Every year, top business and engineering schools place a large number of their students with strategy consulting firms. This is partly thanks to the partnerships forged by government departments and Consulting Clubs. The latter play an important role in the landscape of the strategy consulting sector within schools. Although well established in the culture of Anglo-Saxon countries, Consulting Clubs are still a recent phenomenon in France. For students, they enable them to learn more about the consulting profession and the different firms, as well as to forge links with a view to applying for a job. For the firms, Consulting Clubs are used as a communications and marketing channel to promote themselves and attract top talent. In schools where Consulting Clubs don't exist, it's up to the administration to make the link between students and firms.
In this article, find out how schools prepare their students for the recruitment processes of strategy consulting firms.
Decoding the win-win relationship between schools and strategy consulting firms
Through partnerships between the administration, Consulting Clubs and firms, students from the target schools have a privileged relationship with the strategy consulting sector.
In practical terms, Consulting Clubs are student associations whose aim is to introduce students to the world of strategy consulting. They also aim to help students prepare for and succeed in interviews with strategy consulting firms, by organizing dedicated sessions or mock interviews. Like the administration, the Consulting Clubs are a key link between the firms and the students, organizing meetings between the two throughout the year. These privileged relationships offer advantages to both students and firms.
Read also: 10 things you need to know before applying for a job in Strategy Consulting
Top 5 benefits of school-business relationships for students
Consulting Clubs and school administrations put forward initiatives designed primarily for students, with two main objectives in mind.
- Raise the profile of strategy consulting so that as many students as possible apply to our firms.
- Prepare students for the recruitment process, so that as many students as possible join a firm as interns or on leaving school.
Numerous initiatives have therefore been put in place to strengthen the relationship between schools and companies, offering benefits to students.
- Workshops: For example, "Case competitions" (case study tournaments) or "Case classes" during which students work with real consultants on real-life issues.
- Networking : bring student candidates together to identify training partners and help each other prepare, as well as to get in touch with existing consultants. This is a key element in obtaining information about the firm, which will be very useful to the candidate in developing his or her motivation to join the firm during the fit part of the interview. If the feeling is right, the consultant may also recommend the student when applying for a job.
- Preparing for interviews: To succeed in strategy consulting interviews, preparation and practice are key. Being in contact with the firms gives you access to invaluable knowledge for effective preparation, and enables you to organize mock interviews for success.
- Representing the profession in schools: Promoting the consulting profession to students. For a school to become or remain a target for a strategy consulting firm, it has to have a lot of students applying. Mathematically, the more students who apply, the more likely it is that students will join the firm. Consulting Clubs and schools therefore have a vested interest in representing and promoting the profession to increase the number of students interested in strategy consulting.
- Put yourself in a consultant's shoes: Consulting firms and clubs also give students the opportunity to gain practical experience. Schools often teach fairly general knowledge that doesn't prepare students for the strategy consulting profession in particular. Students often have theoretical knowledge, but not necessarily a practical understanding of the business. In this sense, having a good relationship between firms and schools is a plus for students, enabling them to fully understand the challenges of the profession and the sector.
See also : How to join a strategy consulting firm
The 5 main advantages of school-cabinet relationships for firms
The war for talent continues to intensify as firms seek to stand out from the crowd in order to recruit the best profiles. In this respect, forging relationships with Consulting Clubs and schools is a highly effective way of showing off to students and developing one's employer brand. Most firms are very keen on these partnerships, which bring them a number of advantages, including notoriety, promotion of their profession and communication support.
- Increased visibility: By collaborating, strategy consulting firms raise their profile among students. The events organized by these clubs, such as presentations, workshops and meetings, offer firms the opportunity to promote themselves and their culture.
- Access to a talent pool: Organized events are often made up of bright, ambitious students from a variety of disciplines. What's more, firms are able to select the school's best profiles for participation on the basis of applications. Working in collaboration gives firms access to a pool of promising talent that they can recruit for internships or upon graduation.
