These included HEC, ESSEC, ESCP, Polytechnique, Centrale, les Mines and les Ponts. However, the growth of the strategy consulting business and increased competition have prompted firms to broaden their recruitment pool. As a result, the EM Lyon and EDHEC business schools are just outside the top 3 business schools in Paris. Places are opening up, but remain very limited. And when it comes to choosing a school for strategic consulting, the question arises. What's the best school to join a strategy consulting firm?
The match between EM Lyon and EDHEC, often played out in the SIGEM rankings, continues here in strategy consulting recruitment. Discover our analysis below.
EM Lyon, a recognized specialist in strategy consulting
The Strategy Consulting Career Track, a golden passport to joining a firm
Students at the Lyon-based school have always been interested in the world of strategy consulting, and it was they who set up the first initiatives to improve their chances of securing internships and permanent contracts with firms. In particular, they brought on board Christophe Chaumont, a professor of consulting and management at the school, to help them prepare for the exams, after realizing that they had a gap to make up compared to Parisian schools or the best engineering schools. This led to the creation of the Career Track in Strategy Consulting. This is a 3-month preparatory course organized by the school to prepare students for the recruitment processes of strategy consulting firms. Throughout the preparation period, students take part in workshops with coaches, alumni of the school who work in consulting firms. These workshops focus on different stages of the recruitment process:
- Application elements: CV and cover letter preparation
- Networking for interviews
- Preparing for online tests
- Interview preparation: fit and case studies
- Workshops with firms on real-life cases
In 2023, the best firms were present at the EM Lyon Career Track: McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Roland Berger, Oliver Wyman, Kearney, Advancy, EY-Parthenon, Monitor Deloitte, Simon-Kucher, Kéa, KPMG GSG. Every year, they return, and more and more firms are asking to take part in this program dedicated to strategy consulting. What's more, the firms usually take advantage of the opportunity to organize a plenary conference open to all the school's students, so that they can also meet students who are not part of the track.
Indeed, this track is selective, and only 40 students have access to it each year, out of all the school's graduating classes. However, it is reserved for students who are actively seeking an end-of-study internship or permanent contract in the current year.
According to feedback from students and firms, this program is by far the most successful in terms of preparing students for recruitment to strategy consulting firms in business schools. Even the Parisian schools don't do as well. This is undeniably one of EM Lyon's strengths.
See also: Passing the strategic consulting case study test
Emlstrat: student solidarity at EM Lyon
Another of the Lyon-based school's strengths is the solidarity between students, notably via the Emlstrat school website and the Facebook group dedicated to the strategy consulting professions. On the Emlstrat website, EM Lyon students can find reports on interviews conducted by other students in all the firms. So, if an EM Lyon student is interviewing at Kearney with Mr. Dupont, they can go to the website to see if there is an interview report associated with Mr. Dupont. This has several advantages:
- Recent and current feedback on whether the recruitment process has evolved within the firm
- Gain a better understanding of each firm's expectations, including specific points to be mentioned in the preparation for fit
- Practice on case studies that have actually been used in interviews at the firm you are applying to.
- Practice on case studies that, with a bit of luck, you might find in an interview.
The Emlstrat website is regularly updated by students who have just passed the processes, proof of EM Lyon's solidarity. What's more, students at the Lyon-based school also have a Facebook group that provides them with a wealth of information and partners for case studies. At the beginning of 2024, over 6,000 students were present on this Facebook group.
EM Lyon students know very well that they need a lot of solidarity among themselves to find a place in strategy consulting firms, and they do it wonderfully. It's common for EM Lyon students already working in the firms not to hesitate to take time out to talk to those applying, and even to pass on their CVs in order to be co-opted. A real lobbying effort, in the positive sense of the word, is carried out by EM Lyon students, and it pays off.
See also : How to join a strategy consulting firm
Target school after HEC, ESSEC, ESCP
After all these years of developing the school around strategy consulting, working with students through in-depth preparation and great solidarity, the result is clear: EM Lyon has earned its place among the target schools of strategy consulting firms.
The Lyon-based school is one of the Tier 2 schools, behind the Parisian schools and the top 4 engineering schools. Today, a number of EM Lyon students work for leading strategy consulting firms such as McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Oliver Wyman, Roland Berger, etc.
It's also worth noting that the controversy surrounding EM Lyon, in particular the loss of its historic 4th place in the business school rankings, has not affected the firms' opinion of the school and its students. Indeed, despite everything, it takes time to make a name for oneself with strategy consulting firms, and a few controversies are not enough to reverse the trend, at least not in the short term. Consultor rightly addressed this issue in 2020 in this article.
