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Vault Consulting 50

The Vault Consulting 50 is our signature list of the best consulting firms to work for.
Survey Methodology

When it comes to choosing an employer, there is no question that prestige is important. However, our survey data indicates time and again that many other factors come into play when weighing a choice--and even more affect employee satisfaction in the months and years after the decision has been made.

Did you know that for more than 40% of consulting firm candidates, firm culture was the most important factor in selecting an employer? Other top factors include practice strength and work-life balance, in addition to prestige and compensation.

But choosing an employer is only part of the equation--staying there over a period of time is something else entirely. And while elements like compensation and work-life balance remain important as part of that picture, other factors such as satisfaction and the ability to make career progress also emerge as critical differentiators of top employers--and these factors change over time as generations shift.

We continually monitor responses from the consultants we survey to ensure that our ranking methodology accurately reflects the concerns of the people currently employed in the industry.

In order to properly reflect a company's status as an employer within the consulting industry, the Vault Consulting 50 for 2021 is based on the following weighted formula:

30 percent prestige
15 percent firm culture
15 percent satisfaction
10 percent compensation
10 percent work/life balance
10 percent level of challenge
5 percent overall business outlook
5 percent promotion policies

As ever, our survey is only open to consultants who are currently employed at reputable firms in the industry. When rating quality of life issues, consultants are only permitted to rate their own firm. For prestige and practice area rankings, however, consultants are only allowed to rate competitors, and NOT their own firms.

Take Our Survey

Each year Vault invites eligible consulting firms to participate in our annual Consulting Survey. Please contact us if you’re interested in having your firm considered for inclusion.

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2022 Vault Consulting 50

#1
SCORE 9.249
2021 Rank 1

Bain & Company

Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps the world’s most ambitious change-makers define the future. Across 64 cities   in 39 countries, the firm works alongside clients as one team with a shared ambition to achieve extraordinary...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews
#2
SCORE 9.248
2021 Rank 3

McKinsey & Company

McKinsey & Company is a privately owned management consulting firm. Roundly considered the most prestigious company of its kind, it has achieved a near-universal level of renown, despite a decades-long commitment to confidentiality that...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews
#3
SCORE 9.217
2021 Rank 2

Boston Consulting Group

With 22,000 employees in more than 90 offices in more than 50 countries and regions, Boston Consulting Group ranks as one of America's largest private companies, according to Forbes. The firm partners with leaders  in business and society to...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews Jobs
#4
SCORE 8.140
2021 Rank 12

The Bridgespan Group

Co-founder and managing partner of The Bridgespan Group, Jeffrey L. Bradach left his post at Harvard  Business School’s Organizational Behavior and Social Enterprise Initiative department, where he was a  professor, to start the firm. Bradach is...

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews
#5
SCORE 7.996
2021 Rank 5

EY-Parthenon

EY-Parthenon is a strategy consulting outfit with 6,500+ professionals in 50+ office locations worldwide. EY-Parthenon professionals advise c-suite, business, and organizational leaders across multiple sectors, including consumer, advanced...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews
#6
SCORE 7.992
2021 Rank 4

Booz Allen Hamilton

Edwin G. Booz founded Booz Allen Hamilton in 1914, on the eve of World War I, to help businesses  succeed through an outsider’s perspective and a human touch. Over the past century, Booz Allen  Hamilton has carved its own place in the consulting...

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews
#7
SCORE 7.942
2021 Rank 6

Oliver Wyman

Oliver Wyman is part of the Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC), a global professional services network with brands and affiliates in more than 100 countries. The largest component of Oliver Wyman Group is Oliver Wyman, a management consulting...

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews
#8
SCORE 7.916
2021 Rank 15

Kearney

Kearney has been trusted advisors to the world’s foremost organizations for almost a century and continues to live by the principles established by its founder Andrew Thomas (Tom) Kearney so long ago: “Our success as consultants will depend on...

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews
#9
SCORE 7.834
2021 Not Ranked

L.E.K. Consulting

L.E.K. Consulting is a global strategy consultancy that works with business leaders to seize competitive advantage and amplify growth. The firm’s engagements are targeted interventions that reshape the trajectory of its clients’ businesses. The...

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews Q&As
#10
SCORE 7.729
2021 Rank 10

Putnam

For more than 30 years Putnam operated independently, growing into a premier strategy consulting firm serving biopharmaceutical, biotechnology (cell, gene and tissue therapies), diagnostics, medical device, and related clients in the healthcare...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews