BearingPoint 2003 Edition

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BY THE STAFF OF VAULT

© 2002 Vault Inc.

EMPLOPROFILVAULT EMPLOYER PROFILE:

BEARINGPOINT


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Copyright © 2002 by Vault Inc. All rights reserved.

All information in this book is subject to change without notice. Vault makes no claims as to

the accuracy and reliability of the information contained within and disclaims all warranties.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of VaultInc.

Vault, the Vault logo, and “the insider career networkTM” are trademarks of Vault Inc.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, contact Vault Inc.,

150 W22nd Street, New York, New York 10011, (212) 366–4212.

Library of Congress CIP Data is available.

ISBN 1–58131–242–3

Printed in the United States of America


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Visit the Vault Consulting Career Channel at http://consulting.vault.com — with

insider firm profiles, message boards, the Vault Consulting Job Board and more. viiC A R E E R

L I B R A R Y

BearingPoint

INTRODUCTION 1

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

BearingPoint at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

THE SCOOP 3

ORGANIZATION 7

Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Key Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Business Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

VAULT NEWSWIRE 11

OUR SURVEY SAYS 15

GETTING HIRED 19

Overview of the Hiring Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Questions to Expect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Questions to Ask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Table of Contents


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ON THE JOB 23

A Day in the Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Job Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Career Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

FINAL ANALYSIS 27

RECOMMENDED READING 29


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Overview

Spun off from Big Five firm KPMG, LLP in January 2000, BearingPoint

(which until October 2002 was known as KPMG Consulting) has been

making a name for itself ever since, forming new alliances to help grow the

business-systems integration area. The firm offers consulting services in

financial services, consumer and industrial markets, communications and

content, high tech, and public services. BearingPoint boasts more than

16,000 employees worldwide. Revenue for this global behemoth totaled

$2.86 billion in 2001 – a 20.5 percent increase over its 2000 revenues.

Introduction

BearingPoint


insider firm profiles, message boards, the Vault Consulting Job Board and more. 1C A R E E R

L I B R A R Y


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Headquarters

1676 International Drive

McLean, VA 22102

Phone: (703) 747-3000www.bearingpoint.com

Branches

163 offices worldwide

THE STATS

Employees: 16,000 (2002)

Revenues: $2.4 billion (FY 2002)

DEPARTMENTS

Communications & Content

Consumer & Industrial Markets

Financial Services

High Tech

Public Services

UPPERS

• Community involvement

assistance

• Good hours relative to industry• Generous benefits

• Strong reputation in high-tech and

public sectors

DOWNERS

• Turnover and travel

• Bureaucracy can be overwhelming

• Changing culture

• Recent financial problems

• “Family-friendly”

• “Trying to define itself”

• “Still strong”

• “Bargain basement”

• “Not many young people”

• “Solid but unimaginative”

• “Lower end of Big 4 consulting”

• “Consistent competitor”

THE BUZZWHAT EMPLOYEES AT OTHER FIRMS ARE SAYING

BearingPoint at a Glance

© 2002 Vault Inc.2 C A R E E R

L I B R A R Y


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Early days

As one might gather from the name KPMG, the firm has a tangled, hybridhistory. KPMG International was the result of the 1987 merger of the

accounting firm Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. with KMG, an international

consortium. Peat Marwick was founded in 1911 when William Peat, an

accountant from London, bumped into James Marwick on a boat headed for

America. Marwick had his own firm, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., which had

been formed in New York in 1897. Peat and Marwick hit it off and decided

to partner their firms, which merged in 1925 as Peat, Marwick, Mitchell &

Co. This firm merged with the venerable firm Barrow, Wade, Guthrie in

1950, thus building its consulting practice. In 1978, the firm restructured its

international practice as Peat Marwick International.

The following year, a handful of European accounting firms led by Klynveld

Kraayenhoff and Deutsche Treuhand discussed forming an international

accounting federation. Casting around for an American member, the firms

settled on two U.S. companies, and encouraged them to merge as Main

Hurdman & Cranstoun. The consortium was then named Klynveld Main

Goerdeler (KMG) after Klynveld Kraayenhoff, Main Hurdman & Cranstoun,

and Deutsche Treuhand chairman Reinhard Goerdeler. KMG merged with

Peat Marwick International in 1987, forming the awkwardly named giant

known as KPMG (at the time, KPMG Peat Marwick in the U.S.).

