The world of consulting is a bustling one. It is a fast-paced, hardworking, and ubiquitous profession that is shrouded in prestige. In the ever blossoming era of emerging business and business development, consulting firms will always be in demand. These firms help companies determine how to best meet their goals, and if they do their job right, top consulting firms can be cash cows of success.
This article is going to take a look at the Vault Consulting 50, a yearly review of the top consulting firms in the United States. Vault is a leading market intelligence collector of employee ratings and reviews, garnering data from confidential survey responses from over 70 different consulting firms. Their top choices have always been some of the most trusted in the industry.
If you are thinking of jumping into the bustling world of consulting, but don’t know which firm to choose, this article is for you. So, without further ado, what top consulting firms are ranked at the top for best places to work in 2019?
FAQ
1. What Is the Vault Consulting 50?
As mentioned, Vault is a top-rated market intelligence collector of employee ratings. They specialize in producing highly respected company reviews, company rankings, and internship programs.
Ranking high on the Vault’s Consulting 50 means your firm is one of the best to work for, and that your employees are satisfied emotionally, intellectually, and financially.
2. How Does Vault Consulting 50 Work?
The second survey tackles quality of life using 22 different benchmarks. These include work-life balance, pay, firm culture, benefits, and internal mobility. This is the bulk of the survey, and its purpose it to have employees evaluate how their firm manages to fulfill their needs and desires as employees.
The third and last survey tackles careers. Do these employees feel as if they are establishing and building a profitable career, with room to grow and master their profession? These are all critical questions to answer.
3. How Does Vault Consulting 50 Determine the Final Result?
After all of the surveys have been completed, Vault takes all the rankings (based on a 1 out of 10 scale), and finds the firms average in each realm. For instance, Prestige accounts for 30% of every score, where other measures such as Employee Satisfaction and Compensation each account for 15%. Firm Culture, Work-Life Balance, and Business Outlook count for 10% each of the overall score, and Promotion Policies and the Ability to Challenge account for 5% each.
Once the average of every measurement is determined, Vault releases its ranking of top consulting firms.
How We Reviewed Top Consulting Firms
The firms chosen for this list were taken directly from Vault’s own employee satisfaction analysis. Following their yearly guide of the most prestigious, well-balanced, high-paying, and successful firms of the year, we created a comprehensive list that helps you get straight to the point: which firms are the best to work at and where should I be looking to either build or start my own consulting career?
We also combined these results with other professional reviews of the yearly Vault Consulting 50 results.
Overall Impact of These Ratings
It is important to note that a low ranking on this list does not equate a horrible consulting firm. Making this list automatically means that the firm is one of the most prestigious in the country. All of these top consulting firms are well known in their industry and are some of the best at what they do.
So, while it is important to follow this list, a low ranking does not automatically mean a terrible company. Last but not least, a fantastic consulting firm might not make the list, but still provide everything that a satisfied employee needs.
This list is not the holy grail, but it does provide some wonderful insight into whether a firm is worth investing in.
What Top Consulting Firms We Reviewed
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McKinsey & Company
- Bain & Company
- The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.
- Deloitte Consulting LLP
- Oliver Wyman
- Putnam Associates
- EY-Parthenon
- PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC
- Bridgespan Group
- Accenture
McKinsey & Company
Details
A dominant name in consulting, McKinsey & Company have claimed the title of most prestigious consulting firms multiple years in a row. In fact, they claimed the number one spot in Vault’s Consulting 50 review, something no other consulting firm has ever done.
This top consulting firm is based out of Chicago, Illinois, and specializes in management consulting in the Midwest geographic area. They have offices in Chicago, Minneapolis, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Denver, and Detroit.
Pros
- Most prestigious name in consulting
- High employee and customer satisfaction
- Fantastic internal mobilization
- Ranked number one for innovation
Cons
- Ranked second in terms of compensation
- Lower ranking for formal training
- Customer interaction not as satisfactory
Rating on Vault Consulting 50
Number 1 in nearly all measurements of employee satisfaction.
More Information
https://www.mckinsey.com/midwest
Bain & Company
Details
This top consulting firm specializes in marketing, technology, mergers, sustainability, and operations. They have been around since 1973 with offices based out of Boston, Massachusets.
They ranked number one for firm culture and informal mentorship, and are known for leading the industry in market analysis innovation.
Pros
- Fantastic firm culture nurtures internal cooperation
- Coworkers truly care about their work
- Smart, innovative people
Cons
- Sometimes made to do long hours
- High standards can be overwhelming at times
- Case loads tend to be large and highly variant in nature
Rating on Vault Consulting 50
Overall ranking of number 2.
More Information
https://www.bain.com/
The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.
Details
The Boston Consulting Group, as the name suggests, is also owned and operated out of Boston, Massachusetts. Despite its name, it operates worldwide, with over 90 offices in 50 different countries.
This firm specializes in management, internal productivity and creativity, customer and supplier relationship, mergers, and so much more.
Pros
- Work is challenging and stimulating
- Fantastic firm culture
- Great upward mobility
Cons
- Work can be a little too challenging and demanding
- While the firm culture is great, teams can sometimes be uncoordinated
- There is a lot of travel and some long hours
Rating on Vault Consulting 50
Overall rank landed at number 3.
