📰 Le Fil | Consultancy: long-term career or simple stepping stone?

Lire l'article original en français dans le magazine Le Fil #5 

Starting their career in a consulting firm is considered to be a “golden ticket” for recent grande école graduates as it allows them to explore various business sectors, grow their skills by learning from experts, rapidly prove their abilities and even enjoy a successful long-term career. But is that really the case? Some answers.

The combined global turnover of consulting firms is estimated to stand at $1 billion - the equivalent of the aeronautics sector.  But, according to Guillaume Carton, Associate Professor of Strategy at emlyon business school: “That’s just a ballpark figure. It’s difficult to narrow down the consulting sector. In the broadest sense, it covers auditing, various kinds of analyses and consultancy work - in strategy, of course, but also in organization, management, HR, development, mergers-acquisitions, cost control, CSR and ESG - or even the implementation of ERP systems, software and AI.  In a nutshell, it encompasses all the external professional services required by business leaders to improve the performance of their company.” Strategic consulting is dominated by the Big Three (aka MBB): McKinsey & Company, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Bain & Co. “McKinsey is present in more than 150 countries, has 3,500 partners and a headcount of 45,000 worldwide,” explains Guillaume Carton. These figures reflect the scale and global outreach of consulting. “There is a clear correlation between the development of a country’s GDP and the amount of business conducted by consulting firms there,” adds Professor Carton.

Huge changes in the past decade

The consulting sector is thriving, boasting average annual growth in excess of ten percent in recent years. But over time the sector has experienced considerable disruption. Consulting firms have acquired specialist AI or design thinking companies and are recruiting new profiles such as data analysts to bolster their services. As Guillaume Carton points out: “The majority of data analysis is now ‘automated’, so consultants need to boost their skills in other areas such as customer relations.” Conventional business models which invoiced ‘man-days’ are now evolving to include solution-based services or consultancy as a subscription. “CSR and ESG are playing an increasingly important role,” underlines Guillaume Carton. A partner of emlyon, Carbone 4, a specialist consulting firm founded in 2007, deals exclusively with decarbonization and adaptation to climate change. The pace and decision-making cycles of companies are decelerating due to political uncertainty and trade conflicts which, in turn, have curbed the growth of consulting. However, sectors such as insurance, infrastructure, healthcare and pharma, tech, mobility and decarbonized energy have proven their resilience. Private Equity has retained a high-profile and the economic context has prompted companies to entrust consulting firms with projects related to cost optimization and growth opportunities. “They have continued hiring staff which is a sign of vitality and they increasingly need to attract and retain young talent,” adds Professor Carton. This is good news for emlyon students who are popular choices for consulting recruiters.

emlyon - a special relationship with consulting firms

Quentin Thivillier has been in charge of employer relations for the school since September 2022. “I manage a team of six, five on the Lyon campus and one in Paris.” Our job is to network with companies of different sizes and in different sectors, both in outside France, to seek opportunities for our students, from Bachelor’s through to Master’s, and provide career guidance.” Quentin and his team organize about sixty events a year as well as talks on different occupations and sectors. “We are in contact with as many as 350 companies.” The consulting industry has been well represented for the past few years. “Consulting firms need large numbers of recent graduates and particularly appreciate our students.” Over and above the quality of the academic courses, consulting recruiters are impressed by the soft skills learnt at emlyon, “in particular innovation, adaptability, agility and customer relations.” Seven of the top consulting firms have concluded partnerships with emlyon (see box). According to Quentin: “Starting out your career in consulting is a virtual guarantee of covering a wide spectrum of assignments, sectors and responsibilities in a demanding but stimulating environment.”  It also means a good starting salary and rapid promotion. What about future prospects? “Experience in a consulting proves you possess qualities which are highly sought after on the job market. It’s a fast track to executive positions.” Ten former emlyon alumni working in top firms have shared their experience providing a valuable source of information and advice for students thinking of joining the sector.