EDHEC, a recent development and growing strength in strategy consulting
4th-ranked business school in the SIGEM, the Northern France school attracts the attention of firms
In 2021, EDHEC will overtake EM Lyon to become the 4th-ranked French business school in the SIGEM ranking, which is based on the choice of double-admitted students. A revolution! Rarely have schools in the Top 5 made such significant changes in this ranking. And it doesn't stop there, as EDHEC has even overtaken EM Lyon in the successive journalistic rankings of business schools. The phenomenon has begun.
EDHEC's rise to prominence is proof of the quality of its teaching, its model and its students. Naturally, strategy consulting firms have begun to take an interest in the northern school, and vice-versa. EDHEC students are already well introduced to the world of investment banking thanks to Nice's excellent Master of Finance, and now they're following suit with strategy consulting. There are still fewer students from the northern French school in the firms than there are from the Paris schools or EM Lyon. But in an article in Consultor, dated October 24, 2022, Partners from EY-Parthenon, Oliver Wyman and Simon-Kucher commented on the quality of EDHEC students, who represent a potential breeding ground to be exploited in the coming years.
If EDHEC maintains its position in the national rankings, and if consultants from the school perform well within their firms, then the northern French school should continue its rise to prominence. And that's exactly what it intends to do, thanks in particular to its training programs.
A customized training program for strategy consultants
All EDHEC Master 2 students choose a specialization to follow in the form of an MSc, which offers them the opportunity to graduate from a Master in Management and the MSc. The northern-based school has an MSc in Strategy and Organization, which in particular prepares students for the strategy consulting profession. Since 2018, it has also been offering the Strategy Boost Program, a course dedicated to preparing students for the recruitment processes of firms, similar to what EM Lyon offers with its Career Track.
The Strategy Boost Program is a mix of courses and workshops on the recruitment processes of strategy consulting firms, integrated into the MSc Strategy and Organization. The program also includes workshops run by selected firms. According to Consultor's figures, between 60 and 100 students take part in this program, which enables us to place a few more students with the best firms each year.
In addition to the career opportunities offered by the northern school, the EDHEC Consuling Club is also very active in developing relationships between students and firms. Numerous meetings are organized throughout the year, as was the case with Mawenzi, CGI, Courcelles Conseil, Bain, Circle Strategy, and others in 2023. Once again, it's through actions like these that the school succeeds in building its network within the firms.
See also: How do schools prepare their students for strategy consulting?
Increased recruitment thanks to Covid and the quality of existing consultants
The actions taken by EDHEC already seem to be bearing fruit! Between 2020 and 2022, according to a study carried out by Casecoach and quoted in an article in Les Echos, EDHEC will have considerably increased the number of students working for McKinsey, BCG and Bain.
In particular, the post-Covid relaunch has had a very positive effect on recruitment at EDHEC, with firms broadening their target schools. This has enabled the Northern France-based school to place many more students at firm entry points, which is a real step forward and a positive sign for the school. Previously, EDHEC students joined strategy consulting firms after a first professional experience.
What's more, EDHEC graduates are recognized as being particularly motivated and successful within the firms. Despite the slowdown in recruitment since 2023, if many students joined between 2020 and 2022, and are still here because they are performing well, then it's a safe bet that they will contribute to the recruitment of new consultants from the school once activity returns to normal. In the meantime, EDHEC students will have plenty of time to fine-tune their recruitment skills and become unstoppable.
So who's the big winner?
Suspense... The two schools are neck and neck in this match. As with all business schools, EM Lyon has a slight historical advantage over EDHEC when it comes to strategy consulting! In fact, the Lyon-based school developed in this sector at an earlier stage, and is therefore better represented in consulting firms than EDHEC. More and more firms are recognizing the quality and excellence of EDHEC students, and the Northern France school is fast becoming a key target school in the sector. The students who enter after Covid-19 will enable EDHEC to boost its recruitment in law firms. It's important to remember that recruitment in the strategic consulting sector is cyclical, and that recruitment trends are long-term rather than short-term.
In terms of preparation, EM Lyon is slightly better equipped than EDHEC, thanks in particular to its Career Track and the solidarity between students who share preparation resources. However, EDHEC, with its Strategy Boost Program and Consulting Club, is doing its utmost to improve students' preparation and, of course, to get closer to the firms. These efforts are beginning to pay off, and should continue to do so in the years to come.
In any case, if you want to go into strategy consulting and you don't belong to a target school or haven't followed the classic academic route with preparatory classes, don't worry! Anything, absolutely anything, is possible with a great deal of determination and motivation. If you really want it, you can succeed!
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