Leadership

Best Consulting Firms to Work For

By Kimberly Weisul

Updated on: August 31, 2011 / 4:23 PM EDT / MoneyWatch

Looking for a job in consulting, or ready to switch firms? Vault.com has released its annual ranking of the best consulting firms to work for. The Vault ranks companies based on prestige, quality of life, the strength of various practice areas, and the companies' commitment to diversity. The top-ten overall winners are:

Bain & Co.
McKinsey & Co.
The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.
Deloitte Consulting LLP
Monitor Group
A.T. Kearney
Oliver Wyman
The Cambridge Group
Analysis Group, Inc.
Booz & Company

If this year's results look a little different than you'd expect, it might be because this year Vault combined its former 'best to work for' metrics with a prestige indicator. So you can get an idea of how this might affect the rankings, here are the top five winners in the 'prestige' category:

McKinsey & Co.
The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.
Bain & Company
Booz & Company
Deloitte Consulting LLP

The "best to work for" ratings contain some good nuggets for job-hoppers, too.

Bain pays the most, followed by Boston Consulting Group.
Bain wins first prize for best firm culture, but second place goes to Jabian Consulting.
You'll get the best formal training at Bain.
The winner for "firm leadership" is Analysis Group.
If you're sick of being chained to your desk, Jabian gets the best score for the number of hours you'll spend in the office.
Point B takes the top spot for work/life balance.

You can find the full survey results here.

What are your top criteria in choosing an employer?

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Image courtesy of flickr user TKTK
Kimberly Weisul is a freelance writer, editor and editorial consultant. Follow her on twitter at www.twitter.com/weisul.

Kimberly Weisul

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Kimberly Weisul is the co-founder of One Thing New, the free email newsletter for smart, busy women. She was previously Senior Editor at BusinessWeek, responsible for all coverage of entrepreneurship and for launching BusinessWeek SmallBiz, a bimonthly magazine. She is also a freelance writer, editor and editorial consultant.

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