Booz & Company

Approaching its centennial, Booz & Co has grown into a titan of international consulting. Recently separating from parent company Booz Allen Hamilton, it is now owned and operated as a partnership. Booz Allen Hamilton now undertakes all of the consulting work with the U.S. Government, enabling Booz & Co to work with international governments, and take on all the commercial consulting for companies and organisations. Headquartered in New York, Booz & Co employs around 3,300 personnel across 59 offices in 34 countries.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a masters in psychology from Northwestern University, Edwin Booz set to work developing his own theory. He postulated that even flourishing companies could be more successful given the benefit of an expert outsider’s impartial advice; in doing so he fathered a new profession – management consulting. In 1919, Edwin founded the company that would bear his name, and it didn’t take long for Booz to make a splash, with eminent early clients including Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Chicago's Union Stockyards and Transit Company, and the Canadian & Pacific Railroad. In 1917 the eponymous founder left to serve his country in World War I, but returned stronger than ever with freshly made ties to the Federal Government and public sector.

During the 1950s, Booz & Co began to establish an international presence, working on a contract in the Philippines and opening its first foreign outpost in Zurich in 1957. By the end of the decade, the firm was described by Times Magazine as "the world's largest, most prestigious management consulting firm". During the ‘80s, Booz & Co began investing in Europe – particularly in Germany, Austria and Switzerland – before stretching to the Middle East and Asia during the 1990s. Before the turn of the century, the firm bought Carta Corporate Advisors AB, Scandinavia’s leading consultancy, and in doing so acquired offices in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark.

Describing its approach as “strategy-based transformation”, Booz & Co helps its clients to develop solutions to fundamental changes within their company or industry. Booz & Co integrates members of client staff into the consulting team, bringing greater client involvement and a balance of inside knowledge and impartial expert perspective.

Booz & Co’s clients predominantly hail from the upper echelons of the international corporate and public sectors. The firm offers its clients services in strategy, organisation, operations strategy, information technology strategy and technology.

Practice numerical tests and verbal tests used by actual employers.

Recruiting from the usual swath of top European business schools, Booz & Company can afford to be picky. As with any market leader, successfully making it through the entire process is no walk in the park, though those that both impress and endure talk glowingly about their experience. The hiring process can vary in length, although on the whole it seems to be broken into two rounds, with two or three interviews in each. Expect case studies in all interviews, and be prepared to display ambition and experience whilst getting your personality across. Note: make sure you do your best to get on with every interviewer – each one has a veto!

Secure a position on Booz & Company’s internship programme and you won’t be getting an easy ride. Interns receive the same experience as full-time employees, being required to perform complex analysis, outcome pages and slide decks, and even present to clients. Once again though, consultants revel in this exposure, and willingly eulogise about their experience with little prompting.
 

Stats

No. of Employees: 3,300

Salary

Junior Analyst: Competitive
Senior Analyst: Competitive
Consultant: £33,000 - £37,000 (Approx.)
Associate: £50,000 - £90,000 (Approx.)

Departments

Consumer Goods & Retail
Defence
Energy, Utilities & Chemicals
Financial Services
Government
Private Equity
Telecommunications
Transportation
Home Team
General Consulting Pool
Home Team
Strategy
Consulting