Over the last few years, all three firms have continued to develop, strengthening their expertise and accelerating their sales. In this respect, Roland Berger has even surpassed the billion euro mark in sales by 2023, a year ahead of schedule. Although much smaller than the MBBs, these firms nonetheless manage to differentiate themselves by developing expertise in certain sectors, as in the case of Oliver Wyman, which is very advanced in all areas of financial services. Numerous other advantages have boosted the popularity of these firms in recent years, and are driving more and more students through their recruitment processes.
In this article, find out more about Roland Berger, Oliver Wyman and Kearney, and how to join them to start your career in strategy consulting.
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Generalist firms with their own identity
Roland Berger, Europe's leading strategy consulting firm
Founded in 1967 in Germany, Roland Berger is today Europe's leading strategy consulting firm, with two main centers of activity, Germany and France. The firm has over 50 offices worldwide and more than 2,500 consultants, including 250 in Paris. At the heart of Roland Berger's DNA is the entrepreneurial dimension that has enabled the firm to grow in recent years. The Paris office is a good example of this, with the development of several initiatives in recent years: the creation of a digital hub, an acceleration in the number of private equity assignments that were not necessarily the firm's expertise, and the strengthening of activities in the public sector.
Innovation is an important element at Roland Berger, and in addition to the digital hubs (Paris and Munich), the firm is behind a number of tech and innovation-oriented initiatives, notably RB Tech Ventures and B & Capital. RB Tech Ventures is an offering launched at the heart of the Paris digital hub that functions as an incubator to accelerate the development of entrepreneurial projects, while B & Capital is a customized offering to provide strategic support for investments made by renowned PE funds (Ardian, BPI France, etc.).
Finally, the firm's European identity is also a major asset that sets it apart from its competitors, most of which are American in origin. Strongly developed in Europe, after 2010 the firm began to open up to other regions of the world, notably the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Oliver Wyman, a strategy consulting firm at the heart of an American giant
Oliver Wyman has the unique distinction of being the only publicly listed strategy consulting firm, since it belongs to Marsh & McLennan Companies, a listed US group which manages risk management, insurance and consulting activities. Oliver Wyman currently employs over 5,000 consultants in 60 offices in 31 countries, including 275 in Paris. The firm is a generalist, but recognized for its expertise in financial services, which account for over 50% of its assignments worldwide. In terms of sales, Oliver Wyman has enjoyed double-digit annual growth for several years now, reaching the 3 billion euro mark in sales for the first time in 2023 - a record.
Oliver Wyman's development includes strong international expansion thanks to the support of its parent company, Marsh & McLennan, which has substantial financial resources that enable it to make acquisitions, such as recently in the spring of 2022, when Oliver Wyman bought Booz Allen's Middle East activities.
Oliver Wyman's Paris office, meanwhile, has been in existence since 2007, and is particularly renowned for its activities in financial services. In addition to its industry-wide presence in the private sector, the office is also expanding in the public sector. In 2022, for example, the firm won the 1st lot of the call for tenders organized by the Direction Interministérielle à la Transformation Publique, enabling Oliver Wyman to considerably strengthen its position in this sector.
Kearney, a historic firm that grew out of McKinsey
Kearney was created following a split with McKinsey in 1946. The firm was acquired by EDS (Electronic Data Systems) in 1995, and regained its independence following an MBO in 2005. The firm now has over 4,000 consultants in 60 offices and 40 countries, including 150 consultants and 30 partners in Paris. Like Roland Berger and Oliver Wyman, Kearney is able to intervene in all sectors on just about any subject.
In France, Kearney is a generalist like its competitors, but is recognized for its expertise in operational strategy and PMO assignments. The firm also plays an important role for players in the retail and luxury goods sectors, with prestigious clients such as Pernod-Ricard, Chanel and LVMH.
Read also : All you need to know about strategy consulting salaries
Why join these particular firms?
Each of these three firms has a specificity that you won't find elsewhere, guaranteeing you a unique experience in strategy consulting. When it comes to recruitment, you'll need to take the time to talk to consultants to get a clear idea of why you want to join a particular firm. The idea here is rather to introduce you to a particular feature of each firm.
Roland Berger, tailor-made programs for young talent and women
Roland Berger has worked on the attractiveness of its brand, and in particular developed two excellence and tailor-made programs to attract new talent and women.
Gap Year Program
The first program is designed to attract the best students from business schools, engineering schools and universities, right from their gap year. The firm offers three different year-long experiences:
- 4 months in the Paris office (or your home office) to develop the skills needed to become a consultant
- 4 months in one of the firm's partner start-ups to discover the entrepreneurial world and learn the skills needed to develop new projects
- 4 months in another Roland Berger office abroad to give you an international experience and discover another work culture
The selection process to join this program is very demanding and difficult, but Roland Berger is the only firm to offer such a rich experience. What's more, if you do well, you'll get an offer and have already secured your permanent contract by the end of your gap year.
European Female Talent Program
Roland Berger's second differentiating program is designed to attract more women to the firm. Over a 24-month period, female consultants receive coaching and mentoring from other female consultants in the firm. In addition to this support, the program also offers participating consultants the opportunity to move to two different Roland Berger offices abroad.
Oliver Wyman, subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies
Oliver Wyman's uniqueness lies not so much in what it offers, but in what it is: a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies. As mentioned above, this gives Oliver Wyman a financial advantage, with substantial resources to expand, notably through external growth and the acquisition of other firms. In addition to significant financial resources, Oliver Wyman's parent company offers stability and continuity, which is very important for developing a firm in the strategy consulting market, which remains highly cyclical and sensitive to economic conditions, as demonstrated by the Covid-19 crisis.
