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Old faithful Former BCG director Dominique Mars founded his eponymous international consulting firm in Paris in 1979. He claims to have created "the only consulting firm of any consequence to guarantee 'fidelity'" to its clients. Mars believes that consulting firms are afforded an extremely intimate view of client businesses, and thus cannot justifiably work for competing corporations. Mars & Co therefore serves only a limited (and highly exclusive) group of companies. The firm's clients are usually Fortune 100 or similarly powerful international companies and normally the top one or two corporations in their industries. For the sake of discretion, Mars does not publish the names of its clients. In fact, it does not even reveal them to prospective hires until very late in the interview process. Mars focuses on business strategy - helping clients allocate their resources in order to maximize returns. It also assists clients with international acquisitions, joint ventures, and other methods of penetrating foreign markets. Like many strategy consulting firms, Mars defines "critical paths" (strategies) for its clients, but it does not facilitate implementation. Entering the United States In the early 1980s, Mars & Co opened its first U.S. office in Greenwich, Connecticut. Harvard Business School professor Malcolm Salter was then hired to be the company's president. Salter has been a major force behind the development of the firm's business concepts. Insiders add he "has a pretty extensive list of contacts on his Rolodex," which he often uses to bring in new clients. There are no partners at Mars - the firm is owned and controlled 100 percent by its founder. Dominique Mars travels frequently between all of the offices, maintaining relationships with clients and courting new business. A close-knit operation Though the firm's 200 consultants work in four separate offices, the firm is extremely integrated - in many cases, client teams are composed of consultants from two or more offices. Because its clients come from so many different industries, Mars associates gain familiarity with a wide variety of industries and tasks. The firm plans to expand further throughout North America and Europe, and eventually employ 400 to 450 consultants who will serve between 30 and 40 clients, insiders say. The firm operates as "a pure meritocracy," and is serious about promoting from within. In fact, it refers to new hires (both BAs and MBAs) as 'apprentices,' and will promote undergrads to the consultant level (read: six-figure salary) without MBAs.
Mars & Co lists the names and contact information of its hiring personnel on the "Our Recruiting Process" section of its web site. The firm typically hires 10 to 15 consultants per year. Undergraduates are hired as associate consultants, while MBAs are hired as consultants. The firm recruits exclusively at top colleges and business schools. All interviews are conducted at the firm's offices. Mars looks for undergraduates with degrees in engineering, math, economics or any hard science, and MBAs with undergraduate degrees in one of those areas. The firm prefers to hire multilingual individuals with diverse backgrounds. One source describes the ideal candidate as "young, single, willing to relocate, bilingual, analytical, and hard working." The firm has a strict policy of promoting from within. It reports that successful candidates have the opportunity to move up rather quickly. Candidates interview with senior staff members, and the company encourages applicants to contact junior staff to "get their direct unfettered opinion of life at Mars & Co." Interviews are "not case intensive" – the first round "is mainly with senior consultants on the project manager level," and generally includes some "brainteaser-type" case questions. The second round, an informant reports, is "with two VPs and a senior project manager." The final round consists of "a half-hour interview with Dominique Mars." One contact warns applicants that "Dominique is reputedly fluent in a number of languages." So if you claim to speak a second language fluently, "he'll conduct the whole interview in that language just to throw you off." Either way, "he'll usually start off with a question like 'Why are you here'" – to see how you react to being put on the spot." One source tells Vault Reports he "thought the interview with [Dominique] Mars was only a formality, but after I was hired I found out that only 50 percent of candidates that meet with him actually get hired."
The stealth firm Mars & Co is "a private firm" with a "stealthy reputation," and sources say "it makes no effort to attract attention to itself." "A quantitative background is a total prerequisite," one source notes. "In fact they've been hiring a lot of people with masters degrees and PhDs in engineering." "The quality of work and the projects at Mars are very high," adds another. "From the start you get to work with high-level consultants, and you deal with CEOs and presidents from the companies you are working for." One insider attempts to reassure prospective hires, asserting that "if you went to the right school, MIT or Ivy, and know something about business, you'll be OK." Under his thumb If you manage to get in, expect to be thrown into a "work hard, play hard" environment where you will be "under the thumb of the chairman, who maintains 100 percent of equity in the firm." Some say Dominique's attitude "tends to breed self-loathing among the ranks." Consultants also complain that there is "limited space for innovation" in this "old school" company – one source says this is partially due to the fact that the company is "French, with an HBS president." Overall, though, our sources agree that the firm is "a great opportunity for undergrads." Apprentice at Mars Some new consultants complain that "there is no official employee training program." (Mars & Co says it "works under the apprenticeship format.") Most of the firm's consultants say they thrive as they learn on the job, though new hires "could benefit from an official introduction to strategy consulting." The good thing about the "apprentice format" is that "if you show that you can take on significant responsibility, you're going to get it." "You move beyond number crunching," explains an insider. "Early on, you're working with CEOs of some really important companies." In addition, an insider reveals that the firm will promote non-MBAs to the consultant level – which means "MBA-level salaries." Reportedly, "after three years, you can make a six-figure salary." One contact explains that "with that kind of money, you work a few more years and you won't have to take out loans for grad school." In addition to the "apprentice format," Mars & Co is currently developing a training program for its consultants. Never a partner Though most undergraduates leave the firm for graduate school after about three years, "the firm will not kick them out." One insider estimates that "about 20 percent of the firm's professionals above the consultant level are homegrown through the Mars system." What employees do gripe about is the fact that "no one will ever make partner – Dominique owns the company, and that's that." However, "in terms of compensation, VPs make as much as partners at Bain or BCG. Some might even make more." Recent grad heaven Mars & Co "is a very young firm, in the sense that a lot of the people working here are recent grads from both undergraduate and business school." This makes working at Mars "fun – all week we bust our butts, so on Fridays, especially in the summer, we go out to a bar in Stamford and have some drinks." There are also company softball and basketball teams – "Dominique used to play, now he'll come to a game once in a while." "Women seem to be more the exception" at Mars & Co. Several of our contacts explain that "we're interviewing lots of women and making offers, but it's hard to convince them to join the company when there are so few here." Employees say there are no problems with ethnic minorities, "there are just not many of them – it's a small company." They do point out that "we do have a lot of international people." The purity of strategy Hours "are determined by the client, the nature of the project, and the VP you're working with." "There's no real face time – people show up at 9:30 or 10 a.m. and that's OK." On the flip side, "if there's work to be done and you're not in the office, there's a problem." Insiders admit that "people do sometimes take two- or three-hour lunches, or run errands if they have to. They just make sure to get their work done." Travel "can be pretty extensive, in that you may be staffed on site somewhere for a while." But one source points out that "the good thing about pure strategy consulting is that the travel is not always so intense. A lot of the work you do is analyzing a client's competitors or markets." Not only does this minimize travel time, "you benefit from the resources in the office," most importantly by "being around everyone else in the firm."
Human Resources
Strategy consulting
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