VEP- A.T. Kearney 2003

BY THE STAFF OF VAULT

© 2002 Vault Inc.

EMPLOYPROFILE

VAULT EMPLOYER PROFILE:

A.T. KEARNEY

Copyright © 2002 by Vault Inc. All rights reserved.

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ISBN 1–58131–190-7

Printed in the United States of America

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A.T. Kearney

INTRODUCTION 1

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1A.T. Kearney at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

THE SCOOP 3

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

ORGANIZATION 11

Key Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Office Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

VAULT NEWSWIRE 15

OUR SURVEY SAYS 17

GETTING HIRED 23

Overview of the Hiring Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23To Apply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Questions to Expect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Questions to Ask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Table of Contents

ON THE JOB 33

A Day in the Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Job Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34Career Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

FINAL ANALYSIS 41

RECOMMENDED READING 43

OverviewWhen management professor James Oscar McKinsey started a smallconsultancy in 1926, he had no inkling that one of his first partners wouldeventually flee the nest and spread his own entrepreneurial wings.Nevertheless, Andrew Thomas Kearney’s chance at independent controlarrived in 1939, when the firm split into separate branches. Kearney, who hadgained renown through his accounting and budgetary expertise, immediatelystaked a claim on the Chicago branch. Kearney also named the office afterhimself.

Just over three-quarters of a century since its inception, A.T. Kearney has 60offices in 35 countries, and it employs 5,000 workers, including 2,500consultants. Since its beginnings, it has ventured into almost every majorsector, from aerospace to automotive, health care to high tech, operations toIT. A.T. Kearney’s task is now to fulfill the vision of its CEO, DietmarOstermann. Having joined with Electronic Data Systems, the firm wants todo it all, from strategy to nuts-and-bolts operations management.

Introduction

A.T. Kearney

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5400 Legacy DriveMailstop B1-1A-01Plano, TX 75024 Phone: (972) 604-4600Fax: (972) 604-9596www.atkearney.com

LOCATIONSPlano, TX (HQ)60 offices worldwide

PRACTICE AREASOperations ConsultingStrategy & Organization ConsultingTechnology ConsultingExecutive Searches

THE STATSEmployer Type: Subsidiary of EDSCEO: Dietmar Ostermann2001 Employees: 4,6002001 Revenues: $1.34 billion

UPPERS

• No up-or-out pressure• Good firm camaraderie

DOWNERS

• Pressure to bill• Limited career development

support• Recent layoffs

• “Hard-driving”• “Solid but not special”• “Smart people”• “Best days are over”• “Old school”• “Good in automotive industry”• “Spartan”• “Highly professional”

THE BUZZWHAT EMPLOYEES AT OTHER FIRMS ARE SAYING

A.T. Kearney at a glance

© 2002 Vault Inc.2 C A R E E RL I B R A R Y

HistoryChicago: the birthplace of consulting. When management professor JamesOscar McKinsey started a small consultancy there in 1926, one of the firstpartners to come on board was Andrew Thomas Kearney. Kearney had begunhis marketing career in 1916, when, as a student at Pennsylvania StateUniversity, he gained statewide attention for helping local dairy farmers boosttheir milk sales. Kearney joined the faculty at Penn State, then served asdirector of commercial research at Swift & Co. before joining withMcKinsey. In these early years, the firm emphasized accounting andbudgetary controls. When the firm split in 1939, Kearney retained theChicago branch, which he renamed after himself.

A.T. Kearney quickly garnered a reputation for producing solid results. Asone of its earliest assignments, the firm completed an extensive study of theorganization of U.S. Steel, the first of nearly 30 for that company alone in the1930s. The analysis resulted in the merger of several subsidiaries, the firststep in the creation of modern-day USX. The Kroger Company – theCincinnati-based supermarket chain – also retained A.T. Kearney early in the1930s. A.T. Kearney’s relationship with that firm began in 1930 with initialstudies of operations and executive organization, accounting, and budgetarycontrol, and it extended over 60 different assignments through the early1980s. Other significant clients in the 1930s and early 1940s includedArmour, the Chicago meat-packer; United Parcel Service; Allis-Chambers, aheavy equipment service firm; and Borg-Warner Corporation, a largeChicago manufacturing company.

Kearney took his firm in a civic-minded direction during World War II andthe postwar period. During the war, A.T. Kearney provided consultation to theU.S. War Production Board for the fee of a dollar a year. In 1945 PresidentRoosevelt personally asked Kearney to lead a mission to China to assist theChinese government in improving its war efforts. Kearney and his staff spentsix months in China, and Kearney himself earned a U.S. Medal of Freedomand a Chinese Victory Medal for his efforts there. A few years later, hetraveled to Germany to study that country’s industrial recovery.

Kearney was succeeded by Jim Phelan in 1962, who began to expand thefirm. By 1970 A.T. Kearney boasted nine offices in the United States, as wellas offices in London and Düsseldorf. The Tokyo office opened in 1972. Thenext CEO, Kenneth Block, initiated a “Go for Growth” program, which

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doubled A.T. Kearney’s size by 1980. Meanwhile, the firm continued itsservice to corporations around the country and the world, gaining a reputationfor working with rank-and-file consultants and plant management as well astop executives, and for ensuring the successful implementation of itsrecommendations.

Meow!

Some referred to A.T. Kearney as “the canary that swallowed the cat” when,in 1995, the firm merged with Plano, TX-based juggernaut Electronic DataSystems (EDS), then recently detached from parent company GeneralMotors. Industry observers were dubious, if not downright cynical. Could theentrepreneurial strategy firm and the computer giant find compromise andbusiness-related bliss? It seems the companies have found both – with theingested A.T. Kearney shaping consulting operations – at EDS. EDS, whichhad created its money-hemorrhaging consulting arm in 1993, had approachedA.T. Kearney to propose a joint venture. Kearney CEO Fred Steingraberinformed EDS that it was approaching the consulting industry incorrectly; theright path toward success required a high-profile brand name, a clearlystructured partnership among consultants, and a structured rewardmechanism for shareholders. But instead of slinking back to Plano, asSteingraber had anticipated, EDS made another proposal – would A.T.Kearney consider a merger instead?

The advent of EDS

While the companies seemed somewhat incongruous, this differential was anasset in Steingraber’s mind. EDS was a large company with deep pockets andexperience with information technology, a growing area of interest tocorporations. EDS’ founder, the colorful H. Ross Perot, who often referred toconsultants as money-sucking witch doctors, left the company in 1986 topursue other interests. The post-Perot EDS started its consulting business in1993, aggressively hiring bright business school grads and snapping upsmaller firms. EDS’ ambition, however, did not translate into success. Itsconsulting operation lost money. In 1994, the year EDS proposed a merger,EDS Consulting lost $22 million. A.T. Kearney, on the other hand, was in themidst of a healthy expansion, having registered double-digit growth everyyear for the previous twelve years. Additionally, Kearney’s geographic andindustry reach would allow EDS to establish the high-level clientrelationships it needed to succeed.


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Steingraber was interested in a merger for his own reasons. Working with thecomputer company would allow A.T. Kearney to develop in-depthinformation technology expertise, thus giving it the capability to followthrough from technological strategy to implementation. EDS’ deep pocketswould also boost Kearney’s infrastructure capabilities, and the merger wouldboost A.T. Kearney’s rankings in the consulting industry, in the processbecoming more attractive to prospective clients.

