So, in addition to coming from the best business and engineering schools, you also had to have passed a preparatory course. However, over the years, firms have broadened their recruitment target to include Admis Sur Titres (AST) students from business schools. These students, who have joined the Master in Management or Grande École Program after a first degree, have a number of assets to bring to the table: dual skills, greater professional experience, university education, etc. So which strategy consulting firms can ASTs target?
Find out in this article the latest information on AST screening and our tips for increasing your chances of joining the Strategy Consulting firm of your dreams.
French AST vs. international AST
French ASTs: priority to engineers and universities of excellence
French ASTs at top business schools generally come from a university or engineering school.
As for universities, the three most widely recognized are those of excellence in France: Assas, Sorbonne and Paris-Dauphine. In the case of Paris-Dauphine, it may be sufficient to join a strategy consulting firm. What career paths are favored at these universities? The most atypical career paths are the most highly valued: law, history, politics and so on. In fact, French ASTs are mainly students with an economics/management background, and those with atypical backgrounds are rarer. Their rarity is their value. What's more, they have the advantage of being able to resell dual expertise and thus greater diversity, which is always interesting for firms accustomed to recruiting many similar profiles. Last but not least, the further students have gone in their career, right up to Master's level, the more their dual expertise will be valued.
For engineering schools, there are no rules. Obviously, the more reputable the school, the higher the candidate's profile will be. However, as long as the integrated business school is one of the target schools, there should be no problem. Firms are often looking for engineering profiles, which they are less able to recruit from engineering schools than from business schools. Once again, dual expertise is in high demand, as are skills in aeronautics, mechanics, energy, physics, information systems, digital technology, and so on.
Between ASTs from universities, however prestigious, and ASTs from engineering schools, firms have a preference for the latter category. As mentioned above, firms are often looking to attract engineers, and this is sometimes complicated. What's more, engineering and business skills are highly complementary in the way firms approach them: analytical, communication and management skills.
See also: Passing the strategic consulting case study test
International ASTs: a prime target for strategy consulting firms
International ASTs often have a very good image in strategy consulting firms, since they have the advantage of dual skills and an international label. The university of origin of international ASTs must be taken into account, but screening is less severe than for French ASTs.
As with French ASTs, atypical backgrounds in law, economics, politics, history, philosophy, etc. are highly valued by recruiters. Foreign universities, especially Anglo-Saxon ones, have the advantage of offering a multitude of teaching disciplines to their students, which creates diversity and is highly valued.
The countries most frequently listed in international ASTs are those from which universities place the most students in France's top business schools. These are England, Canada, Italy and Spain. Fewer French students go to the USA after high school, so few end up in French business schools. Let's take a look at the different international universities by country that are found in strategy consulting firms.
- England: University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of London, Imperial College London, University of Edinburgh, University of Manchester, King's College London, University of Bristol, London School of Economics, University of Warwick
- Canada: University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, McGill, HEC Montréal
- Italy: Bocconi University
- Spain: IE Madrid
Other than these main countries and universities, other international ASTs are also found in strategy consulting firms, notably those who studied in Switzerland with Polytechnique-Lausanne, or those who were in Portugal at Nova Business School. However, this represents a small number of students and candidates in strategy consulting firms.
See also : Strategy consulting firms
How do ASTs get into a strategy consulting firm?
Being in a target school
First and foremost, you need to be at a target school. Since ASTs mainly concern business schools, at best you need to be at HEC, ESSEC, ESCP and otherwise at EM Lyon, or even EDHEC.
Aside from the target school, the best thing for you to do is to be in the Programme Grande Ecole or Master in Management, since these are the same programs as those for students coming from classes préparatoires, and above all the most prestigious. However, some candidates may be selected for interview even if they are not in a PGE or MIM program and are in a Master of Science program. This can be justified by the fact that, for example, they have already completed a long course of higher education, as is the case for students who have studied engineering or law.
So, if we recap with the target schools, here's how we recommend you choose them based on your previous career path.
- After a bachelor's degree in France or a bachelor's degree at a university abroad: choose the PGEs at HEC, ESSEC, ESCP, EM Lyon and EDHEC in that order.
- After a Master's degree in France or a long-term career in an atypical discipline: choose the PGE and MSc programs at HEC, ESSEC and ESCP, then the PGE programs at EM Lyon and EDHEC.
When it comes to choosing schools, don't make everything conditional on a possible desire/ambition to go into strategy consulting; take other, more traditional elements into consideration too. As a rough guide, the higher your school's ranking and the more your degree is recognized, the greater your chances of being interviewed. In addition to schools, ASTs also have more pressure on their career paths, in other words, their internships.
See also: How do schools prepare their students for strategy consulting?
