“Should I join Capgemini?”
Dear Sarah,
The short answer is yes! The long answer is that sending such a short, non-descriptive email with little context of the role, location, practice, salary and your goals gives me little to go on.
Forget the criticism we write about Capgemini (the bottom-line is that we criticize all firms when they make mistakes!). There are a couple of things to keep in mind. Even the very best firms are subject to areas of improvement. There is no such thing as a perfect management consulting firm. You may end up having a terrible experience at a firm which is highly rated by most.
Even if you drive a BMW, would you worry you were not driving a Mercedes? Sure, some may, that is if you assume a Mercedes is a better car! That is just the point. Others will disagree and think BMW is a better car. The point is, choose what is best for you. If you went to a forum and asked about Capgemini, most would say they are not among the best. Most of this feedback would be from people whom have never worked at Cap, heard some unsubstantiated rumor from someone else who never worked at Cap, and the rest would be from the BBM fan club. However, most is not true and like any firm Cap has good points and some weaker points. Depending on the office and role, you can end up doing great work.
Capgemini has an especially strong strategy practice in telecoms. As recent as 2009/2010 they were running one of the worlds largest telecom strategy projects in the emerging markets. That is a confirmed fact! They beat out Bain, McKinsey, OW and AT Kearney to get the multi-million dollar contract. Granted, strategy is not very strong worldwide, but it depends what you are looking for.
My advice is make a list of what you want from your career, what Capgemini can offer and think about your needs. Ignore your friends who may dismiss the firm. Ignore the rankings unless they have the criteria and weighting which are important to you. Most of all, choose what makes you happy.
Michael
P.S. We have a former Capgemini senior strategy manager in the Firmsconsulting team if you have specific questions about salary, titles, projects, roles and career progression.
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Hi All,
I dont know what to say …. But Capgemini employees are totally dominated by Sr.Consultants and Lead Consultants …. All other employees are seen as fools. They are never allowed to use their brains. If try doing so … there will be heavy politics and finally they will force you to resign.
My suggestion is not to join CAPGEMINI …..Its a SLAVE company …..Employees are treated as slaves ….. No Good Hikes …. No Promotions …….
Thanks Michael! I’d look to revert once I’ve deeper clarity and better understanding.
Regards
Hi Michael,
I’ve been offered the position of Senior Consultant (business research) at Capgemini Consulting’s India office. My work initially will be life science-centric. However, I intend to develop deep understanding of at least one more industry (probably environment/energy). Could you please share your thoughts on:
1. Cap’s practice in life sciences/pharmaceuticals
2. The nature of Cap’s work, if any, for the public sector/governments/international organizations (UN, IMF, Gates Foundation), etc
3. The possibility of gaining expertise in the space of Corporate Social Responsibility at Cap
4. In order to make a favorable impact on top B-schools in a few years from now (I’ve read the Cap-centric posts here), what must one do to stand out?
My long-term interests are to work with/for large international organizations and governments in the ‘sustainable socio-economic development’ space, especially in the emerging markets.
Hi Rap,
Thank you for your email. Congratulations on your offer.
Capgemini does have a strong life sciences practice. That came through their signature acquisition of E&Y Health Care Consulting. That is however primarily a strength which sits in the US.
Cap is very strong in the public sector space. Both in consulting and technology. However, from what I know that is mainly the France, US, Canada and pockets around the world. The IMF, UN etc are not major clients of the firm. Then again, no consulting firms dominate these two clients.
I do not think Cap has a recognized practice here. Especially not in India.
To get into a top school, try as far as possible to avoid IT-centric roles. You will be competing with thousands of candidates who have this profile. Ensure you accomplish something meaningful in more business consulting roles.
I am not sure on the specific strenght of Cap’s India consulting business, but if the rest of the world is any measure, Cap has shrunk its resources considerably. Consulting now tends to be heavily linked to IT work, though pockets of pure management consulting do exist.
Michael
Hi Michael,
Thank you for the quick and to the point responses. A clarifying question:
1. Could you please elaborate on the ‘something meaningful’ bit? Furthermore, what specific skills should one look to develop in order to advance one’s career in the development space post-MBA? I must add here that I’d look to pursue a program comprising both management and policy.
