Vault’s Verdict

Insiders at L.E.K. Consulting’s offices in Asia laud their firm’s vibrant culture, characterized by smart, low-ego staff and leadership, with an open-door policy. They also appreciate how the firm guarantees that they can leave the office by six on Fridays and rarely asks them to work weekends.

L.E.K. also offers attractive career development and compensation plans. Insiders say that it’s possible to advance relatively quickly through the organization for high performers, with the support of robust training and mentorship. They also say that the firm pays much more than its local competitors. However, some L.E.K. consultants do warn that they get less client exposures than their peers at other firms early on in their careers.

As the Asia Pacific region rebounds from a couple of difficult years of economic headwinds, insiders say that L.E.K.’s business outlook is positive. All in all, this is an excellent firm to consider if you’re looking to build a generalist consulting career in the Asia Pacific market. 

Firm Culture

“We have an open-door culture that promotes having open conversations about career development and interests with the senior managers and partners. The firm has provided me opportunities to work in sectors I’m interested in.”

“The firm's culture and people are the two reasons I’m staying here for a long time. Everyone is cordial and helpful.”

“The firm is truly global and is still able to maintain a home office feel.”

“L.E.K. attracts people who don't have an ego, are interesting, and are highly motivated.”

Quality of Life

“We have an out-by-six policy on Fridays and normally are not required to work weekends.”

“The firm offers travel incentives to ensure it renumerates staff for late-night commutes. The firm also offers compensatory time off for when employees work late to ensure they get sufficient rest. However, the firm can improve its PTO policies. Some managers ask you to push out leave, making it difficult for entry-level associates to take time off.”

“The hours are good. L.E.K. does a great job at protecting weekends and limiting late nights. I generally do not consistently work past 10 p.m. One downside is that L.E.K. has fewer client-facing opportunities for junior employees than other firms. Also, because we do less work at client offices, it means we have less opportunities to meet clients at a junior level.”

“Due to the smaller size of our office, our cycle of work is very boom-or-bust, with some very difficult periods. Also, we have tried to streamline some processes through regional integration, but this has resulted in a more complex bureaucracy.”

Career Development

“L.E.K. has a very transparent promotion policy, and it takes employee development very seriously. There is a lot of formal training, direct mentorship, and a relatively large swap program to enable a global talent exchange between offices within the firm. For example, a San Francisco—based consultant can work in Tokyo for six months.”

“L.E.K. has the standard induction training for all new hires, which runs over approximately two weeks. It also has a full day of training on the last Friday of every month to continue our formal learning. Additionally, everyone has both a buddy, who is someone one or two years senior to them, and a career coach for informal training and mentoring.”

“The firm is very strong at junior career development with ample training and opportunities to move around the firm within the SWAP program, which lets you do a six-month international transfer. However, some aspects of SWAP can be counterproductive as it is too formal and is set for six months specifically. This can limit people's ability to freely move within the company if they want to work for a non-standard amount of time outside of their home office or move to another office entirely.”

“L.E.K. offers good training and learning opportunities that help associates understand the industry at a grassroots level. The firm gives associates meaningful autonomy to work with proper guidance. The firm also offers good mentorship, with all senior leaders being willing to help you understand and learn.”

Compensation

“The firm offers a highly competitive package, better than most firms in the market. They offer high base pay and other benefits such as medical insurance. However, salary progression is quite slow compared to other firms.”

“The career progression for the first year is a bit slower than other firms. For example, you can receive a raise in 10 months at other firms, while here it’s 15 months.”

“The insurance is great, and compensation is transparent across the board. The renumeration review has a high sense of integrity and intentionality.”

“Compared to the work we do, the pay is low. While I understand it’s a high salary, it has not moved for several years. However, the health and wellness budget is great, as is the profit share program.”

Community Engagement/DEI

“L.E.K. is a global firm and has both firm-wide and local initiatives to foster a sense of belonging. Two examples are women@lek and parents@lek.”

“The firm’s leadership does overindex in certain demographic groups, as do all consulting firms. However, leadership is making visible efforts to build future generations that are more representative and inclusive of the markets and talent pools in which the firm operates.”

“The firm strives to create a firm-wide inclusive culture, but at the same time it understands that inclusivity means respecting the diverse range of cultures, ethnicities, and nationalities that are part of the team.”

“The firm regularly organizes health and wellness activities to ensure employees’ physical and mental wellbeing. It offers gym membership reimbursement and mental health app membership. It also partners with therapy providers, organizes regular checkup camps and yoga sessions, and stress buster activities like pottery and baking workshops.”

Business Outlook

“The firm is ambitious, yet quite deliberate in its investments and thinking. It has a long-term focus and is refreshingly hype resistant. It believes in providing value, not soundbites, to clients.”

“The firm is differentiated in the industry and has a large number of proposal requests and sticky clients, with good employee morale. However, the firm’s regionalization—which mixes three different geographies into a business unit—means that some offices are dragged down by lower-performing groups, which is bad for morale.”

“Sales are doing well. It seems as if L.E.K. is growing, but the growth seems to be primarily in traditionally strong sectors without diversification, which leave us exposed to two main industries.”

“The firm is trying to expand its client portfolio, which ensures that associates get the experience of working on projects across multiple industries.”

Hiring Process

“The firm has a structured interview process, typically consisting of a fit round and a case interview round.”

“The firm has a structured there-round interview process, involving multiple case study rounds. The interviewers are highly interactive and engaging, so they don’t create a stressful interview experience. They focus more on understanding the candidate and their skills, gauging whether they’d be a good fit for the organization.

“The ideal candidate must embody the firm’s culture. You should have high integrity, be a team player because we win and lose as a firm. Cutthroat and win-at-all-costs mentalities are not welcome. Candidates from other firms who we find have promoted toxic cultures are disqualified, regardless of their skillsets.”

“The company is looking for people who are motivated, smart, and a good cultural fit.”

Interview Questions

“Expect to see classic market sizing and segmentation cases.”

“Common interview questions involve market sizing, guesstimation, and testing interviewees’ knowledge of the firm.”

“Your client is a community school in Malaysia, and they want to open another school, also in Malaysia. Analyze whether it would be profitable for the client to enter the market. Your client is a truck manufacturing company, and they have been facing a decline in profits. Analyze the reasons for their decline.”

“How many elephants are there in the world?”

Uppers

“Great people, interesting projects, and high professional growth potential.”

“The firm offers good learning and mentorship opportunities. The firm employees and leadership team are highly approachable and ensure a positive working environment.”

“The career, the people, and the compensation.”

“The work-life balance on most days.”

Downers

“Low predictability of working hours.”

“The firm can improve its promotion policy to more accurately recognize employees’ efforts.”

“Our offices are based in tier-one cities with high costs of living.”

“The work can become a bit repetitive.”