Discussions between Steingraber and EDS Vice Chairman Tony Fernandes atfirst centered on the “vision” of the two companies, but it soon turned to coldhard cash. The acquisition of A.T. Kearney by EDS, which was finallycompleted in October 1995, meant that EDS laid out approximately $112.7million in cash and issued $162.3 million in short-and long-term notes to A.T.Kearney’s principals and shareholders. The terms of the agreement alsoincluded a stock grant of around 6.6 million shares of GM stock, which willvest over a 10-year period for select A.T. Kearney personnel who remain withthe EDS-owned firm.

EDS in a nutshell

Founded in 1962, EDS now boasts approximately 127,000 employees andclients in 58 countries. The firm has five lines of business, one of which isA.T. Kearney’s management consulting operations. EDS has taken on clientsin a variety of industries: manufacturing, aerospace, health care, financial,insurance, food, retail, travel and transportation, energy, andcommunications, among others. EDS also maintains numerous clients in thegovernment sector. EDS boasts a private sector client list that includes MCIWorldcom, Chevron, General Motors Corporation, Commonwealth Bank ofAustralia, and BellSouth. Its company board consists of Richard H. “Dick”Brown, chairman of the board and chief executive officer; Jeffrey M. Heller,vice chairman; and James E. Daley, executive vice president and CFO.

The A.T. Kearney-EDS relationship

Is A.T. Kearney a nearly independent consulting firm or merely an EDS“service line?” The answer lies somewhere between the two. EDS is trying tobring A.T. Kearney closer to the fold, while, according to A.T. Kearney CEOOstermann, maintaining the firm’s distinct specialties. In February 2001, A.T.Kearney headquarters were relocated to EDS’ Plano corporate campus. (A.T.Kearney hasn’t abandoned Chicago altogether – several hundred consultantsand other personnel remain in the city.) A.T. Kearney continues to concentrate


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on shorter, more strategic deals, while IT powerhouse EDS’ forte is long-term, technology-outsourcing engagements.

A loyal following, an impressive track record

A.T. Kearney generally targets Fortune 200 companies. While the firm claimsexpertise in many industries, it is particularly strong in automotive, financialinstitutions, consumer industries and retail. More than 70 percent ofKearney’s client companies rank among the world’s largest. Client companiesalso tend to show a remarkable degree of loyalty toward the firm – in a 1998survey conducted by Louis Harris & Associates, more than 90 percent of A.T.Kearney’s engagements are with past clients. And with its massiveinternational expansion efforts, A.T. Kearney earns more than half of itsrevenue from engagements outside the United States.

Industry slowdown

While international market expansion should help A. T. Kearney in the longrun, the short-term late ‘90s Asian economic flu affected the consulting firm’srevenues. Revenue growth slowed in 1999, causing the firm to lay off nearly200 consultants and postpone start dates for a number of new MBA hires.History repeated itself when an economic slowdown hit the United States afew years later. In July 2001, EDS announced that it was laying off 400 ofA.T. Kearney’s 5,000 employees. Start dates for new hires were pushed backas well – some for a year or more, some indefinitely – at several points during2001 and 2002.

New business ventures and auctions galore

In December 1999, EDS announced the creation of EDS-A.T. KearneyVentures, an e-business corporate venture capital fund. The $1.5 billion fundis half-financed by EDS, with the other half coming from clients and privateequity funds. One of the largest funds of its kind, it will focus on B2B andother Internet companies over five years, and will allow EDS/A.T. Kearneyto take equity in clients for the first time.

Also in December 1999, A.T. Kearney launched a worldwide business unit,eBreviate, which focuses on business-to-business Internet auctions followingeight months of supporting auctions that saw $1 billion in transactions. Afteroperating for two years as a wholly owned EDS subsidiary, in December2001 eBreviate was rolled into a new unit known as A.T. Kearney


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Procurement Solutions. In July 2002 eBreviate won the 2001 VolkswagenGroup Award for its work in supplier management.

A.T. Kearney recently has also taken on a number of new engagements forgovernment clients. In October 2001, the Beijing Municipal Science andTechnology Commission hired the firm to recommend strategies to transformthe city’s software industry. Three months later Kearney began advising thegovernment of India on ways to remove regulatory barriers to foreigninvestments in the country. In January 2002, A.T. Kearney vice president BenT. Smith IV left the firm to work on a project helping to plan and implementthe U.S. Department of Transportation's new Transportation SecurityAdministration.

The Asian invasion

Kearney continues to take advantage of huge bargains and opportunities inAsian mergers and acquisitions. The collapse of the Asian market bubble ofthe 1990s meant the opening of previously closed markets, access toattractively priced assets, and the opportunity to restructure supply chains.The fundamental factors that drove Asia’s growth, according to A.T. Kearney,are still very much present. Still, factors like incomplete or invalid duediligence and political instability remain factors in play. A.T. Kearney,however, is committed to the region. Presently, Kearney has offices in thefollowing Asian regions: Beijing, Melbourne, Singapore, Hong Kong, NewDelhi, Sydney, Jakarta, Seoul, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai. Thefirm’s newest permanent office is in Bangkok, servicing Thai clients in thebanking, high tech, manufacturing and other industries. The office opened inJune 2001.

A.T. Kearney is committed as well to building a strong presence in India, inparticular. Currently, the firm has a stable of consultants in New Delhi andprojects that revenue from the country will grow by 50 percent over the nextfew years. Most new business in India will focus on privatizations anddownsizings. The firm also plans to set up a data and service center in theregion. And in June of that year, Indian auto company Tata Engineering hiredKearney consultants to work on a new marketing strategy.

Kearney foresees that its main competition in India will be McKinsey, whichhas been in India since 1992.


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Diversity efforts

One insider characterized A.T. Kearney’s diversity efforts as “excellent.Kearney was a presence at a recent NAACP conference I attended.” The firmalso supports the National Society of Hispanic MBAs, the National Societyof Black Engineers, and the National Black MBA Association. Kearney hasbeen a corporate sponsor of the latter’s annual conference for years, enablingthe firm to build relationships with black business school students as part ofthe recruiting process. Also, for the past five summers, Kearney has recruitedundergraduate business analyst interns in partnership with minority non-profit INROADS.

Profiting from profit centers

Another notable Kearney effort in recent years has been to reorganize itsconsulting efforts into nine regional profit centers – for example, eastern orwestern United States. Consultants based in San Francisco are now utilizedprimarily on projects up and down the West Coast, with less cross-country orinternational travel than before. “The reason we did that was that we realizedthere was a very important, very long-term need in the business to havepeople focus on developing business in the local areas where they were livingand working on projects where they were living,” notes on Kearney insider.But don’t plan on staying put forever. Kearney insiders note the firm’s “one-firm approach” to client service, which means that it will pull resources fromaround the globe to attack a project.

Rewarding achievements

A.T. Kearney launched the Global Excellence in Operations (GEO) Awardsin June 1999. These awards, the first of this scale or scope, recognize the mosteffective and innovative business operations at national, regional and globallevels. The result is an extensive database containing some of the world’smost advantageous business practices. In May 2000, Siemens CT receivedthe first-ever GEO Award, based on the over 300 benchmarks employed byA.T. Kearney in an analytical evaluation model. The 2001 winner wasBrembo S.p.A., a leading manufacturer of high performance braking systems.Internal A.T. Kearney awards for excellence include: Great Client WorkAwards; the Intellectual Capital Recognition Program; and the DistinguishedPeople Awards, a new program celebrating outstanding contributions to A.T.Kearney’s culture.


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Take a chair

In 2000 Fred Steingraber (now chairman emeritus) and A.T. Kearney jointlyendowed the first chair in business strategy at the University of ChicagoGraduate School of Business. The Fred G. Steingraber A.T. KearneyProfessorship currently named Toby E. Stuart, a leading scholar in technologystrategy, corporate strategy and high-tech entrepreneurship, the chairedprofessor.

