Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012
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Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy
Recruitment Channel Report 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTSTop-Consultant.com
Introductory note 3
Part I - Recruitment and retention trends 5
Part II - Recruitment channel use and Social Media 12
Part III - Historical trends in recruitment channel use and Recruiter & Media Awards 18
Newspapers 19
Internet job sites 20
Recruitment agencies 21
Individual Recruiter Awards 22
INTRODUCTION
In producing this report for the last decade, we’ve served a consulting industry that for the most part has been used to enjoying double-digit annual growth in revenues – but that has also had to battle with staff attrition rates that often breach the 20% mark.
This ten year period has also seen the consulting industry hit by two downturns, the milder one induced by the dot-com crash and more recently the more prolonged and painful reversal of fortunes brought about by the global financial meltdown.
Hiring suffered during both these downturns, in part owing to the growth trajectory of the industry – but more so because of the reduced staff attrition that these economic conditions induced. With far fewer people leaving firms, far less replacement hiring was needed; and it’s replacement hiring rather than growth-induced hiring that is ultimately the bigger driver of hiring demand.
Growth prospects within consulting remain fragile. By far the largest practice areas are financial services and the public sector. When both are firing on all cylinders the industry powers ahead. At the outset of the economic downturn, financial services practices suffered considerably but continued spend by the public sector helped to sustain the sector. For much of 2011, a broad range of private sector practices enjoyed a modest rebound in demand, increasingly supporting the financial services practices in reviving consulting firms’ fortunes. However this private sector recovery
was without doubt dented by the Eurozone crisis that engulfed the economy from Autumn onwards. To a degree this has continued into 2012, though the early signs are encouraging that client demand in the private sector is picking up once again.
Taken as a whole, the prognosis is therefore that consulting revenues can be expected to continue their slow improvement, but that a return to double-digit growth for consulting as a whole is extremely unlikely.
The key thing for candidates, though, is going to be the degree to which this activity stimulates or chokes off staff attrition within the industry. If fear grips the industry and consultants choose to stay put in their existing jobs, this will significantly reduce career opportunities in consulting this year. If, however, staff attrition continues its upwards trend once again, the hiring landscape will be significantly altered.
With pay disparities favouring those who choose to move on, fears of redundancies and cutbacks in the industry are the only things that will really hurt hiring volumes in 2012.
With both monetary and hiring personnel resources constrained, everyone is trying to determine which channels are deserving of investment and which are most likely to produce the required hires.
Continued on next page...Top-Consultant.com
We very much hope that this report will help to address these issues for the recruiters amongst you.
Last but not least, our thanks go to the 153 consulting employers / recruiters who took part in our client survey and the 1,272 consulting candidates who participated in our candidate poll, without whose responses this unique data could not have been produced. We hope you derive valuable insights from this report and as always look forward to serving your needs as the year unfolds.
INTRODUCTION
Bryan HicksonManaging DirectorTop-Consultant.com
Top-Consultant.com
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Recruitment and retention ratesData collected from 153 management consultancy recruiters
ONEPart
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 6
Our interactions with clients over the last months, together with the survey data collected in January 2012, point to a number of significant factors that will shape the hiring market over the coming year:
1. Hiring expectations taken across the UK consulting industry are positive but more subdued than at this time last year, when a full blown recovery in consulting recruitment was expected - and indeed was largely seen until the Eurozone crisis erupted.
2. Recruiters are reporting greater competition to hire “hot skills” and an increasing problem of counter offers derailing recruitment efforts. For those skills that are in demand there is very much a battle being waged to attract – and hold on to – the necessary consulting staff.
3. With fee rates continuing to be squeezed, sustaining profit margins means firms are ever more focused on utilisation rates. For recruiters this is translating into increased pressure
to deliver “Just In Time” recruiting – namely ensuring that new hires are brought on board only at the moment where project wins mean they will be quickly deployed onto billable assignments.
Side effects of this are that candidates are finding the hiring that firms are doing is highly specialised; and the pace with which recruiting rounds are conducted tends to ebb and flow with changes in perceived client demand / market sentiment.