All roads lead to consulting

Lancelot Didillon (PGE22) is a Senior Business Analyst with Kearney. He was attracted to consulting quite early on: “After emlyon, I earned a master’s degree in strategy from HEC Montreal. Then I attended 32 interviews in all with a dozen different consulting firms! Practice in real-world cases at emlyon made all the difference.” Clémence Desrousseaux (PGE22), a Junior Associate at McKinsey, is also a graduate in general engineering from the École Centrale Lyon. “I am very interested in strategic issues related to the energy sector. I thought a couple of years’ experience in consulting would be the ideal springboard for senior positions in this field.” Her dual qualifications meant she was put in charge of a variety of projects: “due diligence, strategy, risk management, transformation etc.” in both industry and the energy business. Alizé-Annie Payen (PGE23) also kept her options open. “I followed preparatory classes in engineering. I also worked as a volunteer for summer universities for tomorrow’s economy for my personal interest.” But it was one particular encounter which prompted her to opt for consulting. “I did an internship at Pixpay, a fintech startup founded by two alumni from Roland Berger. They - and others - inspired me to explore the world of consulting.” Today Alizé-Annie is a Junior Consultant in the company. After graduating in political science, François-Regis Turc (PGE10) joined the cabinet of Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the Health Minister during the Sarkozy presidency. He was obliged to leave “in 2012 at the end of my work-study placement. I had to change jobs, but I wanted to find the same level of excellence and intensity as in government institutions.” Consulting fitted the bill. Today, he is an associate director at BCG. “I didn’t imagine I would have the skills or the disposition to work in consulting,” admits Laure Treffort (PGE18). “And then I said to myself: Why not give it a go? Be a better version of yourself.” Laure joined Wavestone which was “an outsider compared to the leading firms in the market. I’d heard good things from the emlyon alumni who worked there.” In fact, emlyon is the best represented school in the firm.

Consultancy recruiters are impressed by the soft skills learnt at emlyon, “in particular innovation, adaptability, agility and customer relations.”

Choosing the right firm

All the alumni interviewed for this feature agreed that choosing the right firm is vital. Jean-Christophe Pernet (PGE02) is a partner at EY: “I joined the entrepreneurs department in 2002; today, they call it  EY Private. Finance particularly appealed to me. I immediately felt at home working on financial audit and consulting projects with startups, scale ups, mid-sized businesses and listed companies which are not part of France’s top 40.” For Antoine Bianchi (PGE21), a Manager at Bain & Co, the important question to ask yourself is: “Which team will I join, will there be a place for me, will I be able to prove my qualities? To answer that, you need to attend lots of interviews, have a good understanding of the various firms and see if they meet your own aspirations. I really appreciate the quality of the managers at Bain & Co: they are accessible, reassuring and caring. Clemence Desrousseaux agrees: “Don’t take any notice of the rumors that circulate about a firm, follow your intuition during the interviews. I felt a good vibe from all the recruiters at McKinsey and I really enjoyed working with them afterwards.” François-Régis Turc remembers drawing up a “wish list” in 2013: “Assignments with a close-knit team with brilliant and committed colleagues, senior management level challenges, prestigious clients, work abroad to perfect my English as well as... an attractive salary and a job which would further my career prospects.” BCG ticked all the boxes. Lancelot Didillon found the balance he was seeking at Kearney: “a firm with a human touch but with a strong focus on multinationals and top listed companies with CSR rooted in its value proposal.”

When the first assignment sets the tone

Lancelot’s first assignments at Kearney confirmed he had made the right choice. “I participated in launching a drug to fight obesity, setting up a facility for an industrial giant in India and reviewing the HR policy of a top French company. In addition to the fast pace of work, they all shared solution-oriented approach.

