The Scoop

WKI consists of 60 employees worldwide, from Mongolia to the Ukraine, who offer considerable international expertise and experience, and together speak 37 languages. Every WKI consultant has a country of expertise, but also internationally diverse work experience. Based on thorough analysis, case teams come up with a strategy and help to implement an action plan for their clients. In some cases, the firm's consultants even start up and run the client's new business in the target market. This expertise doesn't come cheap. Fees for three- to five-month projects have price tags with five- to seven-digit figures. Recent projects include a product manufacturing strategy in Australia and a market entry project in Turkey.

Getting Hired

WKI recruits for two positions. Undergraduates are recruited primarily from top Ivy League schools to fill associate consultant positions. For consultant positions, WKI actively recruits MBAs from the top B-schools. WKI also advertises in The Economist, and accepts mailed applications and resumes from other "leading institutions." (All MBAs come from seven top business schools, mainly Stanford and Chicago.) WKI looks for candidates that have very strong quantitative, analytical, and communication skills, and an international background. Previous experience overseas is prized and foreign language fluency is said to be "highly regarded" (although based on the WKI employee profile, it appears to be a prerequisite). Over half of the firm's consultants speak three or more languages. WKI uses a resume screen and multiple interviews to evaluate candidates. Applications should be addressed to the Recruiting Director, Betsy Shimko-Lanyard.

Veterans of the recruiting process say WKI has a very simple approach: "They're not into bells and whistles during the presentation," explains one source. "They just make it clear that they are looking for a definite sort of candidate." They want people "who are interested in all the basic consulting shit, but really want an international focus." Our contacts reveal that "there are some people who only speak one language, but they definitely have that commitment to dealing internationally."

Our Survey Says

WKI is the world

WKI consultants say the diverse composition of the workforce makes the firm's corporate culture quite unique. Insiders say the firm's CEO is pretty conservative, thus "the corporate culture exists despite him, not because of him." "Because we're all kind of well traveled," one source explains, "we tend to be very liberal." On average, consultants "speak at least three languages, though there are some who speak only one." Though you will probably travel to countries where you'll put your language skills to use, consultants point out that because the company is so small, "everyone eventually gets sent to a country where they don't know the language. So sometimes it doesn't matter whether you know those extra languages."

My pals at WKI

One of our contacts reports that "the people that get hired here are from completely diverse backgrounds, but we fit a very specific profile – we're all international. Most of us are world culture kids. We've moved around all our lives, lived in lots of places. It's cool working with a group of people who have had such similar types of experiences, though they may be completely different."

These similar backgrounds foster a unique level of camaraderie, which is strengthened by the fact that WKI consultants are basically forced (by circumstances) to socialize with each other outside the office. "If you're hanging out after work," one consultant explains, "it's probably with someone from WKI." The reason? Timing. Explains one contact: "You travel internationally all the time, and when you're home, you're usually in the office." Spending a third of their time overseas and an average 60 hours in the office the rest of the time, it's no wonder consultants complain that "it's hard to maintain a social life." "You end up hanging out with people from work." Another contact agrees: "You have to devote so much of time to the company that eventually all your friends are from WKI." Consultants at the company headquarters (right outside Washington, DC) say "we all go out in DC together – we tend to drink heavily and party a lot." Some insiders claim that "we do more dancing than boozing." One source describes the office as "a very collegiate atmosphere" where you start to view your co-workers "as your brothers and sisters." He goes on to add that "because we're all from different ethnic groups, there are a lot of slightly off-color jokes going around – I think that's really another indicator of how comfortable we are with one another."

The power of the position

Most WKI employees live in DC, and the average consultant is around 23 or 24 – "the only 'older' people there," reports one contact "are the CEO, who's probably in his 60s, and the VPs, who are between 30 and 35." Consultants are generally recruited straight out of college. "Most of us spend two years there and move on." You're not required to leave, but as one source puts it, "after a while, people sort of realize it's about that time." Those who stick around for two to four years are eligible to become Senior Consultants, and then can be promoted to Manager after another two- to four-year period.

One former consultant who describes the job as "totally amazing," sums up a typical consultant's experience: "For the first nine months you are working hard, and engrossed in making ends meet. You spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get your work done, and worrying that you just won't be able to. But then you reach the level where you realize you can get it all done. This is the most enjoyable period, because you have such a sense of power and control in your job." Continues that contact: "But after a while, the job becomes predictable. The people that are attracted to this place are the kind who thrive on challenges, variety and excitement – they're used to moving around. So when things become predictable, they leave."

Moving on

After WKI, consultants do a wide variety of things, though "just about everyone does something international." Some travel or go to business school, some move to the client side or to other firms, and "one even went to Canada and opened a bakery." The relationships built at William Kent last far beyond the company's halls. One former consultant says: "Even though I'm not there anymore, I know what's going on in the office every day; and I have several friends [who have also left] that I speak to almost every day." Employees also like the fact that they get to meet people as they travel. As one sentimental WKI insider puts it, "William Kent will definitely change your worldview – it makes you realize the world is a very small place."

Lackluster salaries but, oh, the travel!

Salaries are "not very competitive for the industry," sources comment. "Entry-level consultants make 40k to start." However, consultants say "we stay in five-star hotels, all of our expenses are covered, and we get to take an amazing number of cool vacations." When at home, consultants "bill late meals" and get "to take a car home after 8 p.m." In addition, there are a lot of business dinners and company functions – including the yearly retreat to the CEO's farm in Pennsylvania, which one insider describes as "two or three days of games, sports, and lots of boozing." Oh yes, and everyone gets full benefits, three weeks vacation, a 401(k), and flex-time for employees with children. On the downside, sources say the company "has always had minimal administrative support." For example, there is no production department, one source says. "Everyone does their own slide production."

Women rare but welcome

There are very few women at WKI – one insider estimates that they account for only 15 percent of consultants. But that source goes on to add that women are "absolutely treated as equals. There are absolutely zero respect issues." The company is quite racially diverse, however – as one source put it, "we don't have a lot of 'minorities' according to the American definition, (there are no African Americans, for example), but many people here are immigrants. There are people from India, China, South America, and Europe." In response to changes in the international scene, WKI implemented a significant restructuring in October 1998, paring down some of its staff while hiring others.

Employment Contact

Betsy Shimko-Lanyard
Recruiting Director
Washington, D.C. Headquarters1
2101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1100
Arlington
VA
22201
(703) 516-7920
(703) 351-7654

Products and Services

International Strategy Consulting (Global Valuation Process, Global Resource Positioning)

Key Competitors

Bain & Company;Boston Consulting Group;Mars & Co.;McKinsey & Company

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