4. A particular challenge that recruiters have faced since Autumn 2011 is overcoming candidates’ fears of moving employer. The Eurozone crisis saw the return of hiring freezes and / or redundancy rounds at some firms. This has made candidates more risk-averse when considering a move - and is leaving recruiters with the additional challenge of persuading candidates they are not taking an undue risk leaving the “safety” of their current employer for the “unknown” of a new employer.
SUMMARYRecruitment Trends
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 7
One of the key questions everyone wants to know is whether employers expect their hiring to pick up again as the Eurozone crisis fades. This time last year the results pointed to a very strong upturn in hiring in 2011 compared to 2010. In essence this is what came to pass - the first 8 months of the year saw hiring very significantly up on the previous year. It was only the Eurozone situation that derailed what would otherwise have been a very strong year of recruiting activity.
Figure 1: 2012 Recruitment targets vs. 2011
Figure 2: Recruitment targets 2008 - 2012
Top-Consultant.com’s survey of 153 recruiters clearly shows that nearly 2/3 of recruiters expect to make more hires in 2012 than were made in 2011. Indeed 85% expect hiring in 2012 to equal or exceed the levels seen in 2011.
The historical series below shows that our recruiters have correctly predicted trends in the preceding years. The sharp deterioration in 2009 hiring was accurately predicted, as was the rebound in hiring in 2011. The fact that these same respondents are upbeat about 2012 is therefore a source of reassurance for all those looking to secure a job in consulting in 2012. Whilst explosive growth in hiring is not expected, ongoing improvements in the hiring market seem to be the consensus view.
Expectations point to a hiring upturnRecruitment Trends
21.3%
42.7%
20.7%
8.7%
6.7% Make considerably more hires than last year
Make slightly more hires than last year
Make as many hires as last year
Make slightly fewer hires than last year
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Make considerably
more hires than last year
Make slightly more hires
than last year
Make as many hires as last
year
Make slightly fewer hires
than last year
Make considerably fewer hires
than last year
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 8
When asked to assess hiring demand by practice area, a number of insights can be derived.
A score close to 1 in our chart indicates firms expect to undertake little or no hiring in that practice area; while the greater the number the more hiring is expected to see gains compared with the previous year.
The public sector trend is very marked. The strongest area of hiring demand in 2009, it has been decimated since and the latest data suggests recruiters see no immediate upturn in hiring demand within the public sector facing practice areas.
The Financial Services practice area - which like the public sector accounts for around 1/3 of all consulting spend - has fortunately moved out of sync with the public sector and so has kept the consulting industry afloat in more recent years. Whilst hiring expectations here are not as bullish as a year ago, this is still the practice area where the industry collectively expects to be doing the most hiring.
Energy & Utilities practices also look set to have a strong year of recruiting - and certainly the expected trends indicated for all three of these practice areas are being mirrored in the activity levels we are seeing on Top-Consultant during the first weeks of 2012.
Likely hiring patterns by practice areaRecruitment Trends
Figure 3: Recruitment activity by practice area
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
Financial Services
Energy & Utilities
Information Technology
Technology
Telecoms, Media & Entertainment
Healthcare & Pharma
Purchasing & Supply Chain
Retail / Consumer Goods
General Management
Engineering & Manufacturing
Distribution / Logistics
Automotive / Aerospace
Chemicals
Public Sector
Transportation
Facilities Management
Science / Research
Education
Leisure / Lifestyle
2012
2011
2010
2009
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 9
When asked to provide the same steer on the types of consulting expected to be contributing to hiring demand, the picture that emerges is one of a broad-based but moderate recovery in consulting. For the third year running, Business Process Improvement specialists are likely to be in the greatest demand, with Project / Programme Managers not far behind.
It is interesting to note the upwards hiring trend for strategy consulting, technology consulting and digital / e-business consulting - all of which we can therefore expect to see a decent year of hiring activity in 2012.
The continued appetite for strategy consulting hires is particularly encouraging. Strategy consulting is often seen as a bell-weather for the state of the consulting industry as a whole, so the fact that hiring expectations here have been sustained going into 2012 is a positive reflection on market sentiment for the year ahead.
