| The consulting world has changed dramatically over | | | | freelance associates it has also been possible for |
| the last 20 years and with it have the career options | | | | these firms to pin-point their staffing so that they get a |
| open to the best consultants. | | | | sector or skills expert on their team as required. |
| In the 1980s and early 1990s, the brightest consultants | | | | Outside of consulting, the business area to be most |
| joined one of a handful of elite strategy firms. They | | | | favourable to the brightest consultants was |
| stayed loyal to the firm, were sponsored to do an | | | | private-equity. Many of the largest private equity firms |
| MBA at an Ivy league business school, and if they | | | | which had begun life as funding business startups, |
| stuck at it and made the grade, they would be | | | | switched to performing major management buy-outs |
| rewarded handsomely by being promoted to Partner. | | | | where they could achieve much more predictable |
| Then in the late 1990s, dotcom mania struck. Many of | | | | revenue streams. With such low interest rates, and so |
| the best consultants failed to return after their MBA or | | | | many European business crying out for restructuring, |
| left the firm to join hi-tech start-ups, hoping to build and | | | | money poured into buy-out funds. One of the key |
| float companies with new paradigm business models. | | | | reasons why businesses were taken private was to |
| The most memorable example in the UK was the | | | | undertake the complicated corporate surgery by |
| founding of the travel company, Famously, Brent | | | | industry experts, which might not be understood or |
| Hoberman was a Senior Associate at Spectrum | | | | welcomed by a broad shareholder base. |
| Strategy when he met Martha Lane Fox and jointly | | | | To make post-acquisition improvements private equity |
| founded in 1998. | | | | firms need strategy consultants' analytical rigour |
| With the crashing of the internet bubble from 2000 and | | | | combined with operational and sector experience. As |
| with the consulting downturn in mainstream corporate | | | | well as relying on trusted consulting firms to assess |
| consulting lasting until 2004, consultants faced difficult | | | | deals and create strategies, they have looked for key |
| career choices. Many consultants decided that with so | | | | individuals who they can work with over a long period |
| little real job security in consulting they were better off | | | | to deliver tangible business performance |
| eschewing the traditional consulting career ladder and | | | | improvements. Consulting companies with their linear |
| working as freelance associates. This gave them | | | | structure, low level of operational experience, and |
| life-work flexibility as well as the ability to focus on | | | | requirement to sell big-teams, often are not suited to |
| areas of consulting that they were genuinely interested | | | | the implementation needs of the private equity world. |
| in. It also enabled them to gain valuable | | | | Hence the need for skilled associate staff who have |
| line-management experience to complement their | | | | the management consultant s training and the business |
| consulting skills. | | | | executives experience. |
| Many of the top consulting firms de-risked their | | | | With the consulting market picking up from 2004, many |
| business by increasing the proportion of associate | | | | consulting firms have been re-hiring aggressively. |
| staff to permanent staff. They found that with so | | | | However for many of the brightest consultants today, |
| many good consultants on the bench , it was possible | | | | the choice is not which firm to join but whether to join |
| to supplement their permanent consulting resources as | | | | a firm or to work an associate basis. |
| required to meet demand surges. With a large pool of | | | | |