EXCLUSIVE – Dauphine and Edhec graduates are increasingly attracting interest from McKinsey, Bain and BCG.

Here, you no longer need to be part of the very closed circle of Paris business schools (HEC, ESSEC, ESCP) to join the most prestigious consulting firms. McKinsey, BCG and Bain – aka MBBs – recruit outside the top 4 (including Emlyon) and slowly open their doors to students from Edhec (historically 5th) and Paris Dauphine-PSL (unofficial). These two institutions are now in pole position to provide a pool of candidates.

A first in this environment with very selective recruitment. This is revealed by a study conducted by CaseCoach case study platform in France between the first quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2022.

As a result, 2% of the consultants employed by these three firms upon leaving school have a master’s degree in finance from the University of Paris or the School of Lille. ” This is something that was rarely seen before. This is a real trend “Edhec students are most represented in employment after two to eight years of professional experience – 6%,” says Enguerran Loos, founder and CEO of CaseCoach.

Other pools: ISAE-Supaero and Insead

But there are other schools in the market for MBBs. 3% of them, in turn, are graduates of ISAE-Supaero (Higher Institute of Aeronautics and Space) and join the top 3 firms with a higher profile. ” If someone has professional experience and has been through selective companies like, for example, investment banks, we look less at a diploma to know if they are a good candidate. », Enguerran Loos explains.

As for Insead’s newest master’s degree in management, launched in 2019, it has already managed to place four of its 80 students in one of these firms in France, i.e. 5% of its first batch of graduates. one” impressive success “For such a young formation, show CaseCoach’s research against these numbers.

McKinsey is more open, Bain is more elitist

BCG is the leading recruiting firm, with twice as many new hires as McKinsey and three times as many as Bain between Q1 2020 and Q2 2022. % of student enrollment outside the top 7 (HEC, Essec, Centrale, ESCP, EMLyon, Polytechnique and Sciences Po Paris). Bain is the most elite firm outside the Paris seraglio, owning less than 8% of these new recruits.

Although still shy, the observed growth of these “new” schools in the MBB recruitment pool highlights the growing need for new talent in companies experiencing high turnover (a quarter of the workforce leaves their companies each year) and at the same time new talent. a sharp increase in its activities (10% growth in 2022 according to Syntec Conseil estimates). ” It should be noted that the “life” of a consultant in a strategy firm is three years on average », calculates Enguerran Loos.

According to him, this is also explained by the increasing competition of technological companies. Consulting firms must fight harder to attract good candidates than they did five years ago.

Another factor: clients increasingly demand expertise from firms. ” It is not enough to send three polytechnics to carry out a strategic mission. Sometimes you need more specialized profiles in a certain sector », emphasizes Enguerran Loos. Currently, with digital transformation, there is a strong need for new hires with IT expertise, he said.

First experience is strongly recommended

This advance should not be the tree that hides the forest. Two-thirds of recruitments are made on leaving school, and 90% of new junior advisers at this stage come from these seven schools, the study points out. The HEC alone already provides 25% of new recruits, 19% for ESSEC, 15% for Centrale and ESCP and 14%.

While it’s possible to join Bain, McKinsey or BCG after a few years of experience, most joiners have already served on the board. 54% of those hired are dissidents from other consulting firms. EY-Parthenon, Monitor-Deloitte, Roland Berger and even Oliver Wyman act as springboards for MBBs. Even if not all of them are from this background: 35% of the top profiles hired do not come from consulting, finance or technology.

Very French and mostly male recruitment

But recruitment remains very homogeneous. 60% of the employees in these three firms are men. The later in the career the recruitment occurs, the lower the number of women employed. McKinsey is the firm closest to parity from 2020 to 2022, with 45% of women hiring, compared to 35% for Bain and 39% for BCG.

Hiring McKinsey, Bain and BCG in France has its own characteristics. The pool of hired consultants remains very local. 98% of them are French, whether they are young or have more lines on their CV. “ To join a firm in France, it is important to speak and write fluent French, if not in all countries such as the Netherlands, speaking English is sufficient. », Enguerran Loos explains.

Unlike the American method, an MBA – a master’s degree for professionals – is not a privileged way to integrate one of these firms. Only 3% of recruits are graduates and of this small proportion 90% have done MBAs from Insead and HEC.