Laure Treffort was struck by the people-centric dimension at Wavestone. “The change management projects I was assigned to required a solid understanding of the jobs and teams and involved starting from the existing situation.” She went on to specialize in this area. As the secretary of the social and economic works council, she deals with people-related issues in house, negotiating work organization and wage policy, for example, which are “driven by a great deal of respect for employees.” Alizé-Annie Payen was involved in strategic thinking even at junior level: “Every day, I work with extremely competent people from different backgrounds and with varying interests.” She is also a member of the firm’s culture club “which helps us bond”. Antoine Bianchi is delighted by the roadmap of his first contribution at Bain: “Invent the business model of an airline for 2050 factoring in all the parameters. An exciting journey into the future.” Jean-Christophe Pernet performed a series of assignments related to new technology and has developed a keen interest in the sector, becoming THE specialist at EY: “These fast-moving technologies have been shaking up the economy with their innovations and disruptive models for the past 20 years. You can’t possibly get bored in that context.”

They made a career out of it....

Jean-Christophe Pernet has been a partner at EY since 2016; it was a “carefully prepared” transition “which involved a whole new dimension”: winning new customers, developing managerial skills, contributing to the growth of the firm as well as publishing studies on new technology “including AI, which will oblige us to reinvent ourselves”.

Most of our emlyon alumni have remained loyal to the consultancy ecosystem or wish to do so. François-Régis Turc is now an associate director at BCG and sees no reason to abandon such a glorious ship: “I have a lot of job satisfaction and have continually climbed the career ladder. What more could you ask for?” Clémence Desrousseaux echoes the same feeling: “When I joined McKinsey, I only expected to stay for two years. I am in my third year and don’t feel inclined to leave. I still have so much to learn.” Antoine Bianchi now works with the partners at Bain & Co and is in charge of the team of consultants. He particularly appreciates the autonomy and freedom to organize his time as “Bain trusts its employees as long as they continue to produce results.” Every summer, he and his partner assess their future “with a view to conserving a good life balance; it’s very important to us.” And if he had to make a career change? “I think I might move into Private Equity due to its more operational dimension.” Lancelot Didillon has noticed that many of Kearney’s current partners experienced a boomerang effect: “They left to join the corporate world but returned to consulting, reaping the benefits of this new experience.” He adds with a smile: “They missed the adrenaline!”. Laure Treffort will be leaving Wavestone in Spring 2025 to join the business consulting entity of PwC, as the manager of a team devoted to change management, HR and organizational transformation. “It’s true I was very attached to Wavestone but the CEO Pascal Imbert said to me in essence, when I announced that I was leaving: ‘Think about yourself and your personal satisfaction.’ I thought that was a very noble attitude which really sums up the Wavestone mindset.” Who knows, maybe Laure will return to surf the Wave again.

"Boost your ability to work in a team. It’s a practice encouraged by emlyon and it’s a key quality if you want to progress in our world."

Some advice for students

What is the final piece of advice you would give emlyon students? “Develop your ability to work in a team. It’s a practice encouraged by emlyon and it’s a key quality if you want to progress in our world,” says Jean-Christophe Pernet who happens to be the EY emlyon campus partner and runs the EY emlyon alumni community. 

“Don’t be retiring or lukewarm if you join BCG,” warns François-Regis Turc. “Ask questions, make use of the network, resources and tools but give your best right from the start. Counting on more experienced employees does not mean relying totally on them.” Alizé-Annie Payen has some advice for female students: “Consultancy jobs are open to you so go for it!” She claims she has grown “by mixing with talented and inspiring people”. Clémence Desrousseaux has the last word which is an invitation: “Firms are also increasingly looking for experienced candidates with specialist knowledge of a particular job or sector” So, a word to the wise for our alumni, it is never too late to come on board.

Guillaume Carton

emlyon business school

Quentin Thivillier 

emlyon business school

Lancelot Didillon (PGE22) 

Kearney

Clémence Desrousseaux (PGE22)

McKinsey

Alizé-Annie Payen (PGE23) 

Roland Berger

François-Regis Turc (PGE10)

BCG

Laure Treffort (PGE18) 

Stratégie& (PwC)

Jean-Christophe Pernet (PGE02)

EY

Antoine Bianchi (PGE21)

Bain & Co

Lire l'article original en français dans le magazine Le Fil #5