- Targeted student training: Consulting Clubs and certain school programs often play an active role in preparing students for interviews with consulting firms. By working together, firms can positively influence student training, by providing specific advice, feedback and information on the firm's expectations. Once again, consultancies can select the best profiles for their requirements from the applications received, and thus achieve a truly targeted training of their students.
- Set up partnerships: Consulting Clubs and schools frequently organize events such as conferences, case study preparation sessions and competitions. Firms can take advantage of these opportunities to get directly involved, by leading sessions, proposing real-life case studies or organizing competitions. This strengthens the relationship with students and provides an opportunity to present the firm's activities in greater depth.
- Simplified recruitment: By working closely with Consulting Clubs and schools, Strategy Consulting firms can simplify their recruitment process. Clubs can act as efficient intermediaries, helping to shortlist qualified candidates, organizing recruitment sessions and facilitating communication between the firm and interested students.
See also: What is strategy consulting?
Business schools: Consulting Clubs and other initiatives at HEC, ESSEC, ESCP...
Most target business schools have Consulting Clubs, and we'd like to take a look at some of them and their key initiatives.
HEC: a long-standing relationship with law firms and an X-HEC Duo-Conseil club
France's top business school had its own Consulting Club until 2021, but now shares it with X as part of its joint student consultancy with Polytechnique. You can find out more about Duo-Conseil X-HEC in the section on engineering schools. The school also has a number of direct partnerships with leading strategy consulting firms. HEC also offers a Master in Strategic Management program, which includes preparation for strategic consulting interviews and contacts with firms. The Master is open to students in their final year of the Grande École program and to other students who already have a BAC +5, generally engineers.
ESSEC Consulting Club: a very active association on the Cergy campus
The ESSEC Consulting Club (ECC) is a student association whose aim is to raise the profile of strategy consulting firms at ESSEC and help the school's students prepare for and succeed in their interviews.
ESSEC CASE CLASS '23, the ECC's flagship program, is an intensive 6-session program spread over 8 weeks, during which a group of ESSEC students attend 6 Case Classes hosted by 6 different strategy consulting firms. There is a two-week break to allow for mid-term exams. Reserved for 40 students, this event brings together the following firms: Oliver Wyman, Accenture, Kéa, BCG, Bain, McKinsey.
ESCP: an Italian consulting club and long-standing relationships in Paris
The Paris-based school doesn't have a consulting club in Paris, but...in Turin, where it has a campus. Historically, strategy consulting firms in the Paris area have partnered with the school for workshops and networking events. Prior to covid-19, ESCP had an association, ACE Consulting, which functioned as a Consulting Club, but no longer appears to be active. In addition to the associations, ESCP also offers an MSc in Strategy, Consulting and Organization, but this is not currently highly regarded by strategy consulting firms.
EM Lyon: a Career Track of excellence repeated every year to prepare students
The Lyon-based school is unique in the world of Consulting Clubs and relationships with strategy consulting firms. Historically reserved for students from Parisian schools, strategy consulting firms have gradually opened their doors to EM Lyon, thanks to our students' thorough preparation for the recruitment process. For several years now, EM Lyon has been riding this wave to place even more students with firms, thanks in particular to its Strategy Consulting Career Track, managed by the administration and not by an association.
Career Track is a program designed to prepare you for recruitment interviews with strategy consulting firms. It is organized every year between January and March, and consists of methodological preparation workshops and meetings with strategy consulting firms. Current graduates and HR staff from the firms come to the Écully campus to share their experience, coach students in case studies, and conduct interviews.
Firms taking part in the track in 2024: McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Roland Berger, Oliver Wyman, Kearney, Advancy, EY-Parthenon, Monitor Deloitte, Kéa, Circle Strategy.
EDHEC Consulting Club: a fast-growing student initiative a fast-growing student initiative
Founded in 2016, EDHEC Consulting Club is an association dedicated to raising awareness among EDHEC students of the world of consulting and its career opportunities.
