Vault’s Verdict

Year after year, Strategy& consultants paint a consistent picture of their firm in our survey. Great opportunities with some of the biggest names in business? Check. Good compensation packages? Check. Thoughtful work-life balance initiatives, flexible working arrangements, and lots of learning and career progress opportunities? Check, check, and check.

In short, there’s very little reason not to give Strategy& a close look as part of your career search. Sure, the firm’s scale can be a little overwhelming for some, but it also opens up opportunities for international exposure and cross-industry work.

If there is a true drawback, it’s something that lies beyond the control of anyone except the very top execs at PwC: compliance requirements that, at best, slow processes and, at worst, prevent the advisory team from taking on specific clients.

That aside, this is a firm with a truly global footprint and both the resources and ability to equip consultants for success within and beyond its walls. For those seeking a mix of high-quality work opportunities with a structured path for career growth, there are few better options out there.

Employee Reviews

Firm Culture

• “An extremely diverse exposure to experiences and different projects across the MEA region.”
• “Focus on practical strategy. The firm does not believe in leaving ‘studies’ with clients. With the access to the PwC network, the firm is able to truly differentiate its strategy offering by complementing it with implementation capabilities.”
• “High flexibility in choosing your individual path and trying out industries/topics that you have never worked on before (partners won’t block you just because you have no expertise in the area).”
• “Strong cohesive community of strategists bringing lasting change.”
• “This firm offers unique culture. The assessment system and promotion system foster friendly behavior between colleagues. We are working together with our clients to make a difference and to reimagine the possible. We act with integrity and we care.”

Quality of Life

• “All kinds of measures have been implemented to promote and assure work-life balance and cater for different staff needs.”
• “Hours could be more reasonable and balanced. That being said, team dynamics and flexibility always maintains motivation and encouragement.”
• “Oftentimes hybrid working mode with flexibility for the team to decide how much they want to travel/co-locate, WLB is actively monitored in weekly surveys and is a performance indicator for Partners and Directors.”
• “The best aspect of the firm’s quality of life is its flexible working arrangements, whereby teams may sometimes work from home or get a couple of days’ leave following a few days with a heavy workload. The worst aspect is its work-life balance, as teams may see many 70+ hour work weeks.”
• “The firm is taking visible steps to enhance the work life balance through project contracts, bi-weekly anonymous surveys/ feedback, extracurricular activities. However, depending on the project, work hours could be intense. Time off is fairly easy, when aligned in advance with the team.”

Career Development

• “Annual appraisal process seeks to be comprehensive and unbiased but requires a heavy lift (could be enhanced with more enforced 360 project/job feedback documentation). Diversity remains a challenge (challenging to hire non-native speakers due to heavily localized projects and staffing) and senior female leaders remain few and far between.”
• “Best: very transparent, extensive, and open process for promotions / yearly evaluation. Worst: International transfer is difficult, international projects limited.”
• “Generally, our firm is very clear regarding appraisals. We follow a well-defined timeline. Also, MBA sponsorships are available.”
• “The best aspects of the firm’s career development opportunities are the autonomy that the firm offers, and the entrepreneurial mindset that the firm promotes. The worst aspect is the lack of a unified international training curriculum.”
• “Very equitable (merit-based) promotion processes (360-degree feedback). Diversity is reflected across all cohorts, and continuous push to improve it and reward it.”

Compensation

• “Best: pay equality across a certain level regardless of demographic, housing allowance within home office (Beirut) which is great, generous bonuses and generous expense policy. Worst: Nothing really, very happy with my compensation.”
• “I believe the firm’s compensation package is among the top in the region.”
• “Salary feels fair and competitive (for hours worked vs MBB). Opportunity to convert portion of bonus for additional leave days is nice. In Germany, more financial support for parents would be nice (esp. with the government rollback of parental subsidies).”
• “The best aspect of the compensation package is the combination of a fixed and variable component, incentivizing better performance. Shorter tenure at the firm does not allow me to comment on the worst aspects of compensation.”
• “There is a fairly transparent salary ladder for every grade. Raises resulting from progression within a given employment level (associate 1 -> associate 2) are satisfactory; raises related to promotion are similar and could be higher (associate -> senior associate).”

Community Engagement

• “Diversity and inclusion is an important theme at our firm, especially when it comes to women. However, diversity with regard to ethnicities and LGBTQ+ is limited, likely due to the region’s culture. I believe that the inclusion of individuals with disabilities is something that needs a lot of improvement, given that there are no cultural/ political obstacles.”
• “Have not seen any problems within this matter. Polish labor market is generally not very ethnically diverse, so assessing these activities is not easy. Women’s representation here and in other consulting firms has increased significantly over the last few years.”
• “Regardless of demographic, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, the firm’s promotion system is very meritocratic—based on performance only.”
• “The firm offers equal opportunities to all consultants regardless of race, religion, creed, gender, etc.”
• “Zero tolerance for discrimination, many diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, trainings and policies cascaded to all employees, we have a diversity champion on every appraisal committee.”

Business Outlook

• “I believe the firm is very well positioned in the region. It enjoys an outstanding reputation, our clients trust our capabilities and appreciate our value-add constantly, and the business pipeline is very healthy.”
• “Strong efforts to increase presence in not yet covered businesses via the publication of articles, hiring new experts and conducting studies.”
• “The best aspect of the firm’s outlook is that it is constantly forward-looking, dedicating departments to foresight, benchmarking, analyzing industry activity, etc.”

Hiring Process

• “Excellent process, very personal. …“
• “Quick and efficient process. Ideal Candidate Profile: analytical proficiency, cultural fit, problem solving, team player, adaptability, out-of-the-box thinking, communication skills.”
• “The firm is seeking entrepreneurial, collaborative, and motivated individuals. Candidates get callbacks from Partners informing them of the outcome of the interviews.”
• “The interview process consisted of 2 case interviews in round 1, conducted by 2 partners. The call back was fairly quick, within a week or so. The final round had 2 case interviews with 2 partners. The final decision was also communicated within a week or so.”
• “Very quick response rate, as acknowledged by recruits on online platforms with first call to clarify next steps, then interviews with case studies and then offer to join.”

Interview Questions

• “Digital use cases for specific client challenges. Decision making using qualitative and quantitative analysis.”
• “Estimation questions, and other general business case questions.”
• “Quick counting task, logic puzzles, information memorization games. Oral interview in English to random questions and two short summaries. Behavioral interview and market sizing task.”
• “The firm follows an interviewee-led case approach with case studies that are similar to those offered by other tier 1 consulting peers.”
• “Your client is an independent cargo handler, facing competition from airlines that are recruiting their own ground handling staff. How can you raise revenue?”