If I follow the threads here, every consultancy is a sweatshop, an unprofessional bunch of dull people, horrible to their employees, underpaying, overworking, slaveholders...you get the picture.Yet you are here.My question: If you could work for any (MC) firm in the world, which one would it be? at a) entry level and b) long term.

At entry level, most consultancies are going to work you hard and give you lots of opportunity so I wouldn't worry too hard - you can always run off somewhere nicer easy enough.Most of the bigger firms have good graduate intake programmes. I suggest you make an exit after 2,3 or 4 years and join somewhere more personal like PA Consulting ...

To start off with, any of the big boys will do the trick -- good training, good contacts, and exposure to good clients.Long-term, it's got to be your own firm, hasn't it?

a) at entry-level I would always recommend going somewhere that scores good CV points in terms of their brand recognition / their client list / their graduate training programme. Consulting has a pyramid structure and so only a fraction of those that join the industry will still be in it 5 years later. Most will have used it as a stepping stone to get somewhere else (even if they thought "consulting is for life" when they joined).b) long term, would have to be somewhere that offered a "slice of the action" - which would mean somewhere with meaningful share options, a partnership structure... or setting up one's own shop along with a select handful of consulting colleagues / alumni.Hope this helps. Tony

Tony,Excluding the top Strat houses, in your opinion which firms look good on the CV at the grad level? Also how prestigious do you feel is a graduate scheme in such consultancies considered in relation to finance/banking grad schemes?

As an analyst in a major full service house i have to agree with Tony, the 'consultancy for life' romance died after a few months when I was falling asleep all over teh place and sick of planes, trains and automobiles! What would be really useful would be conduct a survey to those who are still subscribed to this to see where they went after their time in consultancy, the inductry adn role they now work in, package and general satisfaction of work realtive to consultancy. Has this been done/is it worth doing? What are your thoughts Tony?Cheers

Reading this space month after month it seems that the objective of most is to get ahead...doing whatever it takes...Personally I think looking for a position/organization that will allow you to do something you love...fully utilizing all competencies, securing like minded acknowledgement, adequate compensation and the chance of evolution is the way to a happy career...As a career consultant I know that looking for a template download brings years of empty fatigue...maybe the cash/status will be worth abandoning the idea of fulfuillment/happiness/individuality....?

Using this post to respond to various questions that have been asked of me in this thread.i) best consultancies to join other than the top strat houses. If we start with the assumption that the most important thing is for your first consultancy employer to act as a "door-opener" on your CV and keep your options open vis-a-vis future career direction... well in this scenario I would say all the most prominent consulting brands fit the bill. So Accenture, Atos Consulting, Capgemini, Deloitte, etc.The main choice between these firms would come down to their culture and how "at home" you think you would feel working there. ii) how does a grad consulting scheme stack up against a banking grad scheme? Financially you are less likely to strike gold with a consulting firm in the early years of your career (but then not everyone in banking will get a mega-bonus and this is hugely dependent on the state of the markets). But for keeping your career options open and not committing yourself to a lifetime of working in London / the City, a consulting grad scheme wins hands down.iii) a survey of job satisfaction of those that have left the consulting industry. Unfortunately, once people lose interest in a consulting career then they are also likely to cease being readers of the site - so we probably aren't in the best position to run such a survey of ex-consultants. However, I would say from my own network that "the grass isn't always greener on the other side". Plenty of friends have left consulting for industry only to find that the senior exec roles require them to make just as many sacrifices, work just as long hours, travel just as much. And the bureaucracy / politics is often worse than in consulting. So a blanket assumption that life will be better if you leave consulting should be treated with caution - if you do move out you have to pick your new role very carefully or you could find yourself disillusioned with life outside consulting as well as in it.Right, think that covers it! Tony

Tony,In your opinion (and I would be interested to hear those of other readers on this forum) would you consider PA a good brand name at grad level? Few people outside consulting at grad level have heard of them. How does PA sit/fair within the wider commercial world. My guess is that although it's a great place to begin ones career and training etc, However in terms of brand recognition across sectors and industries I think it may still lag some way behind many consulting firms.Be interested to hear what those from PA think - both wise heads and grads.Cheers

Sorry for the old thread, just back reading after some holidays. I joined PA at grad level and have worked my way up. There's no denying the brand is not well known, though in my time here it has much improved in the UK and the US (though still a small time player over there). The positives of PA are that you will get much more responsibility at lower levels than any other consultancy I know of. Many of my friends joined consultancy and I actually laughed in one of their faces when he told me after 18 months at Accenture he'd just had "his first proper client meeting" as he'd been hidden out of the way so often. I had my first proper client meeting in my first week! PA teams are generally much smaller than our competitors so if you are good then you really stand out and are given more responsibility by your seniors, meaning you can also get promoted quickly and rewarded well. Honestly, if you took a bunch of around 10 of my uni mates who joined consultancy and took the company names off the CVs and compared them, I reckon I'd get any job hands down over them. However, the issue comes when you keep the name on! The way of the world is unfortunately driven by brand, whether it's when you buy a car or a can of fizzy drink. Smaller, niche companies can often have a much better offer than the big brands, but big brands sell to the masses as they're steady and reliable for those who aren't making a massively informed purchasing decision. In short, if you tried to get a job with one of PA's clients (which admittedly do include big, global companies) they might look on you favourably, but many others would pick a safer choice than you in the wider marketplace. Back on the topic at hand, I'd never want to work for a company bigger than PA (c. 3500 people at present), in the long term I'd rather go for a niche consultancy where you're going to get rewarded for standing out and there's always a possibility of a windfall if the company ever gets sold.

McKinsey.