Hola forum gurus.. background>> 15+ years of chasing the dream of ACN, Big 4 (and some bits of Indian player). So hitting mid life crisis and looking to move from Big4 to more specialist ones like A&M, Alix Partners. I dont come across them when i am rescuing not-so-pretty-IT-projects or where CIO called us after PE asked him to cut half his staff for double the productivity. They are no Gartner, Forrester either. So where in pantheon do A&M, Alix sit?Can 'have got the t-shirt' IT boys work for A&M, Alix in London? How do grades (say at AM) compare to Big 4 grades (say KPMG) - would KPMG Director go to AM Director? Equally how does £££ compare? finally appreciate thoughts on best route in? tnx in advance...

[quote]Hola forum gurus.. background>> 15+ years of chasing the dream of ACN, Big 4 (and some bits of Indian player). So hitting mid life crisis and looking to move from Big4 to more specialist ones like A&M, Alix Partners. I dont come across them when i am rescuing not-so-pretty-IT-projects or where CIO called us after PE asked him to cut half his staff for double the productivity. They are no Gartner, Forrester either. So where in pantheon do A&M, Alix sit?Can 'have got the t-shirt' IT boys work for A&M, Alix in London? How do grades (say at AM) compare to Big 4 grades (say KPMG) - would KPMG Director go to AM Director? Equally how does £££ compare? finally appreciate thoughts on best route in? tnx in advance...[/quote]Trying to put A&M or AP into the 'pantheon' is sort of missing the point, and if you meet either you'll soon see why. Both hire exceptionally bright people. But dont expect MBB types of bright- neither have much truck with the strat houses, as both are very execution focused. Typically they are working on real-time rescue scenarios which require a very hands-on, rapid fire approach to decision making. What also trips applicants up is aligning entry points to their grades. A Big 4 Director would likely be a VP level for AP, the grade below Director. Which doesnt make much sense, until you meet their Director grade...its a heavyweight environment. IT - in the sense you are talking about it - has a place in either firm, but you need to tie what you do directly to bottom line, removing overheads, increasing margins etc. Although both grew up known for their restructuring work (which is still what grabs the headlines) its their operational turnaround work which is the real engine of the business, and both work heavily with PE (AP is in fact PE owned).Pay is somewhere between Big 4 and MBB. Better than Big 4, not quite as outrageous as MBB at senior levels, but an MBB Partner could move across to either without feeling any pain.Best route in? There isnt one really. Both will evaluate you exhaustively so you may as well just get a resume in front of HR and go from there as having a sponsor wont help or hinder.

[quote]Trying to put A&M or AP into the 'pantheon' is sort of missing the point, and if you meet either you'll soon see why. Both hire exceptionally bright people. But dont expect MBB types of bright- neither have much truck with the strat houses, as both are very execution focused. Typically they are working on real-time rescue scenarios which require a very hands-on, rapid fire approach to decision making. What also trips applicants up is aligning entry points to their grades. A Big 4 Director would likely be a VP level for AP, the grade below Director. Which doesnt make much sense, until you meet their Director grade...its a heavyweight environment. IT - in the sense you are talking about it - has a place in either firm, but you need to tie what you do directly to bottom line, removing overheads, increasing margins etc. Although both grew up known for their restructuring work (which is still what grabs the headlines) its their operational turnaround work which is the real engine of the business, and both work heavily with PE (AP is in fact PE owned).Pay is somewhere between Big 4 and MBB. Better than Big 4, not quite as outrageous as MBB at senior levels, but an MBB Partner could move across to either without feeling any pain.Best route in? There isnt one really. Both will evaluate you exhaustively so you may as well just get a resume in front of HR and go from there as having a sponsor wont help or hinder.[/quote]Thanks marsday.. Very interesting, looks like it might be in my range of skills (at least in my head).I expected ££ to be more, but surprised that the grades are other way round. I thought Big4 Director to be equivalent to Director at AP/AM. Was looking at the AM site, they seem to have Director, Sr Director, Managing Director etc, but their website is very basic. AP website is also not very helpful IMO. The Big 4 boys atleast have a decent website..

