The 10 Best Consulting Firms to Work For, 2005 - Mercer Oliver Wyman

Mercer Oliver WymanHeadquarters: New YorkLocations: 30Walk into a typical project team meeting at Mercer Oliver Wyman, and you might hear as many as five different languages being spoken. There might be several directors present who are under the age of 30. And, if they finish their work by 5 p.m., you might even see the same directors go home. "Arrivederci!"

"The firm culture is great at emphasizing efficiency and strongly deemphasizing face time, unlike at many other firms, where leaving before 8 p.m. would be considered blasphemy," says Onan Gunoz, who worked at another strategy firm before joining MOW a year ago. Part of the efficiency comes from the fact that MOW specializes in financial services strategy and risk management consulting. Specialization reduces the level of time consultants need to spend doing homework and, in turn, this reduces the amount of time spent in the office. MOW's financial services area encompasses retail banking, investment banking, insurance, and asset management. Industry concentration is seen as career advancing, since it helps consultants build content and advance quickly. "The responsibility given at junior levels is very high," adds Gunoz, who is 24 years old. "On my very first project, I had the opportunity to present a portion of my work stream to the chairman of the bank, himself a Forbes 100 individual. And there are always opportunities to work abroad. In the last year, I have worked on projects in four different cities on three different continents."MOW, which has 30 offices in 14 countries, aims to be a global firm and is increasingly recruiting consultants who are bicultural or even tricultural, says Jean-Philippe Montagne, the director of human capital, who himself is fluent in three languages. The annual bonus is also doled out globally. All consultants, excluding directors — who have a separate bonus system — receive a certain percentage of their salary as their bonus. This percentage varies with the firm's annual profitability but is consistent throughout its offices worldwide, Montagne says.

Every new consultant also receives a sign-on bonus.