By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant · Updated September 2026 Management consulting is the business of solving a company’s hardest problems from the outside, usually as a time-boxed project with a defined question, a small dedicated team, and a recommendation delivered to senior management at the end. That’s the definition. Here’s the part the textbooks…
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Updated September 2026 · By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant An AI consultant in the US earns between roughly $95,000 and $300,000 in total compensation in 2026, and the range is that wide because “AI consultant” describes four different jobs, not one. Search the term and you get one blended average from job boards. It’s the…
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Updated September 2026. By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant Tier 2 consulting firms are the strategy firms that sit directly below McKinsey, BCG, and Bain: Oliver Wyman, L.E.K. Consulting, Kearney, and Roland Berger as independents, Strategy&, EY-Parthenon, and Monitor Deloitte as corporate-owned strategy arms. The problem with that answer is that it treats a dozen…
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By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant. Updated September 2026. AI consulting jobs come through three separate doors: a firm’s AI-native unit such as QuantumBlack or BCG X, the generalist consulting track that staffs AI projects, and enterprise implementation roles at Accenture and the Big 4. Each door has a different skill bar and a different…
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By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant · Updated September 2026 The boutique consulting firms worth joining share three things: a defensible niche, an alumni trail you can verify in ten minutes on LinkedIn, and pay benchmarked against MBB rather than against the local market. Economic consulting firms like Analysis Group, strategy boutiques like OC&C and…
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Florian spent five years at McKinsey as a Senior Consultant and is a highly experienced consulting interviewer and problem-solving coach. Having conducted interviews with hundreds of candidates, he understands exactly what top-tier firms look for in successful applicants.
He founded StrategyCase.com to make top consulting careers more accessible by providing tailored, up-to-date insights into the recruiting process. Recognized as the most successful case and fit interview coach, Florian has helped his clients secure 700+ offers at MBB, Tier-2 firms, Big 4 consulting divisions, in-house consultancies, and boutique firms over the past four years.
He is the author of “The 1%: Conquer Your Consulting Case Interview,” “The 1%: Case Interview Workbook,” and “Consulting Career Secrets”, all available on Amazon.