Steingraber’s post-Kearney life isn’t all accolades, however. In August 2002EDS sued him for allegedly embezzling $100,000 through the use of falseexpense reports. The company also accused Steingraber of misusing companyequipment for personal use.

Road sage

A.T. Kearney pledges that no consultant will work on an engagement formore than nine months. But while the firm’s projects are famously short, itshours are notoriously long. To combat the brutality of employees’ travelschedules, the firm has adopted “434U,” a policy theoretically ensuring thatconsultants will spend no more than four days and three nights a week at aclient site. Kearney also offers part time and flex time programs.


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Key Officers

CEO & Chairman: Dietmar Ostermann

Ostermann came to A.T. Kearney in 1989 from BMW, where he worked as amanufacturing engineer; before that, he had worked at Daimler-Benz as aplant analyst. He was born in Hamburg and earned a B.S. in manufacturingand an MBA from the University of Hamburg (he also later earned an M.S.in industrial engineering from USC). Since coming to A.T. Kearney,Ostermann led both the firm’s German, Central European and Europeanoperations, as well as the North American automotive industry practice. In thelatter position, which he held between 1996 and 1997, he increased thepractice’s revenue by 35 percent.

Executive Vice President (Global Industries, North American businessDevelopment and EDS Relationship): Bram Bluestein

Executive Vice President (Global Services and A.T. Kearney Strategy andAlliances): John Egan

President, A.T. Kearney Executive Search: Steve Fisher

Departments

Strategy and Organization

The heart of A.T. Kearney management consulting efforts, this practiceemploys more than 100 senior consultants, and its engagement teams oftenbring in Kearneyites from other areas of the firm and EDS. Its specialties arecorporate and business unit strategy; pricing optimization; marketingstrategy; merger integration; tax minimization and transfer pricingeconomics; and organizational effectiveness. This practice is a source ofcompelling intellectual capital including books like Merger Endgames andRebuilding the Corporate Genome.

Technology Consulting

A.T. Kearney’s IT consulting efforts benefit greatly both from the firm’s long-standing involvement in the tech arena and, more importantly, its close ties

Organization

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with EDS. The practice has a range of capabilities, but focuses its efforts infour areas: IT strategy and alignment, architecture and emerging technology,enterprise transformation and application technology, the latter relyingheavily on technology and software developed by its partner firm, i2.

Operations Consulting

The handmaiden of management consulting, operations consulting helpsclients improve their business processes – from front-end, customerrelationships to back-end supply-chain efficiency. Operations consulting isperhaps the oldest practice area in the consulting field, and A.T. Kearney,founded in 1939, was there at the beginning. The firm’s practice focuses onfive core aspects of operations: customer-relationship management,innovation, supply-chain and manufacturing solutions, supplier-relationshipmanagement, and operations strategy.

Enterprise Services Transformation

This new service line will provide management consulting servicesassociated with business process outsourcing (BPO), in particular sharedservices, customer service, finance, accounting and HR functions. There aresignificant opportunities to apply high-value management consulting servicesto the kind of large-scale transformations that BPO deals so often entail.

Procurement Solutions Group

This unit combines the work of several of A.T. Kearney’s operations –eBreviate, Leveraged Sourcing Networks, Data Management Group and PrintSupply Market Solutions – into a package designed to improve clients’procurement processes.

Executive Search

A.T. Kearney Executive Search helps clients secure the best managementcandidates to lead their businesses, which ultimately contributes to thecompetitiveness and long-term durability of their enterprises. Founded in1946, Kearney’s executive search team is one of the oldest and largest in theworld, with 28 offices in 16 countries. And with the purchase of certain assetsof executive search firm Ray & Berndtson, a number of Ray & Berndtsonjoined Kearney.


A.T. Kearney

Organization

Office Locations

North America

• Plano, Texas (HQ)

• Atlanta, Ga.

• Cambridge, Mass.

• Chicago, Ill.

• Cleveland, Ohio

• Detroit, Mich.

• Los Angeles, Calif.

• Mexico City

• New York, N.Y.

• San Francisco, Calif.

• Silicon Valley, Calif.

• Toronto

• Washington, DC

International locations

• Amsterdam

• Athens

• Bangkok

• Barcelona

• Beijing

• Berlin

• Brussels

• Budapest

• Buenos Aires

• Caracas

• Copenhagen

• Dusseldorf

• Frankfurt

• Helsinki


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• Hong Kong

• Istanbul

• Jakarta

• Johannesburg

• Kuala Lumpur

• Lisbon

• London

• Madrid

• Melbourne

• Milan

• Moscow

• Munich

• New Delhi

• Oslo

• Paris

• Prague

• Rome

• Sao Paulo

• Seoul

• Shanghai

• Singapore

• Stockholm

• Stuttgart

• Sydney

• Tokyo

• Turin

• Vienna

• Warsaw

• Zurich


September 2002: A bit of Berndtson

A.T. Kearney announced that it had purchased some of the assets of Ray &Berndtson, a privately held, retained executive search firm based in FortWorth, Tex. A number of top Ray & Berndtson employees were transferred toA.T. Kearney’s Executive Search division, including CEO and Chairman PaulRay, Jr. Immediately afterward Ray & Berndtson filed for bankruptcyprotection under Chapter 11.

August 2002: EDS sues Steingraber

EDS, A.T. Kearney’s parent company, filed suit against CEO Emeritus andFormer Chairman Fred Steingraber for allegedly embezzling $100,000through the use of false expense reports. The company also accusedSteingraber of misusing company equipment for personal use.

June 2002: Alliance with Manugistics

A.T. Kearney signed a deal with Manugistics, a provider of pricing andrevenue solutions, to utilize the latter’s Pricing and Revenue Optimizationsolutions in its client projects.

December 2001: New unit

A.T Kearney launched a new business unit, to be known as A.T. KearneyProcurement Solutions. The new unit is composed of e-sourcing solutionsarm eBreviate, as well as the procurement capabilities of Leveraged SourcingNetworks, Supply Market Solutions, and Data Management Group.

July 2001: In the pink

EDS has announced that it is laying off about 400 of A.T. Kearney’s 5,000employees. The company cites slow demand for consulting services as thereason behind the move. A.T. Kearney’s revenue declined by 4 percent in themost recent quarter.

June 2001: Alive at five

This month marks the five-year anniversary of A.T. Kearney’s office inPoland. Led by Jan Maciejewicz, the Warsaw office has grown to 30

Vault Newswire

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employees and serves major Polish clients, including Elektrim and PZUZycie.

June 2001: Thai one on

A.T. Kearney’s newest office has opened its doors in Bangkok. A. T. Kearneyvice president Peter Walker will head up its operations. Initially staffed with15 consultants, the new office is expected to nearly double in size by early2002.

February 2001: Texas-bound

A.T. Kearney’s senior management is moving to deep in the heart of Texas.The firm announced that about 10 senior executives would relocate fromChicago to Plano, Texas, headquarters of A. T. Kearney parent firm EDS.According to an EDS spokesman, the move is being made in order to bringKearney’s executive team together under the same roof with EDS’ e-commerce services operations.

December 2000: Ostermann is in

Former managing director of A.T. Kearney Europe is named new chiefexecutive officer, replacing Fred Steingraber who will work with Ostermannduring the transition as chairman emeritus. Ostermann, who joined Kearneyin 1989, has served as head of the North American automotive industrypractice, managing director of Germany, and unit head for central Europe.

