Strategic advisor to the world's top companies.
Management consultants are parachuted into organisations facing their hardest problems, market entry, cost reduction, digital transformation, restructuring, growth strategy. You bring analytical firepower and structured thinking, with a fresh perspective. Then you move to the next client and do it again.
Year 1
£50K-£75K
Base: £45K-£60K
Bonus: £5K-£15K
Year 3
£80K-£125K
Base: £65K-£95K
Bonus: £12K-£30K
Senior
£230K-£600K+
Base: £150K-£300K+
Bonus: £80K-£300K+
London figures, carried across as a starting point. Correct these in the admin editor as needed.
Weekly Hours
55-70 hrs/week
Lifestyle
Travel-heavy · Intellectually varied · Prestigious
Strategy Consulting (MBB)
McKinsey, BCG, Bain work on the highest-level strategic problems, market entry, M&A strategy, business model innovation. Highest prestige and pay. Cases are the most intellectually demanding. Partner track is exceptionally competitive.
Operations Consulting
Focus on making companies run better, supply chain, procurement, lean manufacturing, cost reduction. More implementation than pure strategy. Big players: McKinsey Operations, BCG Ops, Accenture.
Financial Advisory / Transaction Services
Support M&A transactions, financial due diligence, valuations, post-merger integration. Sits in Big 4 firms (Deloitte, KPMG, EY, PwC) and boutiques. More finance-heavy, less pure strategy.
Technology Consulting
Help companies implement large-scale technology transformations, ERP systems, cloud migration, digital strategy. Major players: Accenture, IBM, Deloitte Tech. Less strategy-heavy, more implementation. Strong growth sector.
Economic & Policy Consulting
Advise governments, regulators, and legal teams on economic questions, competition policy, regulatory impact assessment, litigation support. Players: Oxera, Analysis Group, NERA, CRA.
Route In
Internship (penultimate year, Jun–Aug apps) → case prep → Graduate Associate scheme
Technical Topics Tested
Sample Interview Questions
Our client's profits have fallen 20% year-on-year. Walk me through how you'd diagnose the problem.
Structure FIRST before diving in. Ask: 'Is the fall driven by revenue or cost?' Then break each down: Revenue = Volume × Price. Costs = Fixed + Variable. Ask clarifying questions: Which business units? Which geographies? Is this industry-wide or company-specific? The interviewer wants to see structured thinking, not the answer. Use a 'hypothesis-driven' approach, after structuring, form a hypothesis quickly and test it with data requests.
How many golf balls fit in a Boeing 747?
This isn't about the right answer (it's about structured logic under pressure. Break it down: 1) Estimate the 747's interior volume (length ~60m, average cross-section ~4m²) ≈ 240 m³ interior. 2) Subtract seats, walls etc) usable ≈ 150 m³ = 150,000,000 cm³. 3) Golf ball volume ≈ 40 cm³. 4) Packing efficiency ≈ 65%. Answer ≈ 150,000,000 × 0.65 / 40 ≈ 2.4M golf balls. State your assumptions clearly and sanity-check your answer.
A retail bank wants to enter the SME lending market. Should they?
Market entry framework: 1) Market attractiveness (size, growth, profitability, competition. 2) Company capability) existing assets (customer relationships, capital, technology), gaps. 3) Entry strategy (build, buy, or partner? 4) Risks and mitigants. Don't just say 'yes they should') form a clear recommendation with a 'but only if...' condition. Interviewers want decisive thinking, not endless 'it depends.'
Consulting recruiting is almost entirely case-interview based. Unlike banking, it's less about who you know and more about how well you crack cases. You need months of practice.
Key Resources
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How to Actually Get Better
Analyst / Junior Consultant (0-2 yrs)
Slide-building, data analysis, client meeting prep. Heavy learning curve.
Consultant (2-4 yrs)
Own workstreams, manage junior staff, direct client contact.
Manager / Senior Manager (4-8 yrs)
Run projects, P&L accountability, business development starts.
Principal (8-12 yrs)
Lead multiple projects, bring in clients, manage teams.
Partner (12+ yrs)
Build your own client franchise. Compensation: £230K-£600K+.
Structured Problem Solving (MECE)
Learn to decompose any problem into Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive frameworks. Practice issue trees daily. This is the core consulting mental model.
PowerPoint Mastery
Learn to build 'pyramid principle' slides, one message per slide, data supporting the message. Study the McKinsey Way and Barbara Minto's Pyramid Principle book.
Excel Data Analysis
Build pivot tables, VLOOKUP chains, and scenario models fast. Consultants often get messy client data dumps, you need to clean, analyse, and visualise quickly.
Stakeholder Management
Learn how to manage up, across, and down. Practice delivering difficult messages diplomatically. Join a society where you must manage people with competing interests.
Case Interview Frameworks
Master profitability, market entry, M&A, and market sizing frameworks. Practice 2 cases per day for 3 months. Record yourself and critique your structure and delivery.
AI is disrupting the slide-building and data analysis layers of consulting. Tools like McKinsey's own Lilli AI and Deloitte's AI tools are automating junior work. But strategic judgment and client trust remain human.
AI can now produce first-draft frameworks, synthesise industry reports, and even build preliminary slide decks. Headcount at junior levels is under pressure. However, clients pay consulting firms for credibility and relationships, not just analysis. Partners and managers who can orchestrate AI tools while maintaining client trust will thrive.
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