In 1990, KPMG began to consolidate its U.S. operations, cutting its

professional staff, including partners. In addition, the firm suffered a series

of high-profile lawsuits from clients who blamed it for failing to notice

accounting missteps. KPMG settled a suit originating from allegedly botched

audits of savings and loan banks for $187 million in 1994. In 1998, the firm

settled lawsuits with Orange County, Calif. for $75 million, although it did

not admit any wrongdoing. And in February 2000, KPMG agreed to pay

HVB Group, a German banking concern formed from the merger of

Bayerische HypoBank and Vereinsbank AG, an undisclosed sum in damages.

HVB has alleged that KPMG failed to detect 3.5 billion marks in failed real

estate loans held by HypoBank in the period leading up to the banks’ merger.

German construction giant Philip Holzmann also filed suit against KPMG,

alleging that the firm failed to detect old losses totaling 2.4 billion marks.

Despite this uncomfortable litigation, KPMG continued to grow in all areas,

and the consulting business expanded both organically and through

acquisition. In 1996, the firm acquired banking consultancy Barefoot,

The Scoop

BearingPoint



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BearingPoint

The Scoop

Marrinan & Associates, and it raided Deloitte & Touche for 26 new

consultants in that same year. In October 1997, KPMG announced a tentative

agreement to merge with fellow Big Five firm Ernst & Young, but the deal

was called off four months later.

KPMG’s consulting arm was established as a separate company in August

1999. The unit was also buoyed by Cisco System’s $1 billion investment that

same month. Cisco, which now owns a 10 percent stake in BearingPoint, was

one of the many beneficiaries of its February 2001 public offering.

Public spectacle

In May 2000, KPMG Consulting became the first Big Five consulting firm to

file for an IPO, marking the end of a period of intense speculation. The

waiting ended on February 8, 2001, when it offered 112 million shares to the

public at $18 and watched the value rise 30 percent to over $23 per share on

day one. Of the more than 112 million shares offered, KPMG Consulting had

owned 31.8 million, and KPMG LLP, the firm’s parent, had owned 80.6

million. The offering constituted 73.7 percent of the 152.1 million shares

outstanding, and many on Wall Street hailed the IPO as a success. KPMG

LLP no longer holds a stake in BearingPoint; with the IPO it sold off its entire

investment.

Health problems

However, BearingPoint has had a bit of a rocky road since going public. In

February 2000, the company announced layoffs of 350 consultants due to

“revised revenue expectations.” Chief executive Rand Blazer had been

hoping for a growth rate of 38 percent for fiscal 2000, but with growth

running at a mere 20 percent, he decided to hand out pink slips. In April

2001, the company announced a workforce reduction of 450 to 550 positions.

In August 2001, the firm announced that while overall revenues for the year

were up, fiscal fourth quarter revenue totaled $723 million, a 4 percent

decline from Q3, (though an 8 percent increase compared with the same

quarter in the previous year). Revenue in the firm’s financial services unit

dropped by nearly 40 percent for the quarter, while health care revenue was

down 24 percent. As a result, the firm restructured its health care unit, folding

operations into the public services and high technology arms. KPMG

Consulting’s public-sector practice area continued to show strong growth,

however, due to anticipated increased government spending at the federal,

state and local levels.


L I B R A R Y


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BearingPoint

The Scoop

Unfortunately, the first quarter of fiscal 2002 brought more unsettling news,

with revenue dropping by $114 million (in part as a result of the September

11th attacks), or 15.8 percent from the previous quarter. Revenue and net

income figures continued to decline in Q2. In October 2001, several hundred

employees were offered voluntary furloughs of three to six months, duringwhich time they had the option of working on a part-time or on-call basis.

According to company spokesman John Schneidawind, the furloughs were an

attempt “to avoid layoffs at all costs.” Unfortunately, they did not accomplish

that objective – the following month the firm announced that it would cut 300

to 400 jobs, or about 3 percent of its workforce.

All the right moves

BearingPoint has recently taken a number of steps to improve its business. At

first, the IPO included operations in the United States and 15 other countries(Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala,

Ireland, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Peru, South Korea and

Venezuela). The company has since expanded by acquiring international

consulting practices from KPMG International in Australia as well as market

rights in parts of Greater China. In June 2002, it announced an agreement to

acquire KPMG Consulting AG, the German, Swiss and Austrian consulting

practices of KPMG International.