AP comes up about half a grade senior to their equivalent at AM. They are 'diamond shaped' - more Directors than VPs, as its the Directors who do the heabvy lifting.Forget the websites - they both have superb reputations and your career will fly if you do well in either. Financially you will make more than Director at Big 4. VP level will still take you comfortably north of 150, Director will take you near double that.

[quote]AP comes up about half a grade senior to their equivalent at AM. They are 'diamond shaped' - more Directors than VPs, as its the Directors who do the heabvy lifting.Forget the websites - they both have superb reputations and your career will fly if you do well in either. [b]Financially you will make more than Director at Big 4[/b]. VP level will still take you comfortably north of [b]150[/b], Director will take you near double that.[/quote]Did i read that correct... Depending on where you are, Director at Big4 are getting close to 150 - though there are fairly wide variations (130-170) I was expecting Director at AM, AP to be similar with VPs taking more.

[quote]AP comes up about half a grade senior to their equivalent at AM. They are 'diamond shaped' - more Directors than VPs, as its the Directors who do the heabvy lifting.Forget the websites - they both have superb reputations and your career will fly if you do well in either. Financially you will make more than Director at Big 4. [b]VP level will still take you comfortably north of 150,[/b] Director will take you near double that.[/quote]Mars - can I just check something. The salary for the VP levels - does that include bonus or just base? I am thinking of applying and it would be useful to get a few data points.

I don't think Big 4 directors get 150k, except perhaps very experienced ones.

Experienced Directors will be commanding that type of salary, especially if they have great industry contacts.New promotes will be earning much less.

[quote][quote]AP comes up about half a grade senior to their equivalent at AM. They are 'diamond shaped' - more Directors than VPs, as its the Directors who do the heabvy lifting.Forget the websites - they both have superb reputations and your career will fly if you do well in either. Financially you will make more than Director at Big 4. [b]VP level will still take you comfortably north of 150,[/b] Director will take you near double that.[/quote]Mars - can I just check something. The salary for the VP levels - does that include bonus or just base? I am thinking of applying and it would be useful to get a few data points.[/quote]just base.

Does anyone know what kind of case interviews A&M or Alix look for in their Tech Transformation... Would that be tech related or generic biz case studies. Need to start prepping if I want to speak to some warm contacts.

From my recollection they don't use case studies per se. Expect a disarmingly informal interview style - and lots of them (about 6 - 8 would be the norm) with feedback not collated until near then end. Bear it mind it only takes one dissenting voice from that feedback to halt your process. You will have a psychometric test (you cant game it btw) the results of which will be discussed with you by a psychologist (the results are confidential to the business but they will indicate where you come on the culture fit bell curve).The only prep you can do - know your business inside out, tie everything to a proven business outcome (bottom/top line), and demonstrate gravitas. Their interview style is unusual (and most find it a very pleasant experience) - anticipate probing conversation over coffee not business cases and cultural ruler running.

[quote]From my recollection they don't use case studies per se. Expect a disarmingly informal interview style - and lots of them (about 6 - 8 would be the norm) with feedback not collated until near then end. Bear it mind it only takes one dissenting voice from that feedback to halt your process. You will have a psychometric test (you cant game it btw) the results of which will be discussed with you by a psychologist (the results are confidential to the business but they will indicate where you come on the culture fit bell curve).The only prep you can do - know your business inside out, tie everything to a proven business outcome (bottom/top line), and demonstrate gravitas. Their interview style is unusual (and most find it a very pleasant experience) - anticipate probing conversation over coffee not business cases and cultural ruler running.[/quote]It might have changed... heard from a reliable source that someone they know have a case interview coming up at A&M... He is going to be my new BFF :)

That's new...interesting.

Does anyone know what the hours are like with AP etc.? Worse than big 4 or MBB?