The diverse nature of assignments, industries and companies coupled with complex problem solving make strategy consulting highly interesting and motivating. You will be exposed to an endless array of intellectual challenges, for which clients depend on you and the team to develop solutions. Not off-the-shelf or standardized solutions, but tailored solutions that fit seamlessly to the problem or situation at hand. Exposure to constant intellectual challenge – and the steep learning curve that follows from it – is a big part of the appeal of strategy consulting as a profession, and typically a key reason for why people join August.

But the challenges you face at August are not just intellectual, you also get a taste of challenges with an entrepreneurial angle. While client engagements are at the core and center of what we do, we are simultaneously building and developing our company. What do we want to be, what are our targets, how do we compete, what do we need to develop, and how do we go about doing all of this? Addressing these types of questions is not limited to a selected few – everyone in the team contributes to this and has a unique opportunity to leave their own mark.

A strong sense of community gives that nice extra flavor on coming into work every day. At August, the essence of community is perceiving and engaging people as whole persons rather than just professionals. It’s not merely getting along with your colleagues, it’s not only the social events and fun stuff, it’s far more profound than just effective teamwork between great individuals. To put it simply, it’s about being appreciated not just for what you do, but for who you are. And thereby fostering an environment where outstanding people can flourish and unleash their full potential. Although extraordinary is always in the eye of the beholder, we dare to make this claim when describing our community. Why? Because that’s what it feels like to us.

Although challenging and meaningful work for many at August is a key ingredient in quality of life, it is for none the only ingredient, or even the most important one. There’s family, friends, exercise, culture, hobbies, travel, you name it. While we are humble towards the fact that quality of life is a strongly subjective perception that we can’t guarantee anyone, we put a lot of effort into making sure our people have the opportunity to enjoy good quality of life, whatever it means to each and every one. We don’t have a fixed model or form for how this is done, as everyone has their unique needs and interests. However, an indication that we might have succeeded on some level is the fact that on average our people turnover is lower, and our tenures longer, than what you typically see in strategy consulting.

In terms of responsibilities and expectations, interns are comparable to those of 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 gathering to drawing insightful conclusions and preparing client-ready materials. Analysts always work under the supervision of more senior consultants, receiving support from them 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 responsible for their own work streams, which can also include supervising their junior colleagues.

Associate managers supervise the work of the junior staff members and are independently responsible for larger entities, including operative project management and coordination with clients. Associate managers are responsible for the management of complete projects or sub-projects, depending on the scope of the project.

Managers are responsible for the operative management of projects. Managers have excellent leadership skills and they work closely with the client, ensuring that work is carried out as agreed and the knowledge that has been accumulated during the project is transferred to the client organization.

Directors work simultaneously on several projects as senior advisors. In addition to project work, directors are responsible for the development of August and its client relations.

Partners carry the ultimate responsibility of August’s operations and leadership and their development, as well as its corporate culture and identity. Partners participate in many projects as seasoned advisors, injecting their broad-ranging business knowledge and strategic insight into them. Partners are also responsible for the development of new business and existing customer relationships.

In your application, you are expected not only to convince that you have what it takes to be a strategy consultant, but also 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 with the objective of testing your ability and motivation to become a strategy consultant and the mutual fit between you and August. At this stage, you will also get the chance to solve at least one business case (for more details about case solving, see section “Preparation tips for a case interview” below).

In case you make it to the second (and final) round, you will meet two of our Partners (or Directors) 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 the three-day August Academy Bootcamp training session where you get to experience consultant’s life by delivering a simulated real life case in teams and presenting your answer to a Steering Group. In addition, a personal ‘buddy’ will help you to get started with any practicalities or concerns during your first weeks at the August office.

Consulting is essentially about problem solving. Case interviews are a way to simulate in an interview context the kind of problems we work with and solve. They provide us with an opportunity to understand your ability to frame problems, identify key issues, structure analyses and get to conclusion.

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 skills such as structuring, logical reasoning, mathematical orientation and business sense. In addition, the case provides the interviewer a glimpse of how you interact with other people.

The format of case can vary a lot, depending on the interviewer. Some interviewers favor candidate-led formats, where the candidate is expected to be firmly in driver’s seat all the way and the interviewer intervenes rarely, whereas others may prefer more interviewer-led formats, where the candidate works on specific parts of the overall problem and interviewer controls the process in significant ways. In other words, be prepared to take an active or a reactive role, depending on how the interviewer formulates the problem and your task, and how the interviewer guides you at the outset.

There is a multitude of different types of cases. Every interviewer has their own preferred types, often drawing upon own experiences from real life cases. A few examples of themes in case interviews are listed below:

• Market sizing / estimation
• Organic growth strategy
• Profitability improvement
• Industry analysis
• Supply chain optimization
• Synergy assessment
• Sourcing improvement
• Pricing

Few people make it successfully through case interviews without any preparation. We warmly encourage you to take some steps to prepare, as this is likely to improve your chances of securing a job offer. Here are a few practical tips related to the interview situation that are useful to know:

• Listen to the interviewer carefully and make sure that you understood the key issues and address the question
• Do not hesitate to ask clarifying questions on terms or concepts before going forward with the case and clarify the intended scope of the exercise
• 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 not relevant for solving the case
• Make the interview a discussion as it is important that the interviewer follows your logic in detail and you may also get some hints if you stay alert
• Act convincing in calculations but remember that many times the data tells the response directly if you know where to look for
• Make sure 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.

Please be aware that these are just the very basics. For more information, tips and practice cases, you may want to check out e.g. Case in Point (by Marc Consentino). Also, there is a multitude of tips and practice cases available for free on the internet for the inquisitive mind.