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Edgar's targets Edgar, Dunn & Company (EDC) is a general management consulting firm with offices in San Francisco, Atlanta, London, and Sydney. Although it works in a variety of industries, EDC tends to focus on four: financial services, electronic commerce, energy services, and brand/marketing strategy. In financial services, EDC has recently assisted commercial and retail banks, savings institutions, payment card associations, and leasing companies. In brand/market strategy, the firm has worked on consumer products, sporting events, and health care. The turtle consultancy-slow and steady Although the breadth of EDC's interests is large, the consulting firm's own size is rather small. The firm reportedly hires only two or three college grads per office annually. While a preference for math whizzes and MBA graduates may account for EDC's pickiness, the firm's growth rate is purposefully "slow and steady." Indeed, EDC wants to retain its "small firm" ways, although some of the incoming consultants wish the firm would expand and conquer at a more ferocious pace. Perhaps because of its small size, the firm maintains a humanitarian reputation. In 1999, for example, EDC put together a study on perceptions of the Olympic Games for the International Olympic Committee.
EDC recruits MBAs, undergraduates, and experienced professionals. To apply to the firm, you must e-mail or mail your resume to a specific office. Contact information for each is listed at the company web page at www.edgardunn.com. New hires fresh out of undergraduate institutions are considered "entry-level consultants." They learn about a variety of industries and receive a thorough grounding in business and critical strategic issues. Although entry-level consultants often play second fiddle to regular consultants, their responsibilities are approximately the same. Entry-level consultants conduct primary and secondary research, interview clients and client affiliates, develop qualitative and quantitative analyses, interpret data, and create financial/economic models. Those who have completed their MBAs lose the "entry-level" tag to their consulting title. In addition to performing standard research and analysis, they present recommendations to client management and interpret more complex data. EDC recruits candidates from a few prestigious schools through on-campus interviewing. However, the firm encourages any interested students who do not attend the firm's targeted schools to forward their cover letters and resumes to the appropriate contact. "EDC hires people in two ways: through campus recruiting and through industry/network hires," reports one insider. As more and more consulting firms try their hand at recruiting specialists who are already in the workforce, EDC is following suit. "We hire a lot of experts in growing industries. We want people with solid knowledge bases," another insider admits. Because the company is so small, "we really don't hire many undergrads - maybe one or two a year [at each office]." Regardless of entering level, recruits will interview "two or three times. The number of interviews depends upon the experience level of the candidate." How should a candidate prepare herself? "Interviewees should prepare to do a case study, but there won't necessarily be one," says a contact. "The interview is more about culture and company fit." This sentiment is echoed in the remark of another insider: "The interviews are often soft. An EDC flaw, if it has a flaw at all, is that the interviewers are too nice."
An intimate relationship with partners Once inside the company's golden gates, EDCers may feel a kinship with the partners as well as with fellow consultants. "It's the plus of being at a small firm. The pyramid is inverted - meaning that the partner to consultant ratio is very low, 1:2 or 1:3," explains one source. "At EDC, all people are consultants, and some consultants are partners." Another insider considers this feeling of solidarity to be the reason behind his own loyalty: "Edgar Dunn is a destination, not a stopping point." Areas of expertise - diversity not among them EDC declares itself to be a general consulting firm, but it "has a lot of expertise in certain areas like financial services and electronic commerce." Historically, the firm has done work with a variety of industries, including "banking, insurance, utilities, consumer products, sports marketing, and travel/tourism." Diverse as its client base may be, internal diversity is not of EDC's strong points. "I haven't seen any employees of African American descent," admits one insider. Another reports: "The firm is maybe 25 percent female. I stress the 'maybe.'" Self-propelled Other common complaints include the firm's paltry internal administrative resources and the lack of a graphics department. "No one creates beautiful, multicolored computer demonstrations," says an insider. "We have to do that ourselves." Finally, the firm's very size is a factor which troubles a few: "The new people want huge growth - they want the company to explode. But the partners are letting EDC evolve in a slow and controlled way." Despite these gripes, many insiders say EDC is a step above the larger, more glamorous firms. "Everything at EDC is about ambition and your own proactive attitude. There's so much to be done here."
Rona Simmons Human Resources 115 Perimeter Center Place1 Suite 385 Atlanta GA 30346 (770)393-3828 (770)394-6543
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