November 2000: Real beach time

A.T. Kearney in Australia is giving senior staff a one-week extension to thefour-week annual holidays, acknowledging the long hours without paidovertime.

October 2000: Bon chance to KearneyInteractive

A.T. Kearney has launched KearneyInteractive, an e-commerce consultancy,in France. The company uses A.T. Kearney abilities and resources from EDS’E.solutions group. With future expansion into the U.K., Italy, and Germany,KearneyInteractive’s intention is to capture 12 percent of the market by 2003.


A kinder, gentler consulting firm

“This is a good place, not a backstabbing place. We have the same goals andwe’re all willing to help each other out,” comments one A.T. Kearney insider.Another insider observes, “From what I’ve seen, the people in otherconsulting firms come across as cold and uptight. I feel that Kearney is moreof a ‘people’ firm, where the individual is given more importance and you’retreated as a human being.” An insider in New York says, “I find thecamaraderie here very appealing, because this industry is somewhat cutthroat,and it’s good to have that human touch.”

Other insiders compare A.T. Kearney to rival consulting firms. “At firms likeMcKinsey and others, you’re either promoted or told to leave after two years.That creates a lot of insecurity. It’s survival of the fittest, and I don’t knowhow much teamwork a culture like that would encourage. Kearney doesn’thave that policy, and that makes it a nicer place to work.” Another insidercites the people who interviewed him as cause for his decision to acceptKearney’s offer. “They weren’t at all snotty or stuck-up. They were down-to-earth and I felt very at ease in their presence. I thought, ‘I could survive theairplane test with these people.’”

The airplane test? “Yeah, it’s a standard in consulting. It’s when you decide ifyou could spend seven hours sitting next to someone on a cross-countryflight. If you can do so without killing them, you can work with them in anoffice environment.”

The road to diversity

Across the board, insiders say that there is “no typical Kearney person. Easyclassification is impossible here.” Indeed, insiders consistently remark thatthere is no “Kearney man or Kearney woman” and “no pressure to conformto any fit type of image.” Kearney is said to employ “a mix of peopleincluding new MBAs, undergrads, and industry-experts (especially from theoperations and the high-tech industry).” The firm, says another, emphasizes a“diversity of skills and abilities.”

On the other hand, the firm’s penchant for diversity doesn’t always extend tothe areas of gender- and race-related equality. “Kearney is not doing anythingextraordinary in the diversity department,” concedes one insider. “Kearney’sbetter than most, which is not to say that it’s good. About a third of the peopleI entered with were women. But I didn’t see that many non-Caucasians,

Our Survey Says

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especially at the top levels. That’s probably a function of the fact that thisemphasis on diversity is a fairly new thing. Diversity hiring has only been ineffect for four to five years, and it will probably take another four to five yearsbefore we see a difference at the top.”

Another consultant praises Kearney for at least making the effort: “The firm’sefforts are genuine, I’m sure. Kearney was a presence at a recent NAACPconference I attended.” And yet another A.T. Kearney consultant notes:“Since ATK is an international firm, our consultants are international andminorities are well represented in our senior management. However, womenare another story. We don’t have enough of them. I think we have one womanVP in my section. It’s a problem endemic to the consulting industry and onethe firm is trying to work on.” Still, Kearney isn’t devoid of progress: “Wehave five female officers, and that’s expected to go up soon.”

Kearney’s fountain of youth

Insiders are enamored of Kearney’s “very youthful culture.” The firm isapparently getting younger all the time. Says one consultant, “Every time Ilook around the number of people with gray hair has gone down. Even thenumber of gray hairs on the gray-haired people is going down!” To what canwe attribute this fountain of youth? “I think that people are just rising throughthe ranks at a faster pace,” remarks another insider. “It’s not unusual for aconsultant to become a principal in six years or less. Because, you know,many people finish business school at an early age – 25 or 26.” Anotherinsider is less thrilled with her youthful co-workers: “For the most part,Kearney people are top of the line. But I’ve encountered some very young,very inexperienced people.”

Moving up

At A.T. Kearney, “it takes from two to four years to get promoted from onelevel to the next. Basically, if you are not being promoted, you should get themessage. But it’s not like in two years you have to be promoted or you getout. If someone has some issues in their life and isn’t able to put the optimaltime at work, it might take three.” Even so, “sometimes there isn’t a matchbetween the person and what the company is looking for, in which case theperson will get the message in his performance reviews, which are held everysix months.”


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Unholy hours

A.T. Kearney employees work “long days and even longer weeks.” Oneinsider reveals that “work hours will almost always be a minimum of 60hours a week, sometimes as high as 90, but we put the achievement of resultsahead of the time spent. If you can achieve a large positive client impact in40 hours per week, great – go home!” Another former consultant doesn’t findKearney so lax, claiming, “People were motivated to stay at the office forlong hours. I didn’t believe in going into the office just to be seen, althoughothers did. I guess things are changing though. From what I’ve heard,Kearney isn’t encouraging people to come in during the weekends.” Anotherinsider believes the hours “vary by what phase of the project you’re in.Typically, it’s 60 to 70 hours a week. I didn’t realize how long 70 hours couldbe – it feels like an eternity.” While this insider couldn’t stand ‘forever after’as a consultant, he does say that although “it wasn’t the lifestyle I was lookingfor, [working at Kearney] was a good way for me to be exposed to a realconsulting experience.”

Keep in mind, however, that hours in consulting can be highly unpredictable,though they generally occur around a readily identifiable set of “spikes.” Asone consultant puts it, “It definitely goes up and down. The things that driveit up are generally milestones, or critical points on the project, or there is amajor deliverable due, or a major presentation, a major proposal. Anytimeyou have major deadlines the hours tend to spike up. And then there are timeswhen things are pretty smooth and controlled and the hours tend to go down.”

The torture of travel

A.T. Kearney employees report plenty of travel – according to the firm, over65 percent of A.T. Kearney employees have worked on engagements outsidetheir home offices. One insider states, “I was kind of on a skewed schedulebecause I had to return for frequent training sessions. I would say it was50/50: 50 percent of the time at a client site and 50 percent at home base.” Asis the case with other firms, some insiders resent the amount of time theyspend en route to various sites. “If you include the time I spend traveling,”says one insider, “my hours would be depressing. So I prefer to see the traveltime as my time, rather than the company’s time.”

On the other hand, the firm’s movement toward locally based projects, a trendbuttressed by its operational reorganization into nine regional profit centers,means that travel requirements are getting much easier. According to oneinsider, “I’m not trying to say that incidents like that – traveling acrossmultiple time zones, long-haul flights – have gone to zero, but they have


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Our Survey Says

definitely gone down, because over the last two years we have made a verystrong attempt to get people focused regionally.” Additionally, the firm hasinstituted a travel policy called “4-3 Four You,” which mandates no more thatfour days and three nights away per week.” So you would spend Monday,Tuesday, Wednesday night away from home,” one respondent tells us, “butyou would still get to spend four nights back at home. And we’ve had a prettygood compliance with that. The last numbers I saw, 70 or 80 percent of thepeople who were traveling were still able to spend four nights at home.”

Industry specification

One Kearney insider concedes, “there isn’t much emphasis on industryspecification until the manager level. But anyone who is post-manager reallyshould have expertise and industry relationships. Both are crucial to success.”At the lower levels, another insider reveals, “it’s fine to be a generalist. Ifanything, you’ll find yourself learning about industries in specific placessince you’re placed in a geographical group – mine was the Midwest.”

Teams at A.T. Kearney vary in size depending on the project. Operations-oriented efforts can involve dozens of people, as well as more from the clientside. Strategy projects, on the other hand, tend to have very small teams. Oneprincipal says that “on strategy engagements I would have, on the smallerside, two-three people. If I have eight or 10 people that’s considered a largestrategy team.”

