| Revealed: which consulting firms are most confident they can offer you a job? |
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| | There’s an interesting
story unfolding in the
UK consulting industry
at present. It revolves
around which consulting
firms are most confident
they’ll be hiring again
as 2010 progresses… and
which are not yet ready
to put their necks on
the line.
The
Top-Consultant.com team
calling management
consultancies to see who
is planning on
exhibiting at this
year’s Consultancy
Careers Fair, has
received a highly
polarised response. Some
firms are quite certain
they’ll be hiring in
numbers this year and
have been quick to sign
up to the event once
again – note the
confidence of leading
brands like Accenture,
Ernst & Young and IBM
(as well as a number of
niche players).
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By contrast, many
other firms believe they
will be recruiting
strongly as we enter the
second half of the year
– but aren’t yet ready
to commit themselves to
a hiring spree. Note
that pretty much every
firm says they will be
hiring in the latter
stages of the year, so
the difference is one of
conviction.
Commenting on the
differing signals,
Top-Consultant.com
co-founder and director
Tony Restell, notes that
“across consulting as a
whole, hiring activity
is picking up
considerably. In part
this is driven by
worsening staff churn,
in part by an
improvement in client
demand – most notably in
private-sector practice
areas like financial
services. What | |
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| | work here. How exposed a
firm is to (short-term)
cutbacks in the public
sector’s spend on
consulting is clearly
one consideration. The
upswing being seen in
private-sector
consulting spend isn’t
universal and so again
is benefiting some firms
more than others. The
likelihood of staff
leaving for competitors
is another element. Most
notable of all is
probably how aggressive
each firm’s growth
strategy is for the
coming year. Those
committed to gaining
market share are likely
to recruit almost
irrespective of these
other factors. Readers
will be able to read a
great deal into the
conviction of firms to
pursue their stated
growth ambitions as
their hiring activities
become more transparent
over the course of the | |
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| | summer.
“It costs nothing to
publish lofty growth
aspirations, but unless
candidates see firms
advertising significant
numbers of vacancies,
hosting careers evenings
and appearing at careers
events then the story
rings hollow. Within the
next months I think we
will see which firms are
really serious about
growth and which are all
talk,” concluded
Restell.
24th September
2010 – save the date of
this year’s
Consultancy Careers
Fair! Recruiters
wishing to exhibit
should contact the
Top-Consultant.com team
on +44 (0)207 667 6880,
while candidates can
keep an eye on who has
signed up to exhibit by
visiting
The Consultancy | |
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| | fascinates us about the
conversations we’re
having is that every
firm feels they should
be at the Consultancy
Careers Fair but some
have greater conviction
about their hiring
intentions than others.
For a significant
portion of the industry
there’s still the
niggling doubt that
improvements in the
business may not be
sustained and so
decisions are being
delayed as long as
possible to see how
things unfold. Some
firms have an
unshakeable belief in
their growth
trajectories; others
seem to lack this
conviction.”
There are undoubtedly
a number of factors at | |
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