Impact of BooZ-A.T.Kearney merger on recruiting

Question

News came in Wall street journal that the two are contemplating a merger.Any thoughts on how it affects hiring?

3underscore · Answer

not significantly - these things rarely seem to compared with macro stuff

nink · Answer

3underscore is right. Hiring in consulting is driven by demand (meaning how much business the firms are picking up). Normally when companies merge, they have a layoff as part of consolidation/cost-cutting (or they call it an integration, synergy or other euphemism applied here). However, in consulting, you generate revenue through billing clients. If the business is picking up, you need more headcount (and more consultants assigned to clients for more billing, etc). Especially in the big firms, they have planned recruiting goal target they have to meet every year. It won't be affected that much by a merger. A merger of 2 firms does not necessarily eliminate clients or consulting needs as a result. After all, if one firm can't do something, the business goes to the other consulting firm down the street. They have to hire because they understand that people come and go. Therefore, it's not something you should be overly concerned about. There are other things to worry about once you enter bschool. :-D

Class2012 · Answer

Just read that they called off their merger talks.Apparently the partners at Booz did not agree since there is a considerable overlap in their operations consulting practice.

mba2013 · Answer

i thought that was one point of a merger - to consolidate overlapping areas...

3underscore · Answer

Depends who gets to run it, who gets to inherit it, client conflicts and whether the scale would call it under scrutiny.

To name the first few that spring to mind.

shadow · Answer

i hadn't heard of AT Kearney until this thread, although to be fair, i'm not exactly well versed on the industry as a whole. However, I sat in on a company presentation and met with a lot of their consultants during a recent conference, and I was pretty blown away. Their guys seemed sharp and on point, especially when compared against guys from other household names.

Two things they spoke about that were pretty cool were 1) a global initiative within the firm, where you can actively get placed in overseas projects if you request it, and 2) the flexibility of the firm that allowed you to take short sabbaticals even as an associate. They mentioned stuff like paternity leave, but if you have a good reason, you can take a few weeks off for just about anything; one guy even mentioned taking a few weeks off to head to the Midwest to work on a nonprofit that hes a part of.

The culture seemed pretty laid back and flexible, and if you're not hell bent on M/B/B or bust, then I'd seriously take a look at these guys. I'm not 100% sold on consulting, but I think I will definitely keep in touch with them during recruiting season.

mba2013 · Answer

some firms also promise 3/4/5 on every project, or that you always get your first pick during staffing... :roll:

id just take it with a grain of salt cause it sounds like they sold ya good on the firm :-D

shadow · Answer

that's true. an important next step would be to get in touch with recent alumni at your school to get a different perspective (this is true of any job search though)

Impact of BooZ-A.T.Kearney merger on recruiting

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