The firm’s boldest and perhaps most controversial move came in May 2002,

when it signed a letter of intent to acquire most of Andersen’s globalconsulting operations (including those in the United States) in a deal

reportedly worth up to $284 million. With the deal, the firm increased its

global workforce to more than 16,000 employees. In June, the firm entered

into definitive agreements to acquire the independent business consulting

units of member firms of Andersen Worldwide Société Cooperative in Japan,

Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden. It also acquired significant

portions of the consulting units of Andersen’s member firms in Australia,

Hong Kong and China.

New name, same firm

On October 3 2002, KPMG Consulting became BearingPoint, a switch that

took effect immediately – to such an extent that new e-mail addresses,

letterhead and business cards were available that day. The switch follows a

trend among consulting firms with Big Five accounting backgrounds:

Deloitte Consulting became Braxton Associates in July 2002, and PwC

Consulting briefly renamed itself Monday before being acquired by IBM in



L I B R A R Y


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BearingPoint

The Scoop

August 2002. BearingPoint officials report that the name resulted from a

worldwide poll of employees as well as a private branding firm and was

chosen from among 550 possibilities.

Techno-fiesta

While many consulting companies have been trumpeting their e-business

experience, KPMG Consulting slowly but surely became an e-business

powerhouse. In May 1999, it acquired Softline Systems & Integrators, Inc.,

bringing in about 450 consultants and gaining control of Softline’s software.

The firm also developed a new intranet with which consultants can access

engagement-related documents and training and business development tools,

as well as HR policies and information.

BearingPoint has formed over 40 strategic alliances. The firm signed a

number of agreements in 2000 , including one with Internet software provider

Inktomi and another with four other technology companies – DataChannel,

Oblix Inc., BackWeb Technologies and Interlynx Technology. In June 2001,

it announced a partnership with Microsoft to develop new interactive

television services. The two companies are joined in the alliance by software

firms BSQUARE Corp. and Rachis Corp. Other alliances announced in 2001

included Vitria Technology, Mercator Software and webMethods, and an

expansion of an existing alliance with Compaq. The trend continued in 2002,

with the firm announcing an exclusive supply-chain solution marketing

agreement with Procter & Gamble in March. The firm also expanded itsalliance with Sun Microsystems that year and entered agreements with e-

business platform provider IONA as well as with HAHT Commerce, a

provider of demand chain management applications for the consumer

packaged goods industry.

On the road

Acknowledging the sometimes hectic lifestyle endemic to the consulting

industry, in 2001 the firm adopted a “Traveler’s Bill of Rights” to help its

employees cope. The program is designed to ensure that consultants have afive-day workweek, during which they are not out of the office for more than

four days or away from home for more than three nights. In order to make

sure these policies are upheld, the firm staffs projects with locally based

consultants whenever possible.


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Locations

BearingPoint is based in McLean, Va. and has 163 offices worldwide.

Key Officers

Randolph C. Blazer: Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Unlike many in the consulting business, Rand Blazer has spent his entire

career at one firm, joining KPMG LLP in 1977 after retiring as a captain in

the U.S. Army. By 1991 he had become the directing partner for the firm’s

Federal Services Practice, which he grew aggressively during the 1990s. In1997, he became the vice chairman for consulting services, and there he led

the consolidation and incorporation of KPMG Consulting. In June 2002 he

was named Entrepreneur of the Year for the Greater Washington area by Ernst

& Young LLP.

Bradley Schwartz: Group Executive Vice President, Worldwide Client

Service

Michael Donahue: Group Executive Vice President and Chief Operating

Officer

David W. Black: Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Jay H. Nussbaum: Executive Vice President, Managed Services

Nathan H. Peck, Jr.: Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative

Officer

Linda E. Rebrovick: Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer

Gail P. Steinel: Executive Vice President, Solutions and Alliances

Mary E. Sullivan: Vice President, Human Resources

Organization

BearingPoint



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BearingPoint

Organization

Ownership

BearingPoint was spun off as a separate company from KPMG International

in January 1999, and the firm is 10 percent owned by Cisco Systems. Shares

went on sale to the public in February 2001.

Business Units

BearingPoint offers consulting services in several core industries: Financial

Services; Communications and Content; High Tech, Consumer and Industrial

Markets; and Public Services. Facing flagging revenue, in 2001 the firm

folded its Healthcare unit into the Public Services and High Tech arms.