Staffing projects is done in two ways. The first is through a database and staffof dedicated HR placement specialists. “we have directors of operation ineach of our profit centers and they maintain active databases of people whoare currently available, not working on projects, how much time they haveavailable, how much vacation they have planned,” says one insider. “You canlook at their availability, their resumes, their skill sets and what projects theyworked on before – basically just all the hard information you need oncandidates you are going to consider for staffing a project.” The second, muchmore informal way is through networking and word of mouth. Kearneyevaluates each consultant after each project, and principals looking to staffnew projects can read those evaluations and speak with a consultant’s formermanagers to get a feeling for their skills and competencies. “After everyproject people are evaluated in depth – what they did well, what they couldhave done better, the development opportunities, all those things arediscussed with every consultant,” notes one principal. “A lot of times whenI’m staffing projects what I also do is go back and talk to the people who havebeen working with the consultant before.”


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Intense work and social activity

A.T. Kearney, by most reports, encourages a healthy social life among itsconsultants. “It depends on the team you’re working with, but a lot of off-the-job interaction is encouraged. I mean, we go out together almost every nightfor dinner when we’re on the road. And besides that we have a social dinneronce a week. We play golf together on a weekly basis, and we have a lot ofevents scheduled on the weekends.” One exhausted consultant reports:“There are a lot of extracurricular activities. In fact, I pick the ones I want togo to and don’t go to the rest; otherwise, I’d be doing company stuff sevendays a week.” Recruiting, by another insider’s account, is a good way to bondwith fellow co-workers. “During recruiting, we would finish up as early aspossible so we could eat, drink, and be merry.”

Another consultant says: “I find the camaraderie here very appealing, becausethis industry is somewhat cutthroat; it’s good to have that human touch.”While events “aren’t as extravagant as other firms – no trips to the Caribbean– there are dinners, wine tastings, and softball teams.” A.T. Kearney wasranked 16th overall among Fortune’s “50 Employers MBA’s Love” in 2001.Not all personal lives are office-oriented, however. Another insider says,“Most people I know here have time to pursue outside interests. We haveopera singers and rock climbers. One good friend of mine is writing a novel.”

Highly selective firm

Kearney is “highly selective, just as selective as the other top consultingfirms,” so goes the consensus among Kearney insiders. “Not an easy ticket,”one insider puts it. “We go after the best people. A lot of firms at our levelcannibalize each other.” As evidence, A.T. Kearney recently hired a new VPof Strategic Services, Patrick Graham, from rival Bain.

Training: Learn your acronyms

One veteran of A.T. Kearney training informs us that “there are two trainingprograms, NCO (New Consultants Orientation), for all new consultants, anda similar program for analysts. NCO fills you in on the firm and its history,but it’s most important as a chance to network with the new class. A.T.Kearney tries to give everyone time to interact. That lasts three or four days.”Another insider says that the more advanced program, for new businessanalysts, “basically gives non-business majors the toolkit they need tofunction as consultants. Finance, accounting, beginning statistics, some datasearch techniques. The class is taught by second- and third-year businessanalysts, and it lasts five days.” Another insider reports that training quality

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often depends on the size of the group. “When there were a lot of partners andprincipals together, the training wasn’t particularly enlightening becauseeveryone would answer questions in a politically correct way – you know,because there was so much pressure to speak in a certain way. The smallergroups, however, were much more intimate and structured. All of myquestions were answered in an honest way.”

Kearney has been moving much of its continuing education onto the web, inan effort to make regular training accessible to consultants who have tobalance hectic schedules with their skill-building needs. “The trainingprograms are specific to different industries,” we hear, “that help you come tospeed on what’s going on in a specific industry, in retail or manufacturing orhigh tech, and understand the trends and competitors.” As for mentoringefforts, Kearney “has a ‘buddy’ program. You are assigned a mentor-figurewho will assist you with the initial adjustment to firm life. The fact is, thepeople who do well at the firm are often strong mentors.”

A most refined review system

One source tells us that A.T. Kearney gives “a lot of attention to my personaldevelopment. The review process is very thorough, and you have theopportunity to improve yourself.” Indeed, A.T. Kearney takes its feedbacksystem “very, very seriously.” One insider says, “Performance and projectreviews come frequently. You are given constant feedback.” Another insider,who cites the summer internship experience, reveals, “I was given a midtermevaluation about five weeks into the program. I also received the sameevaluation at the end. Project managers write up notes, meet with you, anddiscuss your strengths and what kind of things you could improve.” What aretypical areas of improvement? “For example,” says another insider, “youmight be told to develop your presentation skills. Your manager might tellyou, ‘You will likely have three to five presentations in the next five weeks.Step up to the plate and make them as polished as possible.’” The firm uses“both a qualitative and a quantitative scale” for evaluations. “It’s based on ascale of one through three. One means ‘You are a star.’ Three means ‘Youhave some things to work on.’ And two means ‘Keep up the good work.’Almost everyone receives twos.”


Overview of the Hiring ProcessDon’t expect to see an A.T. Kearney recruiter roaming around your schoolanytime soon: After hiring 248 new employees in 2001 (which turned out tobe 248 more than it needed), the firm canceled all U.S. campus recruiting atboth the undergraduate and graduate levels for the class of 2002. Hiring ofexperienced candidates has been restricted to the vice president and seniorprincipal levels.

The firm does expect to return to campuses in 2003, so it is still important tobe aware of its past hiring practices. When applying to the firm, candidateschoose to interview in one of three areas: General Practice, StrategicTechnology, or the Financial Institutions Group. The process consists of tworounds of interviews, usually completed within a three-week period. The firstround includes two back-to-back 45-minute interviews. While this round iscase-intensive, applicants have the opportunity to ask questions about thefirm’s culture and preferred industries. First-round interviews are typicallyheld on campus, at the most local firm branch, or at a nearby hotel. Generally,the firm informs applicants if they have advanced to the next round the dayafter their first round of interviews.

In the second round, MBA applicants go through another five interviews withsenior Kearney staffers. Some of these again are case-based, and “each caseis based on the practice [the interviewer] was in.” These interviews “are notfocused on strategy. It’s more like supply chain stuff.” Although candidatesstill may not have a sense of whether an offer is forthcoming, by the thirdround they are in select company. “The largest percentage of cuts were madebefore the final round,” says a former interviewee. “If you make it [to thatround] you have a good shot.”

Insiders report that A.T. Kearney interviewers are “kind” and “supportive.”Although the interview questions – especially the case studies – arethemselves often tough, the interviewers don’t try to bully or intimidate. Oneinsider reports, “the Kearney consultants who interviewed me had a minimalamount of attitude. They were bright, friendly and very likeable.” Otherinsiders report that their overwhelmingly positive impressions of interviewersled them to pick Kearney over other firms. One offeree goes so far as to say,“I was willing to take a lower salary than I was offered at [another firm]because the people were great. Very smart and very fun.”

Getting Hired

A.T. Kearney


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Once they have accepted an offer, recent MBA grads choose a start date. 2001grads were sent a personal e-mail with a confirmation of that date in April,but the following month were told that they were all being deferred by amonth. They were also offered $1,000 to make up for the lost month of work.The situation worsened in June 2001, when start dates were pushed backedagain, this time by four to seven months at some schools and an entire year atothers. “I got an e-mail saying, ‘Dear New Hire…’” says one disgruntledMBA hire. “I didn’t even get a phone call saying ‘we’re calling to ruin yourlife.’” Adding insult to injury, the firm also informed the offerees that it wasrescinding the $1,000 since it was no longer just a month holdover.

