I am curious about which firms give their consultants blackberries, and at what level? Traditionally I assumed it was a tool-of-trade for consultants, but I'm realising it's not always the case. I assume it probably varies by region as well. What have been people's experiences?

Luckily blackberries have a calendar option; when you get one put in 'Get Life' and select the 'all day event' option.

Thats an excellent question. Big 4, Manager - but it depends whether you have a valid business case.

"Big 4, Manager" - wow must be such an exclusive perk!Come round my way - every council estate kid has one - just walk into your local phone shop and get one - seriously if a Blackberry is a sign that you've made the big time then you need to aim a little higher in life!

Strawberry, who suggested that having a Blackberry is a sign that you've made the big time? and who suggested that Manager is hitting the big time?

i-phone is better

i-Phone u and U phone-Me

It is quite possible to give everyone a blackberry who used to have a mobile phone, bearing in mind the cheaper blackberry options and tarrifs... less of an issue these days... iphone next, if the security can be sorted!

Sidestepping the jocular tone of much of this thread I have a genuine query. I've a grad offer with a strat house and was under the (perhaps naive) impression that all consultants would be provided with a blackberry or similar on joining, paid for by the firm. Should I revise this assumption? What is standard practice in the industry? There is nothing mentioned in my contract.

You should not worry about having to incur any personal expense – all but the most cowboy of firms will provide their consultants with a laptop and mobile phone.Whether that mobile phone is a blackberry depends very much on the individual firm and the consultant. In mass market firms, it is a perk of certain grades, whereas some MBB firms hand one out to everyone.Why not drop an e-mail to your HR contact in the offer letter. It’s a perfectly valid question to ask them.

"Dear sir, Thank you for your kind offer of employment at your firm for the position of... Grad.Whilst I do wish to accept this offer, I am afraid that I will not be able to do so until the following benefits have been contractually approved:1) notebook and A4 ringbinderii) parker pen and blackberryc) snooker cue signed by jim davidson (or john virgo - not really bothered which).I look forward to hearing from you with your reply.Regards, Pratt

Obviously, I'm not fussed about it being a Blackberry - I just wanted to make sure my assumption of it being standard practice to provide a phone was accurate. Thanks for your help.

I don't get these firms that don't provide phones. How do they expect you to do your job without one? It's like those companies that still have partners who give you a disdainful look when you get a new laptop so that you can do your job without waiting 15 seconds for the screen to respond between every mouse click, and it's obvious their feelings are the same as if they had personally bought you a 52" LCD TV for your personal use or something. Or companies that expect you to travel by train everywhere, do they have any idea just how unbearable that is?

"How do they expect you to do your job without one"...........funny, i don't recall industry and commerce without a shatberry. Why on earth do you want one - aren't you getting paid for working and not to sit pratting around on gameboy all day. Berry's are a terrible bloody thing and encourage all the wrong behaviours.Gt a Lf thx

Perhaps I was misleading. I don't care about Blackberrys. I just want them to give me a phone, because at the moment, for all intents and purposes, I don't really have one, and I suspect I will need one to do the job properly.

You will not need one to do your job for a couple of years as you will spend most of the next three years of your life buried under data and communicating only through Excel!

In a strat house? I hope not, I was led to believe there was at least some semblance of real work to be done. And if most people leave strategy consulting after three years, what would be the sense of not getting any genuine work out of them in that time?

Especially in a strat house. That is all you do. However you will need a mobile phone - solely so that your manager can dump work on you at the weekends.