2. And this is a very general question that might belie the usually high standards of the fora here. What in your opinion are the common mistakes/errors of judgment that fresh entrants in the management consulting space commit? More than ‘operational’ aspects, I’m interested in understanding the void in terms of preconceived notions/myths/belief systems of someone fresh out of B-school or someone (like me) with a few years of experience but no B-school (or management consulting) exposure.
Regards,
Rap
Rap,
Both questions are covered extensively in the podcasts section so I am not going to repeat them here.
Moreover, I do not understand this sentence: “Furthermore, what specific skills should one look to develop in order to advance one’s career in the development space post-MBA?”
Michael
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your post- it was both interesting and . I have been offered a place on the Capgemini Consulting graduate scheme in London. It would be a 2 year rotation in the different consulting practices and was hoping for some advice along similar lines to your post to Sarah.
How do you rate the different practices compared to Cap’s competitors? As you have alluded to, some of my friends have suggested that I stear clear of the Strategy & Tranformation practice as it looses out to the likes of McKinsey, BCG and Bain.
The three areas that initally interested me were Strategy, Supply Chain and Finance Transformation. However, a few friends, who have worked as Management Consultants, have suggested that Finance Transformation would generally involve working with software solutions and be fairly dry, while Supply Chain and IT solutions would be strong areas at Cap.
I have a real interest in the energy industry, as well as the media, technology and telecoms industries but it would also interesting to find out whether or not Capgemini is leading the way in any of these and/or growing.
What are your thoughts on the future of Capgemini Consulting? Do you see it growing and returning to it’s former strength as Gemini (as mentioned in other articles on the site)?
It would be also great to find out how London compares to the other offices in terms of reputation, projects and clients.
Finally, how does the training, career progression and opportunties (after leaving) compare to other Management Consulting firms.
Apologies for all the questions- it appears that other than this site there is very little inpartial information about Capgemini Consulting.
Many thanks,
Andy
Andy,
Thanks for your post and questions. There is no reason to apologize. We welcome the opportunity to help you. I will answer them here.
How do you rate the different practices compared to Cap’s competitors? Cap is weak in most areas. Strategy is all but dead. Although pockets exist it is not a focus on management. The strong areas would be supply chain, IT strategy and financial systems. Even here, they are competing far more with Accenture and Deloitte than BBM. In fact, I cannot recall BBM losing a major project to Cap in the last 5 years.
Supply Chain and IT solutions would be strong areas at Cap. They are relatively strong here. But you will not be doing strategy, just Cap’s version of it.
I have a real interest in the energy industry, as well as the media, technology and telecoms industries but it would also interesting to find out whether or not Capgemini is leading the way in any of these and/or growing. Cap is very strong in telecoms but weak in energy. Media is also strong. But again, the work will not be very intellectually stimulating.
What are your thoughts on the future of Capgemini Consulting? Do you see it growing and returning to it’s former strength as Gemini (as mentioned in other articles on the site)? Very unlikely. To do that, Cap needs to want to build management consulting. They have just begun a new ad campaign which specifically plays up their tech strengths. Since the ad campaign must support the strategy, by default, strategy is not in the strategy.
It would be also great to find out how London compares to the other offices in terms of reputation, projects and clients. London is the best office. Sorry Paris! London does the most diverse mix of work and is the home of the Telecoms team. There are very, very good people there.
Finally, how does the training, career progression and opportunties (after leaving) compare to other Management Consulting firms. The honest answer is weak. Unless you have a network which knows your personal strength, the Cap name will not conjure images of brilliance. That said, you are just starting out so you could start here, do an MBA later and move.
Michael,
Thank you for responding. I’m a newbie here and going by the description of podcasts, assumed those to be case-centric. Thank you for directing me to them to seek my answers!
By ‘development’ space, I imply solving socio-economic challenges, primarily those of the developing world. These would typically entail working closely with corporate houses, governments, international organizations and local communities. From that perspective, what key skills should I be looking to inculcate?
Regards,
Partha
Partha,
Again, it depends on what you want to do in this space, and heavily dependent on your background and the skills you may or may not have.
Michael