Marsh & McLennan also offers Oliver Wyman and its consultants other benefits, including mobility opportunities. It's well known that firms offer internal mobility within the firm, notably through exchanges in foreign offices or during secondships, which are temporary periods of 12 months on average with one of the firm's clients. Oliver Wyman already offers these benefits, but can go even further, by offering mobility opportunities within Marsh & McLennan for its consultants, who can join another Group subsidiary for a period of between 6 and 12 months.
Read also: TOP 5 reasons to join a strategy consulting firm
Kearney, a socially committed firm
Kearney, a long-established strategy consulting firm, stands out from its competitors in particular for its strong commitment to social responsibility, both globally and locally in the Paris office.
Worldwide, Kearney has two flagship initiatives for women:
- The Women's Network to support consultants and create a community within the firm
- TheInternational Women's Day Forum, an annual conference on gender equality organized by Kearney, which brings together various players from the private and public sectors.
In terms of the Paris office, since 2021 the firm has been engaged with La France s'engage in a social innovation mission. The foundation was created in 2017 following a program initiated by François Hollande. As head of the Paris office, Delphine Bourilly is very committed to social causes, and not only, as she has notably developed CSR and environmental topics within the firm.
Recruitment processes at Roland Berger, Oliver Wyman and Kearney
Roland Berger, a classic: an online test and 3 rounds
Roland Berger is very traditional in its recruitment and its process is the same as for most other firms. It takes place in 3 to 4 rounds, with an online test at the beginning.
- Online test: The special feature of the Roland Berger test is that it takes place remotely. The test lasts 1 hour and consists of quantitative and reflective questions, in MCQ format.
- Round 1: If you pass the test, you move on to the 1st round where you will have two 1-hour interviews with fit and a case study each time. At this stage, it's usually consultants and/or managers who interview you.
- Round 2: Same format as round 1, with two 1-hour fit interviews and a case study, the difference being that you'll be interviewed by managers and/or directors. If you're applying for an internship, the recruitment process ends with the 2nd round.
- 3rd round: If you're applying for a permanent contract, you'll have a 3rd round with 1 or 2 interviews once again. Only you'll have Partners as interviewers.
There are no specifics about Roland Berger interviews, but you should bear in mind that (1) the cases are rather analytical, (2) they are interviewee-led, so it's up to you to conduct the interview and make your assumptions, and (3) the interviewers will switch from French to English during the interview, whether it's about the fit or the case, so you need to be prepared.
A closer look at the Gap Year Program recruitment process
For the Gap Year Program, the recruitment process is shorter. It takes place in 3 rounds, with 1 interview per round, as follows:
- 1st round : HR interview
- 2nd round : fit interview + case study with a senior consultant
- 3rd round : interview fit + case study with a manager
The main difficulty in this recruitment process is passing the screening, which is highly selective.
See also : Ranking of strategy consulting firms
Oliver Wyman, a strong international accent with interviews in English
Oliver Wyman is one of the few strategy consulting firms that does not have a test as part of its application process. One of the reasons why there are no tests is that the firm spends a lot of time looking at and screening the applications it receives. In this respect, your application, CV and cover letter must absolutely be written in English, otherwise it will be rejected.
In terms of the recruitment process, you will have an average of 4 interviews over 3 rounds, with at least 2 interviews in English.
- 1st round : 1 x 1-hour interview with fit and case study. The case study in this first round is in English, and sometimes the fit as well. Interviewers are usually senior consultants.
- 2nd round: 2 x 1h interviews with fit and case study. In this second round, at least one interview will be entirely in English. The interviewers will be managers and/or partners if you are applying for an internship.
- Round 3: 1 hour interview with fit and case study. The final round is conducted by a Partner to validate your offer.
Oliver Wyman places a great deal of importance on fit, and you need to be well prepared by talking to the firm's consultants beforehand. You also need to be ready to answer the question: why Oliver Wyman and not an MBB? The firm has a different value proposition from MBBs, and you need to show that you understand this and why it's a better fit for you.
Finally, in terms of case studies, Oliver Wyman's interviews are rather interviewee-led, so again you have to hypothesize and lead the case resolution.
Kearney, an online test and 2 rounds of interviews
Kearney's recruitment process is more traditional and very similar to that of Roland Berger. It consists of an online test and 2 rounds with 1 to 2 interviews per round.
- Online test: The Kearney online test is quite difficult and requires a good deal of preparation. It lasts 1 hour and is divided into 3 parts of 20 minutes each. The first part is numerical, the second is deductive reasoning and the third is inductive reasoning. In this test, wrong answers are penalized, so don't answer at random if you don't know the answer.
- 1st round: The 1st round is directly with managers and you'll have 1 interview if you're applying for an internship and 2 interviews if you're applying for a permanent contract, with a fit and a case study each time.
- Round 2: The 2nd round is with managers and partners. You'll have 2 interviews, each with a fit and a case study.
There's nothing special about the Kearney recruitment process, but be sure to prepare well for the online test. These are generally SHL-type tests, for which you'll find practice tests on the Internet. Finally, the case study is interviewee-led, as for Roland Berger and Oliver Wyman.
See also : How to join a strategy consulting firm
Roland Berger, Oliver Wyman, Kearney, prestigious strategy consulting firms
There's more to strategy consulting than just MBB, and Roland Berger, Oliver Wyman and Kearney have nothing to envy other firms. If you'd like to work for prestigious, international firms, in close-knit, medium-sized teams that encourage development and learning, then these are the firms for you. Each of these firms has its own specificity, whether in its identity, Roland Berger in Europe, or in its activities, Oliver Wyman in Financial Services and now the Public Sector. To join them, you'll need to be well prepared, as recruitment processes are highly selective, as is always the case in strategy consulting.
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