I don't think big4 would have a worse work-life balance than MBB. To be honest, it's the opposite, just because expectations are different upfront (so sometimes Big4 complaint more but have a better life - they may complain more because they may be feeling they that are getting less value for what they invest…).
This also depends on type of projects. Doing PE/CDD is usually more demanding than “regular” strategy consulting in terms of hours, but does not require travelling, and allows usually more breaks in between projects.
This also depends on specific country, office, team, etc… so be sure to do some networking to get the answers you need.
Was this answer helpful?
Related Cases
Expert case by Francesco
Style:
Our client is a supermarket chain that is considering whether they should enter the emerging online grocery delivery business where consumers order their groceries online and have them delivered to their homes. Currently, two competitors have entered the online market in the client's area in San Fra
...
Our client is a supermarket chain that is considering whether they should enter the emerging online grocery delivery business where consumers order their groceries online and have them deliv
...
(Open whole case)
8.0k
Times solved
Intermediate
Difficulty
Expert case by Ian
Style:
Our client is Energy England, one of northern England’s largest electric utility companies. They were created over the past decade through an aggressive series of mergers of existing utility companies each specializing in a single energy generation source.Recently, the CEO has embarked on an initiat
...
Our client is Energy England, one of northern England’s largest electric utility companies. They were created over the past decade through an aggressive series of mergers of existing utility
...
(Open whole case)
7.3k
Times solved
Intermediate
Difficulty
Expert case by Ian
Style:
Our client is Hunger Warriors, a non-profit with ambitions to solve world hunger. While approximately one tenth of the human population goes to bed hungry, Hunger Warriors aims to bring this number to zero. One of their primary initiatives is to reduce food waste, which represents $1.5 Trillion in l
...
Our client is Hunger Warriors, a non-profit with ambitions to solve world hunger. While approximately one tenth of the human population goes to bed hungry, Hunger Warriors aims to bring this
...
(Open whole case)
3.0k
Times solved
Intermediate
Difficulty
Expert case by Ian
Style:
A mid-sized manufacturing company is concerned about the potential impacts of climate change on its operations. The company has a number of factories located in coastal regions that are vulnerable to flooding and other weather-related events, and it is concerned about the potential financial and rep
...
A mid-sized manufacturing company is concerned about the potential impacts of climate change on its operations. The company has a number of factories located in coastal regions that are vuln
...
(Open whole case)
2.2k
Times solved
Intermediate
Difficulty
Content Creator
Accenture, Deloitte | Precision Case Prep | Experienced Interviewer & Career Coach | 15 years professional experience
176
Meetings
14,276
Q&A Upvotes
98
Awards
70 Reviews