Likely hiring patterns by type of consultingRecruitment Trends
Figure 4: Recruitment activity by type of consulting
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
Business Process
Improvement
Project / Programme
Management
Strategy Technology IT / Software Development
Outsourcing E-Business Finance / Accounting
CRM HR Consulting Marketing & Sales
Economics & Environmental
Consulting
2009
2010
2011
2012
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 10
Staff attrition to accelerate further?
Overall the expectation for 2012 is that staff attrition rates will hold steady at the heightened rates that were seen in 2011. That’s to say that replacing lost staff will continue to be a source of considerable hiring demand, but attrition is not expected to contribute to any increase in hiring over what was seen in 2011. Instead any acceleration in hiring would come from actual growth of practice areas.
Of course in some practice areas firms have introduced retention bonuses to try and reign back the retention problem; whilst counter offers we have already referenced as being a growing source of hiring frustration. Clearly any worsening of staff attrition beyond what’s anticipated here will give rise to additional hiring demand and put a further strain on recruiters’ capacity to deliver.
Figure 5: Staff attrition rates 2012
3.3%
20.7%
48.7%
23.3%
4.0%
0% 20% 40% 60%
Staff attrition rates will improve considerably
Staff attrition rates will improve a little
No change in staff attrition rates expected
Staff attrition rates will worsen a little
Staff attrition rates will worsen considerably
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Click here to find out moreStaff attrition to accelerateRecruitment Trends
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 11
Two interesting findings from this year’s survey are i) that consulting firms want overwhelmingly to make their hires from the ranks of the experienced consultant. Whilst in parallel ii) there’s a continuation of the 2011 trend where fewer experienced hires will be looking for a new job within consulting.
Taken in combination, these statistics paint the interesting picture of an industry where not all firms will be able to hire in the volumes they need – or will have to compromise on the backgrounds of those they hire and open their hiring up to a wider range of prospective candidates. Recent history teaches us that the latter outcome is the more likely and it is our expectation that hiring “must have criteria” will soften as the year progresses and these hiring difficulties become more pronounced.
Market will feel tighterMarket Trends
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Most likely to accept a job with a consulting employer
Not looking to change jobs in the next 12 months
Most likely to accept a job with a client organisation
Most likely to secure some other kind of role outside consulting
Most likely to accept a job in the City
Most likely to accept public sector/ charity job
2012
2011
2010
2009
Figure 6: Desired hiring profile 2010 – 2012
Figure 7: Candidates’ career intentions for 2009 - 2012
1
2
3
4
5
Experienced hires from
other consulting firms
Experienced hires from
industry
Experienced hires from
Government or Public Sector
bodies
Experienced hires from the
City
MBA finalists University leavers / Finalists
2010 2011 2012
Recruitment channel use and the role of social media
TWOPart
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 13
The following candidate job search trends we will be presenting are based on data collected from 10,000+ management consultancy candidates over the past ten years. Candidates from all the major consulting firms have participated, together with consultants currently working at niche consulting firms and potential industry hires looking to move into consulting.
Profile of respondents:
Most this year were Business Transformation / Change Management consultants (25.6%), Strategy consultants (21.9%), IT / Technology Consultants (17.5%) and Project / Programme Management consultants (15.1%).
The sectors that candidates this year had most experience of working in were Telecoms, Media & Entertainment (31.6%), the Public Sector (27.7%), Financial Services (Retail Financial Services focus) (23.1%), Retail / Consumer Goods (21.8%), Energy / Utilities (21.5%), and Financial Services (Investment Banking / Capital Markets) (17.5%).
Survey responses this year were generated via direct mailshots to the Top-Consultant.com readership; an invitation sent to all screened consulting candidates on the Get HeadhuntedCV database; promotions via Twitter, LinkedIn, Google News and Yahoo News, Forum posts and by invitations sent to candidates by recruitment agencies.
