Strategy consultants are typically hired when senior executives need support with their most pressing challenges. This sets the high demand level of our profession, but it also means that we get to work on meaningful, high-impact topics every day. Thus, strategy consulting – regardless of where you practice it – provides a great opportunity to make a positive difference.

The diverse nature of assignments, industries, and companies coupled with complex problem solving make strategy consulting a great place to unlock your learning potential. Constantly seeking for relevant, tailored solutions – instead of offering something ‘off the shelf’ – creates a natural platform for learning. Further, in strategy consulting, you have a built-in career model and plenty of support around you to help you assume increasing responsibility over time.

While client work is at the core of what we do, we are simultaneously building and constantly developing our own company. This work is not limited to a few, but instead everyone has the chance to impact decisions regarding August and its future direction. While entrepreneurship as our core value presents an interesting challenge, it also enables freedom: people at August have the opportunity to combine a demanding profession with other, equally or more important, parts of life – and based on our long average tenures tend to do this successfully.

At August, everything starts from the recognition that we are first and foremost humans, not just professionals. Thus, for us, community is not merely about fun social events and getting along with your colleagues – although these are important as well. To put it simply, community means being appreciated not just for what you do, but for who you are. And thereby nurturing an environment where people don’t have to separate the ‘real me’ from the ‘work me’.

In terms of responsibilities and expectations, interns are comparable to full-time analysts. Our interns take their place as trusted team members in client engagements under the guidance of experienced colleagues from the very beginning. A successful internship can also serve as a stepping stone to a permanent position at August after graduation.

Analysts are fully-fledged team members in client projects, carrying individual responsibility in well-defined areas, from data collection and analysis to material preparation and workshop facilitation. Analysts always work together with more senior consultants, thus receiving support in their work, while benefitting from constantly learning something new.

Consultants carry broad responsibility for coordinating information gathering, structuring analyses, drawing insightful conclusions and presenting conclusions based on them. Consultants are typically responsible for driving their own workstreams, while having senior support available as needed.

Associate managers work as project managers in client engagements. Their role is to ensure successful project delivery, by working closely with the client, supporting junior team members, and engaging partners and experts to maximize client value-add.

Managers are experienced project managers, and thus able to manage larger and more complex client engagements. Their role is also to assume increasing responsibility in client development.

Directors work simultaneously on several projects as senior advisors. In addition to project work, they are strongly involved in August’s management, people development, and client relations.

Partners carry the ultimate responsibility of August’s business and its client relationships, as well as our people and corporate culture. They participate in many projects as seasoned advisors, injecting their broad-ranging business knowledge and accumulated client-specific insight into them. Compared to the industry standard, August’s partners work hands-on in client projects, ensuring the high quality and relevance of our solutions.

In your application, you are expected to convince us that you have the motivation and capabilities to become a strategy consultant, and that you are a good fit with August. For detailed information on how to apply, please visit the “How to apply” section above.

The first round consists of two interviews which aim to test your ability and motivation to become a strategy consultant and the mutual fit between you and August. At this stage, you will get to solve at least one business case (for more details about case solving, see section “Preparation tips for a case interview” below).

If you make it to the second (and final) round, you will meet two of our Partners in two separate interviews. The purpose of this round is to clear any doubts on your side (e.g. your future desires and your motivation to work at August) or our side (e.g. your ability to structure and solve complex business problems, or your fit with August). This is your opportunity to convince us that you have what it takes for the job and that August is the right place for you.

If you are extended a job offer and decide to accept it, your career at August will begin with a three-day orientation, typically in the beginning of the calendar year. You will get a glimpse of what strategy consulting and August are all about through various group exercises, discussions, and training sessions. You will also get to know your fellow interns and August colleagues during the orientation, which will further ease the start of your internship.

Your actual internship will start with a short introduction, after which you will jump straight into consulting work with your colleagues. In addition to help and guidance from your team, you will be assigned a mentor and a ‘buddy’ to support you with professional development and any practicalities that come by during your internship.

Consulting is essentially about problem solving. Case interviews are a way to simulate in an interview context the kind of problems we work with. Case interviews provide us with an opportunity to understand your ability to frame problems, identify key issues, structure analyses, draw conclusions, and present recommendations. Further, they give us a glimpse of what working with you in a project team might be like.

We are expecting you to build an understanding of the situation, frame the problem, structure the analysis, analyze and draw conclusions, and finally synthesize your findings and make recommendations. Ultimately, the interviewer is trying to get an indication of your potential for solving our clients’ problems in real life based on a combination of attributes such as logical and structured thinking, crisp and enriching interaction, drive to overcome obstacles, and ability to apply analytical problem solving in a business context. Compared to the stereotypical case interviews, we often look for more own structured thinking instead of pre-learned frameworks, since also our real-life consulting approach is about tailored solutions for each client situation, as opposed to something ‘off the shelf’.

Few people make it successfully through case interviews without any preparation. We warmly encourage you to prepare for the interviews to make you more comfortable in the setting. There are various training cases available on the internet, which you can use to train either by yourself or with a friend.

While training is beneficial, it’s good to keep in mind that we are not looking for the best case solver, but instead for indications of your ability to work as a strategy consultant, as described above.

Here are a few practical tips for the case interviews:

• Listen to the interviewer carefully and make sure that you’ve understood the key issues and are addressing the right question.
• Do not hesitate to ask clarifying questions on terms or concepts before going forward with the case.
• Take time to structure your analysis and necessary information carefully. The interviewer might hold important information that you should ask for or you may be presented with an abundance of information, all of which is perhaps not relevant for solving the case.
• Make the interview a discussion, as it is important that the interviewer follows your logic in detail. You may also get some hints if you stay alert!
• Take the time to “sanity check” your calculations and conclusions before committing to them to make sure they make sense in the context of the case.
• Once you are done with the given assignment, take it to the next level and think of the implications and next steps.
• Remember that the case is not supposed be something that can be perfectly “cracked”. This means that you will probably face challenges or feel lost at some point during the case, which does not equal failure. When making a mistake or feeling stuck: stay calm, ask for help if needed, and continue forward with a can-do attitude!