Financial Services

Financial Services is BearingPoint’s largest industry practice; the firm serves

thousands of financial institutions around the world. Employees in Financial

Services help their clients in Capital Markets and Banking, Insurance and

Risk Management, Professional Services and Real Estate and Hospitality

adapt to changes in financial markets and conditions.

Communications and Content

Communications and Content professionals surf the wild information wave,

advising a diverse customer base in the Cable, Content, Service Provider and

Telecommunications segments. The practice divides its consulting services

into two classes: Communications Solutions, which includes strategy and

planning, revenue assurance, and digital asset management; and Business

Solutions, which includes customer relationship management and supply

chain management.

Consumer and Industrial Markets

BearingPoint’s Consumer and Industrial Markets practice counts both Fortune 1000 and mid-market consumer and industrial goods companies

among its clientele. The firm offers Strategy and Business Process Services,

Customer Relationship Management and Supply Chain Management services

to clients in the automotive, chemicals, consumer packaged goods, oil and

gas, transportation, and other segments.


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BearingPoint

Organization

High Tech

The High Tech practice assists clients in the electronics, life sciences and

software fields. Its Digital Marketplace Service offerings include customer

relationship management, infrastructure solutions, strategy/brand strategy,

and supply chain management. BearingPoint has alliances with tech

heavyweights including Cisco, Oracle, Microsoft, Ariba and many others.

Public Services

BearingPoint employs a large staff dedicated to providing government and

educational institutions with enterprise resource planning, customer

management strategy, supply chain management integration and other

services. Past clients include the governments of Texas, California,

Pennsylvania, and the city of New York, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department

of Housing and Urban Development and Yale University.



L I B R A R Y


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October 2002: A new bearing

KPMG Consulting announced its new name, BearingPoint, effectiveimmediately. The name was taken from a list of 550 possibilities culled from

employees and an outside branding firm. The company also moved from the

NASDAQ to the New York Stock Exchange, along the way dropping KCIN

for BE as its stock symbol.

August 2002: Overseas acquisitions

KPMG Consulting acquired KPMG Consulting AG, the German, Swiss and

Austrian consulting units of KPMG. The purchase, which rang in at $273.5

million in cash (plus the assumption of $15 million in debt), greatly adds tothe firm’s European presence, already bolstered by the Andersen acquisition.

June 2002: Atos makes its move

Euro-consultancy Atos Origin signed a deal with KPMG Consulting to

acquire the firm’s UK and Dutch practices, which had remained jointly

owned – but independently managed – since the consulting firm spun off.

May 2002: Bringing in Andersen

After months of negotiation, KPMG Consulting agreed to purchase

Andersen’s business consulting practice. The agreement includes 23 units

throughout Europe, the United States, Asia Pacific and Latin America, at a

price of $284 million.

March 2002: Out to sea

KPMG Consulting brokered a deal with the Naval Sea Systems Command’s

Undersea Weapons Program Office. The project, developed in cooperation

with Anteon Corporation, will earn $5.7 million in the first year and couldtotal $48.7 million over its lifespan.

November 2001: Musically challenged

Chris Raettig received a surprise call from KPMG this month when the firm

asked him to remove a link on his web site. The link in question, found on

www.corporateanthems.raettig.org, brought surfers to the area on KPMG’s

Vault Newswire

BearingPoint



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BearingPoint

Vault Newswire

site that featured its corporate song, which Raettig and his audience found

worthy of profuse ridicule. The 22-year-old Raettig reportedly receives

10,000 hits a day on his site, which features a number of other embarrassing

company anthems.

November 2001: Cut! Part II

Following on the heels of its April 2001 cuts, the firm laid off approximately

350 employees in a further effort to control costs. This came after the firm

was unable to drum up volunteers to take furlough positions, in which they

would be employed in an “on-call” status.

October 2001: Aussie sale

KPMG Australia announced the sale of its consulting business to KPMGConsulting. The deal, valued at $28.9 million, is part of KPMG Consulting’s

effort to buy the overseas consulting arms of KPMG International.

October 2001: Award-winning work

The eCustomer World Institute (ECWI) has given its “Best Mobile CRM

Solution” Golden Award for 2001 to KPMG Consulting. The ECWI awards

are intended to honor e-business innovations in the Canadian marketplace.

KPMG partner Infowave Software Inc. also received the award.