More Information
https://www.bcg.com/
Deloitte Consulting LLP
Details
Deloitte Consulting is a top consulting firm that specializes in tax advisory services and audit consulting. The firm is based out of New York City with global offices across the world.
They have served over 85% of Fortune 500 companies and are known as some of the best for tax and audit-related consulting.
Pros
- Great firm culture of inclusion
- Upward mobility and promotional opportunity is high
- Firm gives employees the ability to create their own professional consulting career
Cons
- Client demands can be overwhelming
- Leadership comes with unfortunate politics
- Occasional internal reorganization messes with employee relations within the firm
Rating on Vault Consulting 50
Overall rating of number 4.
More Information
https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en.html
Oliver Wyman
Details
Another top consulting firm based out of New York cCty, Oliver Wyman specializes in automotive, aviation, communications, digital, energy, industrial products, and aerospace and defense industries.
They are at the top of their industry, with global offices and numerous Global 1000 companies.
Pros
- Fantastic coworkers
- intellectually stimulating work
- Transparent promotion standards
- Smart employees make for great team work
Cons
- Hours can be long
- Brand name isn’t as strong as their work
- Moving out of financial services work and into what you love may take a few years
Rating on Vault Consulting 50
Overall rank of number 5.
More Information
https://www.oliverwyman.com/
Putnam Associates
Details
Putnam Associates is a prestigious, top consulting firm that serves the biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics, and all related industries in healthcare.
They are a leading consulting group based out of San Fransisco, California, with global offices all over the world. They work with a majority of the world’s primary biopharmaceutical companies.
Pros
- Incredibly prestigious firm
- Strong leadership that fosters internal cooperation
- Freedom to grow as your own professional
Cons
- Long hours and easy burnout
- Growing pains can be difficult
- Incredibly fast paced environment
Rating on Vault Consulting 50
Overall rating of number 6.
More Information
https://www.putassoc.com/
EY-Parthenon
Details
The EY-Parthenon consulting firm has over 40 offices worldwide. It is known as one of the most prestigious names in strategic consulting, specializing in industrial products, health care, life sciences, oil and gas, media, private equity, and technology.
Strategy is their game, and there is no limit to what industry they can apply their strategy to. Founded in 1991, this EY-Parthenon blossomed in a global name known to deliver full-suite solutions to their customers.
Pros
- Great compensation
- Strong benefits
- Cohesive firm culture
- Great upward mobility
Cons
- Long hours
- Lots of travel
- Bureaucracy a prevalent part of the work
- Work-life balance not as strong
Rating on Vault Consulting 50
Overall rank of number 7.
More Information
https://parthenon.ey.com/
PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC
Details
This top consulting firm provides top notch service to a wide variety of industries. It has been known to specialize in everything from operations, finance, organization, management, sustainable business practices, anti-bribery, crisis management, disputes, and infrastructure.
They are based out of New York City with offices in over 158 countries worldwide. Interestingly enough, the firm itself was founded in 1998 via the merger of two professional service firms dating back to the mid 1800s. Pricewaterhouse is a new firm with old roots.
Pros
- Fantastic upward mobility with no end in site
- Open firm culture with plenty of opportunities to learn from mentors
- Prestige and confidence defines the internal energy of the firm
Cons
- Busy season means long, grueling hours
- A lot of travel
- Bureaucracy can be a pain
- Experience differs depending on what project team you are with
Rating on Vault Consulting 50
Overall rating of number 8.
More Information
https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting.html
Bridgespan Group
Details
Bridgespan Group is a global consulting firms that works with NGOs, and philanthropy and nonprofit organizations. They work specifically with mission driven organizations and leaders to better streamline services provided for those in need.
A majority of their services include leadership development and consulting to nonprofit and philanthropists. They work to break the cycle of poverty and to assist those in need by helping organizations serve this demographic better.
Pros
- Astounding mission
- Fantastic firm culture
- Commitment to social impact
- Meaningful work
- Training is top notch
Cons
- Reputation stays isolated to social work; should be more well known for their work
- Pay isn’t as glamorous
- Harder to enter private sector after working at this firm
- Work-life balance could be better
Rating on Vault Consulting 50
Overall rating of number 9.
More Information
https://www.bridgespan.org/
Accenture
Details
This top consulting firm has been an industry leader in information technology since the 1950s. They specialize in helping businesses identify market and technology trends, where they should invest, create new concepts, and build innovations for blossoming companies.
Accenture is planning on opening 10 new innovations hubs by 2020, accelerating technology and transformative ideas in the business world. They work with Blockchain, robotics, drones, and virtual reality.
Pros
- Project are intellectually stimulating
- Firm culture is very innovative
- high impact work
- Rewarding work
- Great coworkers
- Fantastic career launchpad
Cons
- Larger organization means it is harder to know where you should start
- Usual consulting bureaucracy
- Long hours
- Lots of travel
Rating on Vault Consulting 50
Landed in last place, 10 out of 10.
More Information
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/new-applied-now
The Verdict
When choosing where you want to start your career, make sure you take into account what work matters to you. Working with businesses or projects that you find interesting will make your work that much easier. After all, doing what you love is priceless.