Anybody got any feel for BT consulting? Are they set to be a major player. Have an interview coming uop so some advice would be good?

Bear in mind this is a consulting arm of a large global corporate. Therefore the scope of work on offer is very large both internally in any business area (of which there are many) or initiative, or externally on customer contracts. You should look at what contracts BT has and then look at trends in the market place such as convergance - this will give you an idea of the type of work. If you want to join BT's consulting arm then it will depend on whether you want your experience to be in telecoms, IT and services. There are earlier threads on this, I suggest having a look.

Thanks for the response

BT isn’t going to be a major playing in the consultancy market. That should be obvious. The consultancy group has c.200 consultants most of which came Syntegra, the rest are new hires. When Syntegra became part of global services they spoke of transforming the business into an ICT Services Provider like Logica or IBM as they were riding high on the back on recent SI wins like the NHS. After having their fingers burned they won't be doing any more of those deals. Instead they're focusing on core competence - the Network. You can't blame them really. Seems like a sensible strategy but if you want to work for a major player in consultancy BT Global Consulting isn't the place. There may be a few good consultants around but the work is now mostly internally focussed. Account teams own the channel to market and you have to work through them. They wouldn't know what a transformation deal if hit them in the face. If it's got a Cisco part no then they'll sell it otherwise you've got two selling jobs to do and endless bureaucracy. Sound fun?

One of my close friends worked in the ex-Syntegra bit.Sounds like a complete nightmare.Riddled with politics and low calibre staff who are serving their time before getting VR or early retirement.

Yep that's about right.

Started 6 months ago... quite liking it to be honest. A lot of internal work, moving the company towards the IBM/Accenture 'services' model so people are correct there... I disagree about the bureaucracy comment, and haven't seen any more politics than anywhere else. I have to say that the level of exposure to very senior people on a regular basis is a strength for the company (influence over the VP/President level is common), and the admittedly small (but expanding a lot over the next 12 months... just took over INS in the US for example, around 1k more) number of people in consulting are giving a lot of steer toward moving BT away from pure telecoms to a more convergence and providing services type-structure.I definitely feel it's a one to watch (biased maybe I admit), it's getting a lot of city plaudits and has an ambitious strategy, but bear in mind it's not yet the type of external work you might get in 'real' consultancies. Hope this helps!P.S. The work-life balance is great!

Newstart, Thanks for the balanced view - glad you're enjoying it. I guess when you start fresh you've got more capacity for the endless change and confusing (purposeful) miscommunication.Let's get real though. The city isn’t crediting the consulting group for the good performance of Global Services. And INS isn't part of the consulting group. I think what most people want to know is what it's like in consulting. There are a lot of people in the Global Services that are happy as they know how they fit in the new world. Unfortunately there are a lot of people in consulting who are seriously unhappy. Let see how many exit in June when they've banked their bonus. I know about 20 people who have left in the last 9 months, which is a lot considering the size.

I agree, it's not the consulting section that are getting the plaudits because they're not that big yet. But that's where the company wants to be, and over the past few years it has done well in heading in the direction it chooses. I disagree about INS comment... they're not in consulting yet, true, but they do sit within the same section (Global Professional Services), and they are a consultancy that has been purchased for a reason! I suppose time will tell, but they are expanding the section a lot over the next 12 months (organically and through acquisitions), and it's very much a case of time will tell. However, if you want to work in 'proper' consulting, maybe it's not the place to be. If you want a crossover between consulting and industry (IT), it's possibly a good place to look at...I suppose BT consulting is

I have recently completed the CIP part of the interview process with BT and have to say I was quite impressed with the scope of ambition and the strategy. Having said that, they do not feel like a consulting organisation (CG, Accenture,IBM) and do not seem to have the maturity of some of these professional services organisations. In truth a litlle bit staid and heavily entrenched in their past as opposed to being dynamic and responsiveI was lucky enough to have the opportunity to talk candidly with a couple of member of their GPS and there a lot of benefits (work/life balance being one) with being part of BT's future.The bottom line I think is that if they have the appetite to become a major player in Transformation Consulting, they probably will just because of the scale of resources they can apply and it's only a few deals away.The question seems to be what ambition do they really have and if you want to be taking a risk on them. Gut feel says they will always be selling consultancy on the back of ICT deals, not selling consultancy underpinned with IT.I think others should keep a weather eye on what they do next but its probaby not for me.....

I work within BT Consulting & am looking to leave right now - there is a serious lack of external work which is frustrating & hence many people are leaving because of this. BT does have a lot of good things about it but if you want to take on a challenging external role it might not be the place to be. However the grass isn't always greener...guess I'll find out soon enough

I work at BT in Global Consulting. It's a mess. Currently looking to move to get proper experience on real client projects and stop farting around on pointless nonsense.

The many ads for BT have disappeared off Top Consultant so it looks like they have put a hold on recruitment.Have heard it's great for work/life balance as well but the problem with this type of organisation is the cynical old codgers who don't have any passion for their work.

Oh dear it seems that from the above posts from BT consultants, there seems to be real lack of consulting experience and exposure.I got an offer from them on the graduate professional services! Yeah there does seem a freeze - are some of you guys on the graduate scheme or experienced consultants?