Last week was our annual recruiters' event in London, where we presented the latest recruitment trends to a packed house of management consultancy recruiters. The various findings (bonuses, pay rises, retention rates, candidate acquisition channels, etc.) will be reported in our newsletter over the coming month. But for now - for all those thinking of looking for a new career in consulting - I wanted to share with you just what a buoyant market this now is!Based on data submitted by all the top consulting firms, we were able to calculate that to achieve revenue growth targets for the year, firms would need to hire the equivalent of 24% of their existing headcount over the coming 12 months. That's a phenomenal level of recruitment activity - and bodes well for anyone who's job-hunting in the next months.
As the chart shows, 18% revenue growth is expected in 2007 - a repeat of the growth seen in 2006. 7% of this revenue growth could come from an inflation of fee rates, but the rest needs to come from billing more days of consulting. With the top firms acknowledging they have no spare capacity at present, the rest of this growth (11%) has to come from bringing in new hires. Add to this the expected 13% staff churn rate for 2007 (up from 10.3% in the last year) and you have the 24% growth rate confirmed.
Exciting times for all you consulting candidates!
;-)
Tony
In recent weeks there've been many forum threads on Top-Consultant.com, discussing the relative merits of using a recruitment agency - or avoiding them altogether. There've also been some comments about the most - and least - professional agencies out there.
Our annual reader survey has just been launched and gives you the chance to find out how consulting candidates are currently looking for a job; which channels and providers they recommend other readers should use; what the general recruitment market conditions are likely to look like in the coming months - and much much more.
It takes just a couple of minutes to share your thoughts - and your views would be highly appreciated! Every contributor will receive a copy of the full PDF report, so to take part simply click here now.
For those anxious to progress their job search ASAP, it may be helpful to know that the two recruitment agencies our readers have voted for most highly in the past are BLT and Prism.
Happy job hunting and thank you for taking part in this year's survey.
Tony
A short post to confirm that the careers fair recordings are now live - full length videos of all the presentations given by:
o Accenture
o Atkins Management Consultants
o Atos Consulting
o BearingPoint
o BT Global Consulting
o Celerant Consulting
o EDS Consulting Services
o Ernst & Young
o Hedra Plc
o KPMG
o Management Consultancies Association
o PA Consulting Group
o TATA Consultancy Services
To view these simply go to:
http://www.top-consultant.com/career_fair2006/contents.asp
Happy viewing! Tony
A great big THANK YOU to everyone - consulting firms and readers alike - who made this year's Consultancy Careers Fair such a huge success.
I've just seen the video recordings of the presentations given by many of the top consulting brands on the day - many provide fantastic insights into what it would be like to work at that particular firm. These will all be available to watch on Top-Consultant.com within the next week and I hope they will really help you to make the right decision about your next consulting employer.
In the meantime, my colleagues have loaded up a photo album that gives a great impression of the scale and reach of the Consultancy Careers Fair. If you missed this year's event do take a look here...
Will have those videos ready for you to watch ASAP.
Tony
Following hot on the heels of last week's Consultancy Careers Fair, I wanted to take a few minutes to record my thoughts on the direction the management consultancy sector is headed, particularly as regards recruitment.To listen to this 5 minute snapshot, simply turn up the volume on your computer and press the play button below.
Related link: Revealed -- How to ace your case study interview
Monday night saw the inaugural Young MCA Consultants' Challenge take place in central London, with a dozen teams entered from some of the biggest names in consulting. Comprising teams of ten, the various rounds challenged consultants to demonstrate the skills they use in their everyday lives - communication skills, risk assessment...
Top-Consultant.com were thrilled to be sponsors of the event, with £1,500 being raised on the night to support the DEPAUL TRUST.
Both Accenture and BT got off to slow starts, with the night looking like it might provide something of an upset. Could one of the smaller firms trounce the bigger names in our industry? Well as the leader board below confirms, Accenture emerged as eventual winners; a joint Tata Consultancy Services / Impact Plus team came second; BT came third.
And to give them their moment in the spotlight, here's the winning team from Accenture accepting the winner's trophy:
Thanks to Natalia, Joy, David and the rest of the team at the Management Consultancies Association for organising what was a fun night.
Tony
Many of you will know Martin Hancock, who in 2006 was one of just 7 recruiters named Top Management Consultancy Recruiter in recognition of outstanding candidate feedback from Top-Consultant readers. Well Martin is embarking on what looks like a hellish endurance race together with colleague Tara Benton - and it's all in aid of the charity Sportability. The Coast to Coast Race will be held over 2 days and will see the two cover a distance of 120 miles through a mix of fell and road running, on and off-road mountain-biking and kayaking.
Tara and Martin hope to raise as much money as possible for this worthwhile cause and you can contribute on a corporate or a personal basis via:
http://www.justgiving.com/prismMartin & Tara need your help to reach their target of £1,000 - so please help make their effort worthwhile. Rgds, Tony
