Hi,Looking for graduate opportunities in Corporate Strategy as a backup to Consulting. Anybody know which firms excel in this?

anybody?

I would just apply to the Grad schemes of the big FTSE companies that offer them - Shell, Diageo, Unilever, Rolls Royce etc etc.I have never heard of a company being particularly known for 'excelling at corporate strategy' - and tbh, in my experience, most companies/people use it as an entry point to spend two years getting some exposure and building a network before moving into the business itself. Hence, at least where I work, corporate strategy roles are pretty much limited to fairly experienced (manager level) consultants from the top strategy firmsAs a graduate, my advice would be "Don't overthink it. Just get into a good company, learn, be proactive, and then, assuming you are good, the rest will take care of itself"

Thanks - I'm really keen to pursue a career in consulting. Is it a bad move to apply for a grad scheme in industry rather than a consulting firm or is the jump to Consulting from Industry possible?[quote]I would just apply to the Grad schemes of the big FTSE companies that offer them - Shell, Diageo, Unilever, Rolls Royce etc etc.I have never heard of a company being particularly known for 'excelling at corporate strategy' - and tbh, in my experience, most companies/people use it as an entry point to spend two years getting some exposure and building a network before moving into the business itself. Hence, at least where I work, corporate strategy roles are pretty much limited to fairly experienced (manager level) consultants from the top strategy firmsAs a graduate, my advice would be "Don't overthink it. Just get into a good company, learn, be proactive, and then, assuming you are good, the rest will take care of itself" [/quote]

Two comments to make here.The first is that lots of corporates have really strong internal consulting or strategy teams. A quick bit of research on LinkedIn will show you the calibre of the team you'd potentially be joining. Lots will have a corporate strategy team that's got a range of ex-strategy consultants on board from many of the top names in strategy consulting. You're not going to go far wrong learning from a team like that - the only challenge will be finding entry-level openings, as there are far fewer of them than there are consulting openings at that level.In terms of moving from industry into consulting, that's usually something that would happen at MBA graduation level. So the career path would be: i) do 2-6 years in a corporate role; ii) go to a [b][u]top[/u][/b] business school; iii) get hired into a strategy consultancy. Note that top business school is absolutely essential. If you go to a mid-level business school your odds of making a successful transition are decimated.Hope that helps and good luck!Tony

"Is it a bad move to apply for a grad scheme in industry rather than a consulting firm or is the jump to Consulting from Industry possible?"If you are keen to pursue a career in consulting then of course apply to consulting firms - I assume you are.But it's a very competitive market and so you need a Plan B, Plan C and Plan D - and for those I would definitely recommend the graduate schemes at major FTSE/other companies. Much of the work will be similar, you will be rotated around different areas to give you a broad overview of the business, and if you do well you will be nicely positioned for a more permanent position in an area of interest to you - maybe corporate strategy, maybe not.After that, as per Tony's comment above, if you still want to go into consulting then switch post-MBAThe point re only going to a top business school is critical. And to add to that, it may be contentious and is anecdotal, but if targeting the MBB-type firms at a post-MBA level, then I would argue that a background of Unilever/P&G/Nestle/Diageo grad scheme --> a few additional years in a line function is a better profile for getting into a top business school compared to a few years at a Big 4. But that's just my opinion.