Hi all,I'm new to the MC industry and looking for work as an experienced hire. I've seen several positions advertised by PWC/KPMG/EY. Does anyone know what recruitment agencies are used by them for experience hire MCs?I'm happy to apply direct but understand that it can be more effective to go with an agency. Also, I read an article from last year that said KPMG has cut its use of recruitment agencies. Do you know if that's true?thanks for all the information posted, as a newbie I'm finding it really helpful, and entertaining!

3 points in response to your post:1) You need to decide whether you wish to apply direct or via an agency. Once an employer has received a direct application from you, it makes it very hard for a recruitment agency to secure payment for helping you secure a job there during the following year. So you can't try one route and then revert to the other if that doesn't work out, you need to be decisive about which route to go down from the outset.2) You can't talk in such simple terms about which recruitment agencies serve which firms. In practice recruitment firms will have areas they are specialists in and where they do work with the Big 4; and other practice areas that they don't serve at all. So we could point you to firms that work with the Big 4 in certain areas, but if those aren't the areas you work in then they'll be of no use to you and will not be able to help.3) It's a mixed story with recruitment firm use. Certainly most of the major global consulting brands are trying to do more inhouse sourcing of candidates for the "easier to fill" roles. But going the recruitment agency route allows consulting firms to be active in recruitment markets where they anticipate needing to make hires without any cost being incurred for this presence or activity. The cost is (usually) only incurred should a hire be made - and so there's still quite a lot of interview activity being funneled through recruitment agencies as they effectively provide consultancies with a zero-cost option to remain active in their key markets.Good luckTony RestellTop-Consultant.com

Thanks Tony, that was really useful advice.

Hi Tony,My name is Deblina. I am much interested in applying for KPMG or Delloitte though a recruitment agency.Could you please let me know, which agencies are them so that I can get in contact with them.Kind Regards,Deblina

Are you for real!?! If you want a job with them, look on their website and apply directly.

Hi Tony,Looks like PWC are expanding their DDV team and there are a number of vacancies listed. I am hoping to get in through the experienced hire route and wondering if you could shed some light on recruitment agencies for this BU.Cheers

Apply directly on their website if you see the relevant vacancies.

The Big 4 have used so many agencies that frankly there is little to no advantage now in applying to them through an agency or HH.Apply directly.

Fair point - but thought an agency will be able to help structure the CV better knowing the insider views.

Without wanting to be rude, you should be able to do this.Look at the job description and bring out your skills that match it. i.e. Have you got previous Ops due diligence (ODD) experience, synergy assessments, carve-outs, post-merger integration. What your role was, cost savings, performance improvement, industries etc.The above is presuming you come from a similar team. If you don't, try to find how your skills may be translated e.g. ODD is very much intense analytics and report-writing.. Have you any experience in this. post-deal activities are closer to PMO type skilll-sets.

Both in-house and external recruiters can be as good/bad as each other. I've had experiences (purely professional, of course) with recruiters that (from the candidate point of view) justify their existence and also instances where they didn't even bother sending in the CV...Internal as well as external recruiters can be very helpful and highlight any hot topics or competencies that are particularly vital to the part of the business you are applying to, but they are more of a benefit to the firm than to the candidate.To be perfectly honest, it is a luck of the draw. But if you DO find a good recruiter, build a relationship with them - you never know when that will come in useful.

[quote]Fair point - but thought an agency will be able to help structure the CV better knowing the insider views.[/quote]Not necessarily. A good recruiter can give you insights on the culture, the business pipeline etc but what you need to do yourself is make sure your CV can be read by software, and that's as relevant for putting your cv in the public domain as it is for sending through one of those infernal talent portals.There is no point applying for jobs you simply cannot do, or have no prior experience in, so you will already know the key terms and acronyms for your sector, functional specialism, industry. Make sure they are worked into your CV - in fact, once you have written a cv, put it through a word search on your desk top - you should be able to bring up a good scattering of highlighted key words for your key skills. If not re-write it. Now apply the fold test. Print your CV off and fold it in half. Can you see enough on the half page you can read to qualify for an interview? If not, guess what? Re-write it. I should go into recruitment or something.

Thanks guys, very helpful. Especially Tom1, don't think you are bring rude AT ALL, your advice is greatly appreciated. I am not coming from a similar team but reading your post, think the work's closer to what I want than I thought this morning.

I wouldn't put all your eggs in one basket though. I know the OTS team in EY were growing quite rapidly over previous couple of years (although I believe the recruitment drive has reduced dramatically recently).There is the PMI/ODD teams at Deloitte, Operations Strategy Group (OSG) at KPMG which doesn't have a great reputation for how they look after their staff (team specific - not KPMG wide)Also GT are building out an equivalent offering although expect them to pull on strong candidates from Big 4 rather than training individuals up.

Wow - you seem to know the happenings quite well. Considering I am complete outsider, and not the traditional big4 target, think I will need to put in a lot of prep if I am serious about this.

I'd recommend something

[quote]I wouldn't put all your eggs in one basket though. .[/quote]I did that once. Nice omlette.

[quote]I'd recommend something[/quote]Thanks Cool. Can you recommend the best companies who do something? Do you think I will be able to trick HR, lie to the line managers, tweak my Cv, inflate my salary, convince them I am job and join the world best something firm? I really want to get into one of the Maybe Something Someday (MSS) firms. I must get there.It is my destiny.

I have found BLT are pretty helpful. Try team@blt.co.uk as I don't know who is best to speak to.

That's strange... Doesn't a BLT consultant have the initials BW?

Last time I checked this was called topconsultant not toprecruiterpromotingthemself. Frankly I am fed up with recruiters coming on here and blatantly trying to promote themselves or their company. This is an anonymous discussion forum, lets keep it that way - no selling or solicitation.Agree?

I was drawing attention to ConsultantBW's blatant (and rather amusing) plug..

Wasnt aiming at you TopCons, rather at BLT and some others which seem to crop up on here from time to time, trying to promote themselves

What [i]would[/i] be useful, if unethical and potentially libellous, is some feedback on these agencies and their supposed abilities. A number of them seem to be complete time wasters.

I agree. The thing with recruitment companies Grey is that it is really down to the individual recruiter not the firm - remember the barriers to entry are very low, and in all fairness to younger colleagues it's difficult when a newbie to get any kind of development when you are being beasted constantly. Best advice I can give is when you identify a recruiter you can work with, work with that individual not the firm.

Good recruitment agencies focus on really understanding what the organisation’s needs are and does best to reach out to their network to find the talent they are seeking. Freshminds, in my opinion is a valuable and trusted recruitment agency that does this really well, and I have had a great experience with them.