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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
The Business Careers Handbook 2020
Professional services
Overview Professional services is a broad term used to describe any organisation whose core business is to serve and support other businesses. These services can range from accounting and audit to advertising, investment banking, strategy consulting and tax advisory. Organisations that provide these services can be anything from large multinationals to one-person businesses offering specialist advice.
Banks and financial services: commercial banks such as the ‘Big Four’ and other smaller or regional banks (Bank of Queensland) offer banking services to businesses and larger corporations or institutions such as the government. Investment banks offer services including helping organisations to list on the stock exchange, merge or acquire other organisations. Financial service organisations may also include management funds and hedge funds.
What is common across all professional services organisations is the need for talent. These organisations are typically on the lookout for smart graduates who are analytical, able to think critically and explore solutions to complex problems.
Entering the professional services sector Most high-profile professional services organisations run competitive graduate recruitment programs. The application process for these programs is rigorous and highly competitive. For example, at McKinsey & Company – perhaps the world’s best known consultancy firm – applicants who make it past the initial CV evaluations are expected to complete up to six fifty-minute interviews, during some of which they will be required to solve hypothetical business problems on the spot. They are also given a multiple-choice problem-solving test. If candidates are unsuccessful, they must wait for up to eighteen months before applying again.
For the purposes of this overview, we have grouped professional services into three key categories: accounting and advisory services; consultancies; and banks and financial services. Below is a brief description of each: Accounting and advisory services: these organisations provide accounting and auditing services, as well as advice on areas such as tax, risk, insolvency and restructuring. Organisations may offer the full suite of these services, such as the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms, or specialise in one or two of these areas. For example, there are many smaller accounting firms or freelancers that focus primarily on assisting individuals and businesses with their accounting needs. Consultancies: the term ‘consulting’ is often bandied about and as a result, it can be quite confusing as to what it really means (or what a person actually does when they say they consult!). In this context, we refer to consultancies as management consultancies that offer strategy advice or specialise in operations, process and technology. Some of the best known consultancies include global operators such as McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) or Bain & Co, as well as boutique firms like Port Jackson Partners – all of which specialise in strategy consulting. Alternatively, organisations such as Partners in Performance and Accenture, as well as some accounting firms, focus on operations, process and technology. www.gradaustralia.com.au
Many professional services organisations require graduates to apply within a certain period after finishing their undergraduate degree. Otherwise, it’s not unusual for them to expect candidates to have evidence of impressive professional experience or a second degree. What’s involved? Professional services employees serve two bosses: first, there is the company that employs them (for example, BCG or Accenture); and then there is the client, an external organisation that comes to the professional services organisation because it has some sort of problem needing to be solved. The type of work you will be expected to do will depend on your area of specialisation. For example, if you’re working in strategy consulting, you’ll be required to address a range of challenges, from navigating a complex merger to providing strategic advice on how best to launch a new product. It’s not unusual for employees dealing with such challenges to go on secondment, or in other words, be based at the headquarters of their client, rather than their
