Boutique consultancies

Like many I have reached a point in my career where I need a change...

To provide some context, I have 5 years Big 4 consulting experience. During my time I have focused on delivering / enabling operational excellence (lean, op model, process design) for large UK Banks. I have completed the various training on offer and have qualified as a chartered management account to add another string to my bow.

Long term I would like to work with the likes of Alix Partners / Alvarez & Marsal, but I feel I need more experience before I make that step.

With that in mind I have a few of questions:

1 - who are the tier 2 consultancies that compete against Alix and A&M, and what do they look for in experience hire recruits?

2 - in more mainstream MC, who are the premium / high end boutique firms. I would like to help a smaller firm to create and build something great. Also, whilst my experience is FS based I would be interested in the variation of working across other industries (energy etc)

3 - would moving in house to an industry change function (at a bank / telecoms / energy firm etc.) provide any advantages? At this stage in my career I can't see the benefits of working in a slower paced environment with a limited mandate...

At the moment you are probably about 3 - 5 years short of going to a firm like Alix or A&M.

You are right to want to branch out from FS a bit, but the firms you aspire to will want a clear and deep spike of experience in one sector, so you might be better off broadening your experience within the sector rather than moving outside of it. Being a Chartered Accountant will count in your favour, but they tend to take a dim view on the lean stuff - dilute that a bit.

If you want to get to Alix or A&M you'll need some industry experience to round out your Big 4, ideally in a role where you can directly tie your name to cost reduction or revenue enhancement. They will want to see that impact written large in your resume.

They don't really compete at a boutique level btw - competitors (depending on service line and country) tend to be the likes of Roland Berger, AT Kearney etc on the operational side, and Big 4 (on larger projects) and some of the specialist corporate finance houses on the restructuring side.

If it is any help, your Big 4 experience will have slightly more cache at A&M, who tend to hire from there especially around the transactions area.

Thanks for your feedback Mars, much appreciated.

If I have my heart set on leaving my current big 4 (lack of faith in strategy / leadership / engagement opportunities etc.) would you recommend joining one of the others or ACN?

Or, are there any small boutique consultancies which will give me great experience / exposure in the cost reduction space (which is less lean related...)

Thanks

If cost reduction is your bag, you could look for a niche player in the procurement market such as Procurian, Proxima or the procurement arm of Accenture?

Alternatively the big 4 seems to be getting heavily into procurement consulting

I know a great boutique in the cost reduction space (not listed above). Would you like to email your CV to me (I'm a headhunter)? If so, I will send my email address.

Hi bsd - yes I would be interested in hearing more about the firm you are referring to.

Let me know your email and I will get my CV to you.

Thanks

contact@ascentpros.com - please could you send your CV to this?