Selective and prestigious internships
AST students have less flexibility in choosing their internships before attempting to join strategy consulting firms. Indeed, firms are not the most demanding when it comes to student internships, since there is a great deal of experience to be gained in consulting, which remains a highly diversified profession on a day-to-day basis. But as AST students, you need to make the most of your chances by taking on the most prestigious internships. In strategy consulting, the vast majority of consultants will have professional experience in one of the following professions:
- Category A: Strategy consulting, M&A, Private Equity
- Category B: Strategic company management, start-ups
- Category C: Management Consulting, Auditing
If you are an AST student, we recommend that you give priority to category A internships. Your goal should therefore be to obtain a category A internship before applying to Strategy Consulting. Of course, it won't be easy to get these internships right from the start, but it's up to you to build your career path. For example, you can imagine these different scenarios, depending on your particular appetite for the world of finance.
Scenario 1
- 1st part of gap year (6 months): audit internship in Big4
- 2nd part of gap year (6 months): M&A internship
- Graduation internship (6 months) : Strategy consulting or other category A internship
Scenario 2
- 1st part of gap year (6 months): internship in start-up with former consultants
- 2nd part of gap year (6 months): internship in strategic management with former consultants
- Graduation internship (6 months) : Strategy consulting or other category A internship
Obviously, for each profession, the more recognized the organization in which you do your internship, the more your experience will be valued. So try to get the most prestigious internship every time. However, don't completely ignore other criteria when choosing an internship. It has to be one that suits you both in terms of the assignments and the teams you'll be working with.
See also: McKinsey, BCG, Bain: a trio of firms still unchallenged
Other tips for AST strategy consulting candidates
Have differentiating experience on your CV
To maximize their chances of getting into a strategy consulting firm, AST students need to have differentiating features on their CVs. Professional experience through internships can set you apart, but there are other options too.
Long-term international experience
In this respect, international ASTs already have an advantage over French ASTs. Having international experience, be it professional, associative or a personal project, looks very good on a CV and is highly valued by strategy consulting firms. Indeed, firms are international and consultants often find themselves staffed on international projects. What's more, you'll be valued even more if you speak a language that is rare or rarely spoken by other candidates: Chinese, Russian, Arabic, etc.
Entrepreneurial start-up projects
Entrepreneurs are multi-functional consultants. A business start-up project goes through all the phases, and more, that consultants go through during their missions. From market diagnosis and in-depth analysis to problem-solving and business implementation, the entrepreneur is a Swiss Army knife who develops a wide range of skills. Firms value these career paths, which enable them to develop both the hard and soft skills needed to succeed in consulting.
An atypical experience
Once again, as part of the drive to enhance the value of differentiating experience, strategy consulting firms will pay close attention to any experience that stands out from the ordinary. Examples include military or sporting experience. In the case of the army, you can either sign up on your own outside your academic curriculum, or join a military school via your school. For example, Saint-Cyr has a partnership with the top business schools: HEC, ESSEC, ESCP, EM Lyon, EDHEC. As far as sporting experience is concerned, this applies in particular to students who play professional sports at a high level. The skills developed by top sportsmen and women, such as courage, ambition, a taste for challenge, perseverance, rigor and many others, are highly appreciated by firms.
Network even more than others
Get an interview at a strategy consulting firm: if you want it, you can get it! Easier said than done, but networking can help you achieve your goals, whatever your career path. As AST students, networking is essential to get through the screening process.
Why networking? The aim of networking is to help you get through the screening process of strategy consulting firms, so that you can be co-opted for an interview.
Who's networking? Networking concerns both your inner circle and those further afield. The first circle is your family, your friends and anyone you know well whom you can approach quickly and directly. The other circles are the people you don't necessarily know, and for whom you'll have to initiate the process of making contact, without any certain results. The first circle is generally the most effective. Finally, the more senior your referral is in the firm, the more weight his or her co-optation will have, in theory. So give preference to Partners, if you have any in your circle, otherwise consultants will surely be easier to contact.
How early? Networking should be done well in advance of your application, because it's never easy to anticipate the time needed to talk to consultants. Bear in mind that consultants are very busy and have little time to spare for you. So do your networking early on in your preparation for strategy consulting recruitment.
How do you network? Excluding your close friends and acquaintances whom you contact directly, most networking takes place via linkedin and networking events with firms. On linkedin, you can contact the consultants with whom you are connected. At networking events, you simply chat with the consultants and create a link to get a call with them.
See also : How to join a strategy consulting firm
ASTs can join any strategy consulting firm
Definitely, ASTs can join any strategy consulting firm from McKinsey, to BCG, Bain, Roland Berger, Monitor Deloitte, PMP Strategy, and so on. There are no longer the barriers that there used to be. ASTs have dual skills to spare and a determination sometimes even higher than other candidates, which is their strength. If you're well-prepared and manage to get through the screening, you'll have every chance of impressing recruiters during interviews. And from then on, being AST will no longer be a problem, but an asset for you. So go for it!
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