For some of those left in the lurch, the experience left a bad taste. “The HRstaff is completely ass-backward,” says one. “My calls to find out what’s uparen’t returned. They were very attentive until we accepted the offer. Then webecame an annoyance to them. It’s funny, the company I almost went tobecause of the people I’m now not going to because of the people.” Some seea pattern developing in Kearney’s human resource management: “The samething happened three years ago. Most companies can manage their numbersbetter, though I hear that a lot of these problems are caused by EDS.”

Qualifications

For business analysts, A.T. Kearney looks for proven leadership, problem-solving ability, quantitative talent and interpersonal skills. The firm claims torecruit people who “are perceptive and resourceful.” Candidates should be“highly personable and outgoing: all-around potential managementconsulting superstars.” Moreover, Kearney seeks people “with insight, anadventurous spirit, and a desire for continuous creative growth andimprovement.”

Despite Kearney’s claims, however, insiders report that an adventurer wholacks the right “fit” with the firm culture will also lack a job. Indeed, whileother consultancies often perform only one fit interview, Kearney has beenknown to give up to three. Kearney especially likes to scrutinize its applicantsin the second round, where the employment stakes are higher.

One Kearney principal says that he looks for a particular set of skills andattitudes grouped under the rubric “the consulting mindset.” By that he means“a lot of different skill sets: Can you establish relationships and rapport withclients or people when you are meeting them for the first time, are you goodat listening and not just talking all the time yourself, are you good atstructuring problems. So a lot of times in our interviews we do caseinterviews where we give people problems to solve and then we see how they


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go about really structuring the problem and breaking it down into individualpieces that can be tackled one at a time.”

Associates should have an MBA and three to five years of full-time businessexperience (this is more than the industry average). A.T. Kearney is especiallyinterested in people with strong engineering and finance backgrounds.Managing director John Egan seeks “global individuals. People who aremultilingual and comfortable in a multicultural context. We put these criteriaabove any individual skills. When recruiting I tend to look at three criteria:analytical (an MBA at a top school is a good indication of this),implementation (experience and maturity to get the job done) and facilitation(the coaching, team-playing, and people skills). If you imagine ranking eacharea on a scale of 1 to 10, every consultant has to have one ten and at leasttwo sevens.” Associates should also have proven a particular aptitude in theirprevious jobs – meaning not only an excellent record but a clear interest inunderstanding their industry. “Depending on where you’ve been working, doyou really understand that domain or that space very well, and have you takenthe time to step out of your previous job and look around and try tounderstand a proper picture of what’s going on,” asks one consultant.

The vast majority of both analysts and associates graduate from prestigiousuniversities with high GPAs. Those Kearney consultants who did not engagein Kearney’s on-campus recruiting campaign generally have expertise in aspecific and highly valued industry such as health care or informationtechnology.

To ApplyUndergraduates and MBAs interested in general management consulting andstrategic information technology should contact one of the followingaddresses:

U.S. Campus RecruitingCampus RecruitingA.T. Kearney 222 West Adams Street Chicago, IL 60606 Telephone: 312-223-6030


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Getting Hired

Canadian Campus RecruitingA.T. KearneySuite 230020 Queen Street WestToronto, ON M5H 3R3Telephone: 416.977.6886

Latin American Campus Recruitment(Mexico City, Caracas, Buenos Aires, São Paulo)A.T. Kearney R. Joaquim Floriano, 72 Suite 20104534-000 São Paulo, SPBrazilTelephone: 55 11 3040 6200

Northern European Campus Recruitment (Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm, London, Johannesburg) U.K. and Joannesburg: [email protected]: [email protected]: [email protected]: [email protected]: [email protected]

Central European Campus Recruitment(Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfort, Munich, Prague, Stuttgart, Vienna, Warsaw,Budapest, Moscow, Zurich)www.atkearney.de

Southwest European Campus Recruitment(Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid, Paris)Spain or Portugal: [email protected]: [email protected]

Benelux Recruitment (Amsterdam, Brussels) [email protected].

Mediterranean Campus Recruitment (Athens, Istanbul, Milan, Rome)A.T. Kearney S.p.A.Corso Venezia 34/36 20121 Milano Italy Telephone: 39.02.76.2951


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Asian Campus Recruitment (Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai)A.T. Kearney (Hong Kong) Ltd.Level 31One Pacific Place88 Queensway, Hong KongTelephone: 852 2501 1400

Southeast Asian Campus Recruitment (Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, New Delhi, Bangkok and Jakarta)A.T. Kearney Pte. Ltd1 Temasek Avenue35-01 Millenia TowerSingapore 039192Telephone: 65 298 7200

Japan Campus Recruiting www.atkearney.co.jp

Australian Campus Recruiting A.T. Kearney Australia Pty LtdLevel 44Governor Phillip Tower1 Farrer PlaceSydney NSW 2000AustraliaTelephone: 61-2-9259-1999

Experienced professionals interested in A.T. Kearney should direct theirresumes to:

North American Senior [email protected]: (312) 648-0111


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A.T. Kearney

Getting Hired

Questions to Expect

1. Guesstimate/Case Study: How would you go about moving Mt. Fujifrom point A to point B?

To figure out this guesstimate, our insiders advise that the candidate firstestimate the volume of material that needs to be moved. Of course, there isno way to know the exact weight or volume of the mountain, short of placingit on a gigantic scale; but you can make your best guess by asking theinterviewer specific questions (keep in mind that you also have to considerthe weight of various materials on the mountain, including trees, ice, snow,mountain climbers, etc.). Next, consider which method of transport would bebest suited to the task of moving a huge land mass. Our insiders say, short ofdivine intervention, dump trucks are the most feasible vehicle. The candidatemust then determine how much material an average dump truck is capable ofcarrying (note that dump trucks gauge maximum capacity by weight, notvolume), how much time is allotted for the completion of the task, and theaverage life expectancy of each vehicle.

2. Case Study: Disney is looking to open a theme park in India. Take methrough the issues you need to consider before it is designed.

Here, an insider reports that being up-to-date on recent business events is key.A candidate could use basic knowledge of the EuroDisney venture as atemplate for the formulation of new ideas. An insider points out that culturalissues are as crucial to the discussion as economic ones. “In addition to thepark’s set-up and the number of visitors per day, I had to think about whatkind of foods the vendors would be selling. If selling a particular kind of meatwould offend certain religions, for example, that kind of decision could leadto disastrous consequences.” Other relevant considerations, according to theinsider, include the park’s infrastructure, the pros and cons of various sourcesof electricity, transportation to and from the park, geography and climate, andpolitical context.

3. Guesstimate: You’re a wine bottler looking to sell your product on anationwide level. How do you calculate your clientele?

This is a perfect example of a market size guesstimate. In order to determinethe market, one must first make a series of “best guess” assumptions. First,start with a rough calculation of the total number of people in the UnitedStates. A popular choice is 250 million. Next, measure the number of peopleper household. If one assumes that the United States has, on average, threepeople per household, one can also assume that there are over 80 millionhouseholds in the country. Next, the number of wine drinkers in each


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household must be approximated. Assume that about 50 percent of personswithin each household imbibe some type of wine, and that this percentage canbe divided into “frequent wine drinkers” (those who take a glass three to fourtimes a week) and “infrequent wine drinkers” (those who take fewer thanthree glasses a week). As more and more factors emerge (i.e. white wineversus red wine, expensive wine versus inexpensive wine), the approximatenumber clients will sharply decline. Remember that the interviewer is mostlyconcerned with a candidate’s method of achieving an answer – notnecessarily the answer itself. Insiders state that a pen and paper “is a must forquick calculations.”