June 2001: TV deal

KPMG has announced a partnership with Microsoft to develop new

interactive television services. The two companies will be joined in the

alliance by software firms BSQUARE Corp. and Rachis Corp. As part of the

partnership, KPMG will provide Microsoft with program management and

systems integration services.

May 2001: Layoffs in the UK

KPMG Consulting’s United Kingdom branch will undergo layoffs of up to 10

percent of its workforce. The firm cited a decline in demand for its services

and “difficult circumstances” for the move, which will affect employees in all

areas of the business. KPMG Consulting UK currently employs about 2,000

staffers.


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BearingPoint

Vault Newswire

April 2001: Cut!

After failing to reach expected levels of growth, the firm cut more than 500

positions worldwide.



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A large bureaucracy

Insiders tell us that BearingPoint consultants have “a lot of freedom in termsof projects.” However, this freedom comes with a price. “If you don’t know

how to work the system, you get screwed,” a source claims. “It’s not by

design – the company is very disorganized.” This same source warns,

“They’ll put you on something you don’t want to be on unless you’re firm

about it.” Another source explains: “If you are honest from the beginning

about your expectations and requirements, things can be worked out.”

Insiders say that “newbies” should “find a manager you are compatible with

and become a sponge” in order to get staffed on the best projects.

BearingPoint tells us that its “Opportunities within Consulting” program

provides an internal method for consultants to find a better niche within thecompany; it allows them to move from one project to another, even if the

managing director says no. “Under this program they have to let you go as

long as you’ve been under them for a year and have a good rating,” we hear.

Still, insiders (especially in the high-tech practice) complain of staffing

missteps. One frustrated consultant explains, “I was supposed to be the

information architect on my project – but I’ve just been doing a lot of

research.” Another adds, “I like the client engagements, but I don’t like the

office environment. I would prefer somewhere where both were equally

impressive.”

The firm’s reputation in the technology consulting field is “very strong,”

mainly because of “the firm’s focus on e-business and e-strategy and our

partnerships with Microsoft, Cisco and SAP, among others.” Insiders say that

the firm considers Accenture, IBM Global Services and a few others among

its chief competitors, although BearingPoint is also competing with Internet

consultancies, such as Sapient, for clients.

Choose your office wisely

Insiders report that “Culture varies somewhat between offices. In D.C., for

example, there’s a gay/lesbian support group; Raleigh is very stuffy and ‘old-

boy’; and the Silicon Valley office is ‘very laid back.’” In general, the smaller

offices tend to be more rigid and controlling, insiders say, and “a lot of the

culture depends on your practice and the group you are working in.” In terms

of design, “the offices are nice” and “reasonably comfortable,” with “typical

office décor – plain colors, nothing overly creative or unusual.”

Our Survey Says

BearingPoint



L I B R A R Y


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BearingPoint

Our Survey Says

Take a hike

Those starting at BearingPoint may also want to sign up for a frequent-flyer

card. According to one source, “Most everyone travels from Monday to

Thursday. Another estimates, “Consultants travel, on average, about 70

percent of the time. We try to stay regional in our business, but when the

client has offices all over the country, sometimes it is necessary to work at all

those offices.” The firm recently instituted what it calls the “Travelers’ Bill

of Rights,” which mandates, among other things, that BearingPoint

consultants be able to work out of their local office or at home on Fridays.

And while we hear that few people refer to the document specifically

anymore, the firm has nevertheless made an earnest attempt to balance work

and life: “Monday morning to Thursday evening is the usual. It used to be

Friday, but there has been a lot of movement to change that. The firm has

stated that it’s more important to balance quality of life. I’d say it’s part of the

firm’s evolving culture.” Even better, the same source adds, “”If you can be

effective working from home on Friday, that’s cool.”

Value-added culture

Because of its tech-heavy focus, BearingPoint hires mostly experienced

consultants, contrary to the undergraduate hires that dominate many other

firms. According to the firm, its employees have an average of 12 years of

experience. “In most cases you will be working with people who are already

very experienced in their areas,” says one respondent. “We haven’t strayed

very much from the model of the experience-heavy firm. We still have a lot

of people at the top. So it’s a good place for lateral hires.”