The EDHEC Consulting Club is a particularly active association, certainly the most active among the other business schools. The main reason is that EDHEC is not historically a target school, but the quality of its teaching and the recognition of the excellent level of its students have naturally made it a new contender. EDHEC students are increasingly compatible strategy consultants and should gradually begin to fill the ranks of law firms over the next few years.
The association organizes numerous meetings between students and firms, and looks back on the main events of 2023.
- Kearney: Cocktail party at Kearney's Paris offices for M2 students.
- CMI: Strategic due diligence competition with CMI at EDHEC. As a reward for the winners, a coaching session by CMI consultants to prepare for the interviews.
- Bain & Company: Presentation of the firm and networking cocktail at EDHEC with consultants and alumni. As a bonus, the shortlisted students were treated to a crase-cacking activity coached by Bain consultants.
- Monitor Deloitte: Presentation of the firm and resolution of a case study on the EDHEC premises with Monitor Deloitte consultants.
See also: Passing the strategic consulting case study test
Engineering schools: two Consulting Clubs at Centrale Supélec and Les Ponts
Business schools are not the only ones to have relationships with strategy consulting firms, and engineering schools too, but to a lesser extent. Only Centrale Supélec and Les Ponts have a Consulting Club. In the case of Polytechnique and Les Mines, there are direct relationships with firms to organize networking events. Unlike business schools, the consulting associations of these two schools are linked to finance.
Duo-Conseil X-HEC: the student consultancy that's part JE, part consulting club
Founded in 1996, Duo Conseil X-HEC is a student consultancy bringing together 40 students from the École Polytechnique and HEC Paris. We provide solutions to a wide range of business issues, thanks to our skills offered by these two schools. This enables us to provide them with multi-faceted points of view of the utmost rigor. rigor. Duo Conseil X - HEC is thus the only only Junior Conseil combining the skills of a business school with those of an engineering school.
Unique among junior companies and consulting clubs, Duo-Conseil also enables HEC and X students to forge privileged links with strategy consulting firms. Regular meetings are organized for networking, case study training and firm presentations. Duo-Conseil's partners include McKinsey, Oliver Wyman, Bain & Company, Roland Berger and LEK.
Centrale Supélec Finance & Consulting: a student initiative combining finance and consulting
CentraleSupélec Finance brings together around twenty CentraleSupélec students to promote careers in finance and consulting. Throughout the year, we bring together student-engineers and companies through campus-wide events such as conferences, training workshops and forums.
Centrale Supélec Finance & Consulting is mainly dedicated to finance professions, particularly investment banking, and offers Centrale students the chance to meet leading strategy consulting firms such as McKinsey, BCG and Bain.
Ponts Capital Management: well-established relationships with top firms
PCM is the Ecole des Ponts ParisTech association dedicated to finance and consulting. We organize events on campus to share information and promote careers in these fields. On a regular basis, the association invites consulting and finance firms to conferences, where professionals share their experience and give an insight into their profession.
As with Centrale, the Ponts association, PCM, is more active in finance than in consulting. Nevertheless, every year it organizes meetings with strategy consulting firms on the school's premises or directly in the firms' offices.
School-cabinet relationships are very important for both parties
In short, all the schools targeted by strategy consulting firms have strong relationships with these firms. It should be pointed out that for schools that are less represented in the firms, the relationships are all the more important and sometimes all the more developed, as is the case at EM Lyon. Being part of a Consulting Club is usually very relevant. On the candidate side, they'll do everything they can to help you get ahead by organizing events that will enhance your practical knowledge. They'll also provide a place for candidates to help each other find resources and partners with whom to train. On the firm side, just like direct relationships with schools, these partnerships are a guarantee of quality and a real relay for communication. So, in most cases, for both students and firms, school-cabinet relationships are a win-win situation.
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