Like many I have reached a point in my career where I need a change...To provide some context, I have 5 years Big 4 consulting experience. During my time I have focused on delivering / enabling operational excellence (lean, op model, process design) for large UK Banks. I have completed the various training on offer and have qualified as a chartered management account to add another string to my bow.Long term I would like to work with the likes of Alix Partners / Alvarez & Marsal, but I feel I need more experience before I make that step.With that in mind I have a few of questions:1 - who are the tier 2 consultancies that compete against Alix and A&M, and what do they look for in experience hire recruits?2 - in more mainstream MC, who are the premium / high end boutique firms. I would like to help a smaller firm to create and build something great. Also, whilst my experience is FS based I would be interested in the variation of working across other industries (energy etc)3 - would moving in house to an industry change function (at a bank / telecoms / energy firm etc.) provide any advantages? At this stage in my career I can't see the benefits of working in a slower paced environment with a limited mandate...

At the moment you are probably about 3 - 5 years short of going to a firm like Alix or A&M. You are right to want to branch out from FS a bit, but the firms you aspire to will want a clear and deep spike of experience in one sector, so you might be better off broadening your experience within the sector rather than moving outside of it. Being a Chartered Accountant will count in your favour, but they tend to take a dim view on the lean stuff - dilute that a bit.If you want to get to Alix or A&M you'll need some industry experience to round out your Big 4, ideally in a role where you can directly tie your name to cost reduction or revenue enhancement. They will want to see that impact written large in your resume.They don't really compete at a boutique level btw - competitors (depending on service line and country) tend to be the likes of Roland Berger, AT Kearney etc on the operational side, and Big 4 (on larger projects) and some of the specialist corporate finance houses on the restructuring side.If it is any help, your Big 4 experience will have slightly more cache at A&M, who tend to hire from there especially around the transactions area.

Thanks for your feedback Mars, much appreciated. If I have my heart set on leaving my current big 4 (lack of faith in strategy / leadership / engagement opportunities etc.) would you recommend joining one of the others or ACN?Or, are there any small boutique consultancies which will give me great experience / exposure in the cost reduction space (which is less lean related...)Thanks

If cost reduction is your bag, you could look for a niche player in the procurement market such as Procurian, Proxima or the procurement arm of Accenture?Alternatively the big 4 seems to be getting heavily into procurement consulting

I know a great boutique in the cost reduction space (not listed above). Would you like to email your CV to me (I'm a headhunter)? If so, I will send my email address.

Hi bsd - yes I would be interested in hearing more about the firm you are referring to.Let me know your email and I will get my CV to you.Thanks

contact@ascentpros.com - please could you send your CV to this?