4. Fit Question: If your client is a real jerk, and you can’t possibly workwith him, what do you do?

Here, Kearney is testing one’s morality, resilience, common sense anddiplomacy. Although strong “people skills” are invaluable to the firm,insiders say that you don’t have to give a pat answer to score points.However, a response with the phrase “slug him in the gut” might not bealtogether appropriate either. When answering the question, attempt to findthe most tactful response. Although this question is unusual in the consultinguniverse of case studies and guesstimates, it is actually a “fit” questionmasquerading as an off-handed or casual query.

5. Guesstimate: How many 747s are above Kansas right now?

This classic question is inherently absurd given that there is no way todefinitively answer it. Nevertheless, all guesstimates – even the preposterousones – can be whittled down to a number of reasonable estimations. SinceKansas is in the middle of the country, a significant percentage of coast-to-coast flights probably fly over some part of the state. Feel free to ask yourinterviewer relevant questions such as the square footage of the state, whethermore 747 flights take place earlier in the day or later, and how many airlinesmake frequent coast-to-coast trips. Create potential numbers for domestic,international, and shorter “hop” flights. Feel free to think out loud as well asto use a pen and paper for mathematical calculations. Since your thoughtprocess matters more than your answer, trite answers (“At this very moment,a major snowstorm in the Midwest has caused delays in all cross-country airtravel”) definitely won’t fly (and neither will bad puns).

6. Guesstimate: How many garage door openers are there in the NewYork metropolitan area?

Figure out how many personal garages there would be in the New York region(for example, if there are about two million houses in New York, maybe everyone in 10 would have a garage with an opener, or 200,000 openers) – and how


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many commuting suburbanites there are who might have them in their cars.Be sure to ask your interviewer to define what he means by the metro area,since including the suburbs of New Jersey and Connecticut wouldsignificantly inflate the number.

7. Case: A foreign company with extra cash on hand wants to enter theAmerican fast food market. What would you tell them?

Questions to ask here would be: What business is the foreign company innow? Does it have the capability and expertise to succeed in this market? Isit a good time to enter the fast food market at all? Is the company capable ofentering the market? What would the company serve up? Should it buildtraditional free-standing stores? You should discuss the attractiveness of theAmerican fast food industry, applying Porter’s Five Forces. You will haveabout 30 minutes to discuss the case with your interviewer and work throughyour answer.

Questions to Ask

1. How would you describe A.T. Kearney’s culture?

Kearney loves to discuss the “diversity,” “talent” and “congeniality” of itsconsultants. Inquiring about the firm’s famously cooperative and convivialculture will give the interviewer a chance to elaborate on one of the firm’strue assets.

2. What is the career path for new analysts (or associates) at A.T.Kearney?

Do your homework before posing this question so that you can follow it upwith more specific inquiries.

3. What kind of international opportunities does A.T. Kearney provide?

Like all major consultancies, Kearney is a travel-intensive firm. With somany international branches, clients, and affiliates, most analysts andassociates will travel abroad at least once.

4. How close has A.T. Kearney come to its stated goal of providing servicealong the entire continuum of business needs?

The answer to this question will depend upon the enthusiasm – or thefanaticism – of the interviewer.


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5. Please tell me more about the training that A.T. Kearney provides.

Kearney’s training programs have been called “rigorous,” “thorough,” “realworld,” “well structured,” and “essential.” Training sessions, especially whenthey are arranged as off-site weekend trips, also afford incoming consultantsthe opportunity to build contacts and meet future co-workers.


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VAULT CAREER GUIDESGET THE INSIDE SCOOP ON TOP JOBS

Vault guides and employer profiles have been publishedsince 1997 and are the premiersource of insider information on careers.

Each year, Vault surveys andinterviews thousands of employees to give readers theinside scoop on industries andspecific employers to help themget the jobs they want.

“To get the un-varnished scoop,check out Vault”– SMARTMONEY MAGAZINE

“Cliffs Notesfor Careers”– FORBES MAGAZINE

A Day in the Life

Business Analyst

4:00 a.m. Wake up and curse the harsh buzz of an early morning alarm.

5:30 a.m. Catch plane to Houston to meet a client involved in the distributionof telecommunications equipment.

9:00 a.m. Arrive at client site.

9:30 a.m. Meet with members of A.T. Kearney and client team; discuss theday’s agenda; receive individual tasks and responsibilities.

12:00 a.m. Grab something to eat at the client cafeteria; usually the first realmeal of the day.

1:00 p.m. Arrange a case-related tour of a local company at the request ofthe team manager.

3:00 p.m. Create financial model in Excel; verify data with other anotherteam member.

4:00 p.m. Coffee with the senior partner on the team.

5:00 p.m. Catch up on paperwork and correspondence; check voice mail ande-mail. I usually try to do that first thing, but travel often disrupts even themost regular routines.

7:00 p.m. Attend a baseball game with the team; meet for drinks afterward.

11:00 p.m. Try to read the first chapter of a new novel; fail; surrender to thesweet calm of sleep.

Associate

6:00 a.m. Wake up, take a brief early morning run and get ready for work.

7:30 a.m. Arrive at the office. Most other consultants won’t be here foranother half-hour, but I often do the most work early in the morning, whenthere are no interruptions.

9:00 a.m. Drink a cup of coffee; read personal e-mail and the front page ofThe Wall Street Journal.

On the Job

A.T. Kearney


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On the Job

9:30 a.m. Make a follow-up call to a fellow associate on the East Coast.Discuss her upcoming wedding as well as strategy ideas for a client in the ITindustry.

10:00 a.m. Go over notes and exhibit materials for a lunch meeting; meetwith team to verify a few last-minute changes.

11:00 a.m. Team meeting. When we’ve just started a new project, everyonestarts throwing out ideas and theories. It’s invigorating and exciting.

12:00 p.m. Remind team that they’re due at the client site earlier than usualtomorrow morning.

1:00 p.m. Lunchtime. Grab some sushi with a co-worker. (We have a broadrange of people at Kearney. Some of them are absolutely incredible – greatworkers who have done great things. Others aren’t quite up to par.Occasionally, I discover that a co-worker isn’t able to swim in this kind ofcompetitive environment.)

2:00 p.m. Try to find stats on the international activities of a client’s industry.

4:00 p.m. Build financial models. Kearney is remarkable in this area.

5:30 p.m. Return urgent phone calls from upper-level management.

6:30 p.m. Write a memorandum summarizing research and ideas from theday.

8:00 p.m. Go home and start packing for tomorrow’s client meeting.

Job Descriptions

Business Analyst

Business analysts at A.T. Kearney “lead teams, develop models, performcomplex analyses, work on research assignments both in the office and atclient sites, travel on assignments, participate in business development andmarketing activities, and help prepare proposals for new engagementopportunities.” Most analysts join A.T. Kearney directly after college,although many have previous work experience or have studied abroad. Otheranalysts join Kearney after earning graduate degrees in non-business areas.