While insiders say that the firm has a “large number of minorities,” they “tend

to be mostly technology-oriented.” One female consultant tells us that she

does not feel that “women are hindered in any way,” though “there is clearly

male dominance in the company.” However, others report being pleased with

the number of great women executives in all areas of the company. Though

when it comes to inter-office communication, insiders say that it could use

improvement. As one employee explains, “I find that the various departments

barely communicate with each other. I don’t even speak with most people on

my floor.”

Most agree, though, that BearingPoint’s is very much a culture in change –

first the split from KPMG, then the IPO, then the Andersen acquisition, then

the rebranding. “People see it as a work in progress,” says one consultant.

“Everyone’s taking a ‘jury’s still out’ attitude.”


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BearingPoint

Our Survey Says

Good use of time

“Community involvement is encouraged” at BearingPoint. The firm recently

established a new philanthropy program, the implementation of which was

sped up after the September 11th attacks. The effort includes an initiative

enabling employees to get involved with local volunteer projects, a matching

gifts program and a support network. Insiders say that pro bono work is

“typically up to an individual group – they may do it if they are currently

unbillable or feel it is an opportunity for them.” BearingPoint also sponsors

lots of “community events, practice dinners and sports teams” to help

employees bond.

Does anyone actually work those hours?

In consulting, there are no official hours, since it depends on the person and

the project. One consultant says, “Sometimes I leave at 5:30 p.m., other days

[I stay] until 7:30 p.m.” Another consultant claims that “10 or 11 hours a day

is typical.” At times, “hours can be very long [for consultants], with late

nights spent compiling and analyzing data or preparing a presentation for a

project meeting or board meeting.” Expect more than a few late nights per

month; as one consultant notes, “My work hours spike once or twice a month,

but I think that’s low for the firm.”

Nor is weekend work a given, as it is at many firms. Respondents report only

the rare Saturday and Sunday at the office. “I’ve never had to work an entire

weekend, and there have been only three Saturdays when I’ve had to work more than an hour,” says one respondent with two years of BearingPoint

under their belt.

Train, train, train

BearingPoint’s tech focus means that its employees must always be at the top

of their game in terms of the latest hardware and software. One source tells

us that BearingPoint consultants “are required to participate” in a minimum

of 40 training hours per year, involving Web-based courses, broadcast

training and self-study. While many of the firm’s training modules used to bein person, most have been put online to cut costs; nevertheless, we hear that

“The number of courses online has just exploded in the last six months, to

several hundred classes.” And as one respondent tells us, “Online courses are

supplemented with some instructor-led courses; though their availability

depends on the skill set you’re looking for.”



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BearingPoint

Our Survey Says

After three to nine months on the job, new hires “go to in-person orientations

at various spots around the country. There are speakers, and [the new hires]

learn about the firm culture, sales procedures, lines of business, and so on.”

Afterward, “continuing education opportunities abound and usually involve

travel, with BearingPoint picking up the tab.” Insiders report that there is also

“support for external training.” At the same time though, adds one source,

“Training is very much self-driven – no one ever tells you ‘take this training

this week so you can start a related project next month.’” The firm tells us

that this is changing, however, with the spring 2002 introduction of a training

initiative known as Competency Manager. As part of the program,

consultants set training goals twice a year with their performance managers.

The system also offers more than 1,000 courses through the online Learning

Management System, in addition to external training.

Standard benefits, varying perks

The firm offers “four weeks” of personal time, but it’s not exactly all

vacation. As one insider describes it, the firm “is a bit unusual in that it

combines vacation time with sick leave, so it’s great if you’re young and

healthy, maybe not so great if you’re sickly.” Be forewarned that “some perks

vary from office to office, or [managing director to managing director], or

even manager to manager” and can include “services provided by the

company to help with day-to-day activities,” such as a concierge service.

While the perks may vary, benefits at BearingPoint are standard in all offices.Among these are medical and dental insurance, long-term disability

insurance, a 401(k) savings plan with matching contributions, stock options

and an employee stock purchase plan, and an employee referral bonus.


L I B R A R Y


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Overview of the Hiring Process

Since the firm’s consultants are marketed for specific industries,

BearingPoint places an emphasis on hiring experienced professionals. When

it comes to prospects, one source is optimistic: “For the most part, you have

to have a decent amount of skills, but occasionally specific projects hire a lot

of people very quickly.” While the firm did make a number of campus visits

during the late 1990s and early 2000s to bulk up its staff, these days it’s very

sparing about who it takes from the undergraduate rolls. Many of the practice

areas, particularly high tech and communications and content, are barely

hiring at all; others, such as public service, are still bringing people on.