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Candidate poolOverview
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 14
Let us now look back at candidate activity over the last 12 months and specifically the channels used to look for new career opportunities. Every year we ask candidates to record the channels they used and the number of applications that they made through each. Collating that data allows us to analyse the penetration performance of the channels (how many candidates have used each) and the share of applications achieved from each of the six major recruitment channels:
We’d already seen the low application volumes generated by social media in last year’s findings - and this year wanted to gain a better understanding of this phenomena. The data breakdown by social media brand shows that LinkedIn has now reached 90% penetration within the consulting profession. Facebook is verging on 60% penetration, whilst Twitter has only just passed the 20% threshold.
Channel Review
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Figure 8: Application channels used last time to apply for a job
• Newspapers
• Recruitment agencies
• Internet job sites
• Social media
• Personal Contacts / Referrals
• Corporate Websites
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Recruitment agencies
Personal contacts / referrals
Internet job sites
Corporate websites
Social media sites (eg. LinkedIn,
Facebook etc.)
Newspaper adverts
20122011Candidate activity over last year
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 15
Given the importance of Twitter as a recruitment channel in some sectors, this is an enlightening finding for consulting recruiters. For now this remains a medium that will tap into only a very small proportion of the consulting audience.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Linkedin findings are surprising when one considers that so few applications
are being generated via social media channels, even with 90% take-up of the leading professional channel. To try and better understand this we asked candidate respondents what they used their social media profiles for. The findings are illuminating.
Social MediaChannel Review
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Expanding my professional
network
Raising my profile as an
expert
Participating in group
discussions
Sharing ideas and resources
with my network
Applying for advertised job
openings
Directly approaching
recruiters in my network for a
job
Staying in contact with friends and
family
Maintaining contact with colleagues
Figure 9: Activities consultants engage in when using their social media profiles? (more than one answer allowed)
The picture that emerges is one of consulting professionals using social media to expand their professional networks and to stay in touch with colleagues, friends and families. Use of social media to proactively approach recruiters or to respond to advertised vacancies is far less common.
The most obvious conclusion to draw from this is that social media are most potent for recruiters as a channel to proactively headhunt or approach candidates deemed to be of interest; and correspondingly are less effective as a channel to advertise openings and sit back and wait for a response.
Figure 10: Social media on which consultants are active users
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Xing Viadeo MySpace
20122011
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 16
Looking forwardChannel Review
When the number of applications made by channel is factored in, the picture remains much the same. Social media sites do not yet account for even 10% of applications, compared with over 30% for internet job boards. Even corporate sites produce greater application volumes.
Overall the conclusion from this year’s survey is therefore rather surprising. Running counter to the hype surrounding social media, this data supports the view that many consultants are now heavy users of social media – but do not use social media as a primary source for finding a new job. It should be emphasised that this survey is of course primarily a survey of candidates based in the UK and working in consulting, so there is no suggestion that the same can be said for other sectors or geographies.
Figure 11: Share of applications generated in last job search
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Internet job sites
Recruitment agencies
Corporate sites Personal contacts / referrals
Social media sites
Newspaper ads
20122011
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 17
There is of course always a danger extrapolating past behaviour to the future. So as well as investigating past behaviour, we also ask candidates to score the channels they would expect to use when next hunting for a new job. This is then a lead indicator for changes we can expect to see appear in future editions of this report. In previous years this forward projection has proven to be very reliable when compared with the actual results recorded in subsequent years.
As can be seen from the results, candidates clearly intend to modify their job hunt strategies only marginally during their next job search. There is no widespread expectation amongst candidates that they will suddenly turn to social media to find a job more than they have in the recent past.
Figure 12: Channels most likely to use in future
Looking forwardChannel Review
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
5.5
Personal contacts / referrals
Recruitment Agencies
Internet job sites
Corporate websites
Social media sites
Newspaper adverts
1 = Least likely to use 7 = Most likely to use
Historical trends in recruitment channel use and Recruiter & Media awardsData collected from 1,272 management consultancy candidates
THREEPart
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 19
Of all the channels, newspapers have suffered most in the last ten years with candidate penetration levels having fallen considerably, down to below 15% in this year’s survey.