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Other daily activities of an analyst might include:

• Creating financial models in Excel

• Interviewing clients for case information

• Locating data needed for case

• Working with other team members on client cases

• Researching client-related industries

• Making client presentations

And although no two client engagements are alike, Kearney says thefollowing analyst accomplishments are typical:

• Identifying global leadership practices in electronics manufacturing for amultinational electronics company

• Conducting activity-based analysis of key business processes, interviewingcustomers, training client staff in A.T. Kearney methodology, identifyingquick hits that resulted in 15 percent efficiency gains, and writing andpresenting final recommendations to management

• Developing an analytical framework to assess manufacturing sites fromboth quantitative and qualitative perspectives

• Performing competitor benchmarking analysis, identifying savingsopportunities of $15 million (50 percent of total expenditures) for thefinance function of a major oil company

Senior Business Analyst

Most senior business analysts join A.T. Kearney after gaining specificindustry experience, after completing an undergraduate degree, and/or afterreceiving an advanced degree in an area other than business. This position isimportant as a bridge between the business analyst and associate consultingpositions. Individuals with solid business experience are invited to makesignificant contributions to the consulting team, adding insights and solutionsto identify, study and solve business problems across a wide range ofindustries.


L I B R A R Y

A.T. Kearney

On the Job

On a daily basis, senior business analysts are involved with the following:

• Leading segments of a project

• Developing models

• Performing complex analyses

• Working on research assignments both in the office and at client sites

• Participating in business development and marketing activities

• Helping prepare proposals for new engagement opportunities

Kearney reports that some senior business analysts have helped clientswith the following::

• Repositioned the assortment and pricing of a leading internationalconsumer goods retailer and identified markets for the company to developor streamline

• Optimized purchasing conditions for an international supermarket chainusing a systematic approach to analyze suppliers’ performance and carryout negotiations

• Helped a major connector manufacturer with capacity outsourcing in Asia

• Reset a retail and property company’s strategic direction by assessingcompany’s market positioning, organization and key processes

• Set IT requirements for a bank to support recommended new business

• Designed an e-business solution that included a strategic assessment ofdifferent e-business value propositions, competitive market study, financialmodeling, and the design and mapping of major functionalities

Associate

Associates at A.T. Kearney join project teams, where they “gather andanalyze data, identify strategy, [make] operations and technicalimprovements, conduct benchmarking, [do] best practices and othercompetitor-assessment studies, work at client locations, share insights andsolve problems, recommend actions and help clients implement actions” and,in general, “contribute to A.T. Kearney’s intellectual capital, engagementquality, recruiting and other activities.”


A.T. Kearney

On the Job

Daily activities of an associate might include:

• Managing analyst activities

• Analyzing data and making recommendations to clients

• Participating in recruiting and training new A.T. Kearney consultants

Manager

Managers are responsible for project oversight on engagements. They assignspecific tasks make sure that the deliverables are scheduled and presented ontime.

Principal

The principal position at A.T. Kearney is an elected one. Everydayresponsibilities involve development of engagement strategy and businessdevelopment, while dealing directly with clients and managing clientengagements. Principals also become involved in internal firm-buildingprojects such as enhancing visibility within the firm.

Officer

Officers, working in partnership with client CEOs, are involved inrelationship development and management. They develop long-termstrategies with each account in addition to taking an active role in theleadership of A.T. Kearney, and also in developing and executing the businessstrategy for the firm.

Summer Associate

The A.T. Kearney Summer Associate program was initiated in 1991. Pairedwith mentors – A.T. Kearney consultants – the summer associates areexposed to the consulting process, including the travel. Mid-term reviewshelp keep tabs on their performance. Summer associates at A.T. Kearney, ingeneral, are quite positive about their experience at the firm. “A.T. Kearneytreats MBAs as regular full-time associates,” says one summer hire. “Expectto work hard and to be given interesting and meaningful responsibilities.”“Ask for feedback,” say summer associates, who vary in their opinions onKearney’s organization. Some found the atmosphere at the company to be“quite unstructured,” while others found it “quite structured, with a trainingprogram, two to three company-wide events, and two events just for summer


L I B R A R Y

A.T. Kearney

On the Job

associates.” At times, several summer associates found themselves doingwork that was “less value-added than I expected, with more time spent ondata collection and processing, and less on analysis.” A.T. Kearney has a“very laid-back corporate culture,” reports one summer associate. “Thepeople were great.” Another summer intern concurs: “A.T. Kearney’s cultureis somewhat relaxed relative to other consulting firms but by no means doesit lack intensity.” “I give the summer internship two thumbs up,” concludesone satisfied summer associate.

The daily activities of an associate might include:

• Assisting case team preparations and presentations

• Building financial models in Excel

• Participating in A.T. Kearney training exercises

• Conducting competitor-assessment studies

Career Path

For undergraduates

Business analysts typically work at A.T. Kearney for two or three years.Exceptional business analysts may be promoted to associate positions duringtheir time at A.T. Kearney. Analysts who have satisfactorily completed theanalyst program are frequently invited to obtain an MBA at Kearney’sexpense; after that point, they are required to work at the firm for a minimumof three years. This program is extremely popular, with 80 percent of a recentclass attending business school on Kearney’s dime.

A.T. Kearney has instituted the position of senior business analyst toaccommodate top-performing business analysts as well as to attract talentwith graduate degrees other than MBAs and/or relevant industry experience.The new position allows business analysts to participate in more advancedroles on client engagements consistent with their higher level ofqualifications and/or experience. After 12 to 18 months of service in this newrole, senior business analysts are eligible for promotion to the associate level,although some experienced senior business analysts may be promoted toassociate more rapidly in the program’s first year.


A.T. Kearney

On the Job

For MBAs

At A.T. Kearney, MBAs start their careers as associates, and typically remainin that position for two to three years. After this point, associates move on tofill managerial slots. In another two to three years, top performers may attainthe rank of principal. Finally, after another three to five years, principals maybecome officers (senior partners). Unlike several of its competitors, A.T.Kearney purports not to follow a strict “up-or-out” policy.

Promotion timeframes exist only in theory; the firm believes that individualprogress “is a function of many factors including performance, development,and firm-building contributions.” Nevertheless, Kearney asserts that careerprogression for an associate usually follows this model:

• Associate to Manager: 2-3 years

• Manager to Principal: 2-4 years

• Principal to Officer: 3-5 years


L I B R A R Y

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This is an interesting time to be at A.T. Kearney. The merger with deep-pocketed EDS has allowed the firm to leapfrog its way up the rankings ofconsulting firms and positioned the firm to become a major player ininformation technology consulting. With most consulting firms beginning tomove into all aspects of the industry, from strategy to implementation tooperations management, A.T. Kearney’s “roll up our sleeves and do it all”philosophy looks like a winner. Like many of its competitors, Kearney hasundergone layoffs and deferrals of new hires. But the firm is betting that itambitious world view – not to mention its friendly and sensible group of co-workers – will enable it to weather the storm. If you’re looking for a forward-looking firm and are willing to travel constantly, you could do worse than toland at A.T. Kearney.

Final Analysis

A.T. Kearney


L I B R A R Y

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A.T. Kearney’s web site (www.atkearney.com) contains useful andinformative online versions of A.T. Kearney’s publication ExecutiveAgenda, as well as white papers, book excerpts and recent Kearney pressreleases. Recent books include Winning the Global Endgame and The ValueGrowers.

Other articles of use include:

• “Thinking Strategically about Supply Management,” Bill Markham andBob Tevelson, Supply Chain Management Review, September/October2002.

• “ AT Kearney Slams Australian 3G Potential,” ZDNet Australia,September 4, 2002.

• “EDS Sues Former A.T. Kearney Chairman,” Dallas Business Journal,August 6, 2002.

• “A.T. Kearney Remains Bullish,” The Nation, July 30, 2001. Kearneyopens its new office in Bangkok with big expectations.

• “Will Texas Cure What Ails A.T. Kearney?” Business Week, February 15,2001. The state of the EDS-A.T. Kearney dynamic.

Recommended Reading

A.T. Kearney


L I B R A R Y

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