“There’s also some growth in consumer and industrial markets because of the

Andersen acquisitions,” we hear.

Candidates will experience “four to five interviews: a screening interview

(usually over the phone) and then a series of interviews with employees from

the group you will be working in, either during an office visit or over the

phone.” Insiders tell us the types of questions are “driven by the individual

interviewer, not by formal processes,” but typically, candidates can expect “a

case study, lots of questions about your experiences, team work skills and so

on.” To prepare, insiders advise doing research about the specific practice

area in which you are interested and to “be flexible” as far as scheduling goes.

Insiders tell us that new BearingPoint consultants can expect “four days of

training – two days of firm-wide material” that explain what the “values,

goals, and mission of the firm are” and “two days of consulting-specific

material” that include “procedures, case studies and so on.”

Getting Hired

BearingPoint



L I B R A R Y


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BearingPoint

Getting Hired

Questions to Expect

1. Can you describe the most challenging situation you’ve ever had to

deal with and how you dealt with it?

BearingPoint fully expects to offer you constant challenges, and wants to

establish that you can demonstrate the capacity to rise to them.

2. How do you define success?

In general, something like “growing and learning with a supportive firm like

BearingPoint and fulfilling my interests in community service” would hit the

spot, but try not to sound too artificial.

3. What do you consider to be a consultant’s most important skills?

You should familiarize yourself with the job description before answering this

one.

4. What would someone you’ve worked for describe as your strengths, as

well as areas that need improvement?

This is an interview standard. The second part will require some clever spin

doctoring to give the impression that you are not so arrogant as to believe that

you have no weaknesses, but at the same time that those weaknesses are

minor and can be overcome.

5. What specifically appeals to you about BearingPoint?

It couldn’t hurt citing BearingPoint’s community service record, but youshould also have something to say about the firm’s international reach and

industry experience.

6. Tell me about a valuable lesson you learned in the past.

Try to think of something that will translate well into the firm culture or

philosophy, such as something about the value of hard work or getting along

well with others.


L I B R A R Y


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BearingPoint

Getting Hired

Questions to Ask

1. What kind of international experience might I expect to obtain at

BearingPoint? Will there be any limits on transferring between offices?

BearingPoint claims to be very open about office transfers, but you might as

well find out for yourself if you have something specific in mind.

2. Can you tell me more about BearingPoint’s volunteer activities?

The list is extensive; this is a good way to show that you have the motivation

and desire to make a difference in the community. Even if you are not truly

interested, it is still a pretty good suck-up question.

3. What major projects does the firm have coming up?

Consultants love to talk about this kind of thing. Just be prepared for some

unnecessary industry vernacular.

Compensation

Pay

Consultant (1st year undergraduate): $50,000-$75,000 per year; rate

depends on level of experience and education.

Consultant (1st year MBA): $100,000-$105,000

Perks

• 20 to 25 personal days

• Flexible Work Program

• Personal Assistance Program

• Lifeworks child care, adoption, education, disability, and elder care

resource and referral service

• Up to $2,500 in adoption costs, plus up to $2,500 for birth mother medical

expenses

• METPAY discounted auto and homeowner’s insurance program

• ConSern educational loan assistance program

• Mortgage Assistance Program



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BearingPoint

Getting Hired

• 10 percent tuition discount for children of BearingPoint employees at

Children’s World Learning Centers, Childtime Childcare, La Petit

Academy and Children’s Discovery Centers

• Up to $5,000 in dependent care reimbursement

• Choice of health care plans for employee and eligible dependents

• Dental plan for employee and eligible dependents

• Vision One discount program

• Up to $3,000 for health care reimbursement

• 401(k)

• Incentive compensation program

• Disability and illness benefits

• Life insurance

• Disaster relief fund

• Matching gift program (only for charities, not higher education)


L I B R A R Y


27/34

A Day in the Life

Consultant

8:45 a.m.: Arrive at work and eat a bagel. Cinnamon raisin today.

9:00 a.m.: Meet with a partner. The partner needs to be brought up to speed

on who is doing what right now. Generally, we get to decide which

engagements we want to work on, unless the client has requested someone

specifically.

10:00 a.m.: Time for a brainstorming session with the client.

11:15 a.m.: One of the often twice-daily meetings with the rest of the project

team.