The Times and Financial Times newspapers are established as the newspapers that consultants are most likely to read. However, as the earlier penetration figures show, consulting candidates are far less likely to apply to roles they see in newspapers than they were a decade ago, reducing their effectiveness as a recruitment channel.
NewspapersRecruitment channels
Figure 14: Newspapers and publications consultants read regularly
Figure 13: Penetration - Newspapers
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 20
Internet job sites continue to enjoy a high share of candidate usage, with market penetration over the last years having settled at around 2/3 of all consulting candidates having used the channel in their last job hunt. The 1,272 candidates surveyed were asked to reveal the job boards that they regularly review; and the job board they rate above all others for finding a consulting job. As can be seen in this matrix, Top-Consultant clearly retains its lead in this sector with LinkedIn being the only other significant source of consulting candidates. Other niche sites such as Consultantsboard and ConsultingLadder appear in the “All others” section and barely register in our survey of 1,272 consulting candidates.
Internet job sitesRecruitment channels
Figure 15: Penetration - Internet job sites
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Figure 16: Sources of candidate applications 2011/2012
TotaljobsJobsite
Sources of candidate applications 2011/2012
% of candidates using siteLow (<5%) High (70%)
Low (<5%)
High (40%)
% rating site as best for consulting jobs
Top-Consultant
Exec-Appointments
MonsterAll Others
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 21
Recruitment agency candidate penetration has held up much better during the recession than it did during the dot-comdownturn. It is now picking up in line with the rebound in recruiting across the profession and stands at just over 70%.
As well as asking candidates to recommend the best individual recruiters, we also asked them to feedback to us on the different recruitment firms that they have used. A ranking of firms that received the most praise and the least complaints was then produced. Congratulations to all firms listed.
Our special congratulations go to BLT who have secured the top spot for the fourth consecutive year. Respondents praised BLT for the qualities that made them stand out from the competition:
• for having a focussed and personal service • for their professionalism, willingness to listen and
commitment to keeping the candidate informed throughout the process
• for being knowledgeable, very well connected and
avoiding the hard sell
• for going the extra mile in helping candidates to prepare for interview and sharing their knowledge of the market.
Recruitment agenciesRecruitment channels
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Figure 17: Penetration - Recruitment agencies
Figure 18: 2012 top recruitment firms by praise
1 Beament Leslie Thomas (BLT)2 Prism3 Michael Warwick Nicholls (MWN)4 Aston Carter5 Consulting Point6 Selecture7 ChapmanBlack8 Huntswood9 Comms Point10= Freshminds10= CNA
Top-Consultant.com’s Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2012PAGE 22
Recruiters - available throughout 2012
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Alongside the rankings of recruitment firms, we asked candidates to help us identify the best individual recruiters they had worked with. We asked them:
“If you have been particularly impressed with an individual recruitment consultant you have worked with in the past, please provide their name & company so that we can give them special recognition”
Eleven individuals stood out as receiving the most praise and we warmly congratulate them all for their success. They are listed in no particular order:
Individual recruitersAwards
Figure 19: Best individual recruitment consultants 2012
Chris Sale (Prism)
Craig Milbourne (Comms Point)
Darren Head (Selecture)
Don Leslie (BLT)
Genene Cooper (MWN)
Paul Brown (ChapmanBlack)
Pete Nicholls (MWN)
Rakesh Pabbi (Consulting Point)
Sasha Kemp (SK Consultancy Solutions)
Stephen Humphreys (Huntswood)
Victoria Barry Woods (Aston Carter)
Find out how your firm could attract consulting hires by:
• advertising on our websites
• advertising in our consultancy-focused publications
• accessing our CV databases
• running bespoke careers events
•participating in the annual Consultancy Careers Fair
CALL TO SPEAK WITH ONE OF OUR TEAM For more information on Top-Consultant’s services or if you have any questions about the data in this report please contact Bryan Hickson or Tony Restell on 0207 667 6880 or email them on [email protected] or [email protected].
REQUEST A BROCHUREAlternatively, please feel free to request a PDF brochure detailing our services. You may do so by clicking here.
EMAIL USFeel free to email our Customer Services team with any questions you may have, using the address [email protected].
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