This question's aimed at people working for one of the Big 4 - or people who've been through the interview process with them / had lots of exposure to them. Can you provide your impressions of what differences there are when weighing up KPMG, Deloitte, PwC and Ernst & Young as consulting career options? How does client work, culture, career progression, etc. differ amongst them - or are they in reality fairly homogenous?

1) For which part of the Big 4? You mention consulting, which usually excludes tax advisory but still leaves- IT Advisory or IT Audit- Business effectiveness or Performance improvement, including supply chain, project management, finance transformation, sustainability- Transactions consulting which includes strategic due dilligence, corporate finance, financial due dilligence etc- Risk consulting... you get the idea2) The answer differs per country, per service line, per city, per partner

There are a number of threads extolling the virtues of each of the big 4 in terms of consulting, but I'll break down what the general headlines are, and the order with which I'd rank them in terms of "prestige" whatever the hell you consider that to be! 1. Deloitte - Strong and large consulting practice, seen as number 1 in terms of big 4 consulting, however their staff are often quite heavily silo'd. In consulting terms, I would say the best of the big 4 brand names to have2. E&Y - Currently going through strong growth and has a relatively solid pipeline, the strong growth creates a less silo'd environment and has also created a number of relatively big wage increases for those promoted and those moving cross firm to join EY, have recently bought a large number of people from Accenture.3. PWC want to be Accenture and are to heavily focused on their audit practice4. KPMG are only good for assuring projects, when you need a pencil and clipboard give them a call.