12:45 p.m.: Head out for a bite to eat. Whoever’s in the office will go out

together. We dine this way two or three times a week.

1:45 p.m.: Back to work – making sure that the numbers and procedures are

okay for my client, a bank.

3:00 p.m.: Begin the seemingly endless chore of interviewing members of

the client’s senior management.

5:30 p.m.: Finally finish interviewing for the day. The manager comes by to

discuss a few issues – recruiting at your alma mater, and a trip to Jersey City

tomorrow morning to see some original documents – always preferable to just

interviews.

6:15 p.m.: Begin to gather material for a competitor and marketing analysis

to be done back at the office next week.

8:00 p.m.: Leave for the day. Between 7:00 and 8:00 is pretty standard, but

it goes up to midnight before deadlines.

On the Job

BearingPoint



L I B R A R Y


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BearingPoint

On the Job

Job Description

Consultant

Consultants typically enter BearingPoint with extensive work expertise in acertain industry or service, as well as a graduate degree in business

administration, computer science, industrial engineering or operations

research. Consultants immediately specialize in one of five areas: strategic

and financial services, cost and quality management, performance

improvement, change management or information technology. In these areas,

consultants assess performance, integrate company cultures and help to bring

down company costs by installing appropriate software programs, “doing

marketing opportunity analyses” and working on “new product

development.”

Career Path

For undergraduates

People “right out of undergraduate or people one or two years out” are hired

as assistants, though few if any are being hired these days. The next level up

is consultant. Insiders tell us that an “assistant can be promoted to consultant

before getting an MBA, but can’t go further.” Thus, assistants are the only

professionals in the firm without graduate degrees, except for those promoted

to consultant status prior to attending business school. The promotion time is

usually about two years, but may be as short as eight months in certain cases.

Unfortunately for the firm, “Turnover is pretty high. Not many come back

after business school.”

For MBAs

MBAs interested in consulting at BearingPoint may enter as either

consultants or senior consultants, depending on prior experience and

expertise. Employees generally spend one to two years at each of these

positions before moving to manager, the next rung on the ladder. The firm

offers the opportunity to switch between different areas, but few do (unlike

the case for assistants and pre-graduate school consultants). Remarks one

insider, “The [MBA] recruiting process is geared to find out where people

best fit, and it usually works.” More often, “once [they] make senior

consultant, people move on” from the firm altogether. While mass departures


L I B R A R Y


29/34

BearingPoint

On the Job

happen at all levels, “most people stay for two or three years,” so the biggest

loss is most often among the senior consultant ranks. After leaving

BearingPoint, “people tend to go into marketing or strategy planning

departments [in companies in] many industries.” Most remain within the area

of the line of business in which they worked, except for IT and strategy people, who work across industry lines. Those who do stay on put in another

two years or so as managers before becoming senior managers. Partnership

awaits at the end of a stint of similar duration at senior manager level.



L I B R A R Y


30/34

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professionals.


31/34

Blazer and friends chose the name BearingPoint to evoke the company’s

ability to keep clients on track. But the name evokes another meaning as

well: Almost two years after spinning off from KPMG, the firm is still trying

to get its bearings in a market that is not at all amenable to large IT service

firms, particularly firms that are in the midst of significant changes. That’s not

to say that BearingPoint is in trouble; the acquisition of so many KPMG

International offices as well as the bulk of Andersen’s business consulting

practice may cause growing pains in the short term, but the move will allow

BearingPoint an important flexibility as the market for IT consulting evolves

over the next half decade. And while the firm is holding back on new hires

and has laid off a number of employees, it is also making the smart move by

holding on to its most valuable consultants. Bottom line: BearingPoint maynot be at the top of the consulting game right now, but it’s well positioned to

be there in the coming years.

Final Analysis

BearingPoint



L I B R A R Y


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L I B R A R Y


33/34

Here are some recent articles we recommend.

• “KPMG Consulting Resolves Identity Crisis,” Washington Post ,10/3/2002.

• “Give Me Your Watch: PwC, KPMG Had Big Years in 2001,” CFO

Magazine, 12/21/2001.

• “KPMG Consulting Plans to Hire Andersen Employees,” LA Times,

6/27/2002.

• “KPMG’s Brave Leap into the Cold,” BusinessWeek , 5/21/2001.

Recommended Reading

BearingPoint



L I B R A R Y


34/34

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BearingPoint 2003 Edition