West Monroe Partners

West Monroe Partners has consistently ranked as a top-tier management and technology consulting firm since its inception in 2002. It is an employee-owned firm that boasts competitive salaries and unique perks such as travel bonuses for frequent fliers and a $1M fund for employees to participate in leadership programs.

With 9 office locations and more than 2,000 employees, West Monroe Partners has witnessed monumental growth over the past decade. Let’s explore the firm’s history, culture, practice areas, and interview process in more detail to see if it might be for you.

 

Table of Contents:

1. West Monroe Partners Key Stats
2. West Monroe Partners History
3. West Monroe Partners Careers
4. Practice Areas
5. Industries
6. West Monroe Partners Locations
7. Career Path
8. West Monroe Partners Internships
9. Exit Opportunities
10. Diversity Programs
11. West Monroe Partners Culture
12. West Monroe Partners Interviews
13. West Monroe Partners Salary

West Monroe Partners Key Stats

• West Monroe Partners website: https://www.westmonroe.com/
• West Monroe Partners headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
• Number of Employees: 2,000
• Number of Locations: 9
• West Monroe Partners CEO: Kevin McCarty
• West Monroe Partners revenue: $110M

West Monroe Partners History

To position yourself to perform well in an interview, it’s useful to understand West Monroe Partner’s history and background.

The firm was founded in 2002 by four former Arthur Andersen consultants with a vision to deliver business and technology consulting services to Midwestern clients. By mid-2004, West Monroe had already grown to 50 employees and was rapidly expanding.

The firm then embarked on a period of even more rapid expansion in which it opened up offices in several new cities, including Seattle. In that same year, West Monroe Partners hired 100 employees and brought in $10M in revenue. Throughout the 2000s, it would continue to expand across North America.

In 2010, West Monroe Partners entered the European market by forming an alliance with BearingPoint out of the Netherlands. WMP would continue to grow domestically and internationally throughout the 2010s.

In September 2021, West Monroe Partners announced a $250M investment to fast-track growth of its digital consulting services. This is anticipated to facilitate digitization and a more agile workplace for its clients.

West Monroe Partners Careers

West Monroe Partners careers encompass a variety of consulting roles in Business Advisory and Transformation, Business Services, Digital and Technology, Mergers and Acquisitions, and People. The firm offers a competitive compensation package that includes a full range of benefits.
As WMP looks to the future, its focus is moving in the direction of end-to-end digital solutions, transitioning from a management and technology consulting firm to a full service technology solutions provider.

West Monroe Partners Practice Areas

Described as the company’s Service Lines, West Monroe Partners practice areas are organized into five areas:

• • Business Advisory and Transformation – The combination of right thinking, designing, and doing to bring business strategies to life.
  • Business Services – Scaling for growth by connecting marketing, sales, and customer service teams.
  • Digital and Technology – Executing an iterative, agile, forward-thinking digital strategy.
  • Mergers and Acquisitions – Planning and carrying out M&A transactions by integrating deal strategy, diligence, integration planning and execution, and achieving optimal results.
  • People – Designing a people management strategy to enable organizational growth and impact.

One clear, current focus of West Monroe Partners is agile development and custom technology. With its current model, it projects to be able to sustain 50% YoY revenue growth.

West Monroe Partners Industries

West Monroe Partners brings its expertise to a wide variety of sectors and industries:

• • Consumer and Industrial Products
  • Energy and Utilities
  • Financial Services
  • Healthcare and Life Sciences
  • High-Tech and Software
  • Private Equity
  • Retail

West Monroe Partners Locations

With 9 locations across the United States and UK, prospective employees with West Monroe have options with regards to where they choose to call home. Office locations include:

• • Chicago, Illinois
  • Dallas, Texas
  • Los Angeles, California
  • Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • New York, New York
  • San Francisco, California
  • Seattle, Washington
  • Washington, D.C.
  • London, UK

Career Path

Here is an overview of the West Monroe Partners career path:

• • Consultant – Execute large and important work streams in projects.
  • Senior Consultant – Manage business development activities, content development, financial analysis, and resolution of client queries and problems.
  • Manager – Gather, analyze, and interpret data to formulate conclusions.
  • Senior Manager – Manage content development, assess needs and shortcomings in the organization, and develop client relationships and new business.
  • Senior Managing Partner – Work with the executive committee to establish organizational strategies, communicate with stakeholders, and monitor day-to-day business operations.
  • Managing Partner – Communicate with stakeholders, monitor day-to-day business operations, work with the executive committee to establish organizational strategies.
  • Vice President – Meet financial/utilization metrics, delivery goals, and organizational targets.

West Monroe Partners Internships

West Monroe Partners offers a full array of internships that engage internees in transformative client projects and the ability to make an impact from day one. They get exposure to leaders in client organizations as well as WMP. Browse West Monroe internships here.

Exit Opportunities

Very few people stay at a consulting firm for their whole career, so it makes sense to think about West Monroe exit opportunities as you consider a career with the firm. There is a lot you can do after a stint at West Monroe Partners.

Some WMP employees eventually move onto Tier 1 consulting firms (McKinsey, Bain, BCG).

But, as West Monroe Partners becomes more established in the digital space, increasing numbers of past employees are joining the ranks of major technology firms. These roles can encompass a variety of areas ranging from business development to data science.

Some former employees can be found in the ranks of private equity or venture capital, while others work for large corporations. Other former West Monroe employees have launched their own consulting firms.

Diversity Programs

West Monroe has a clear commitment to inclusion and diversity through Employee Resource Groups and a variety of “networks” aimed at specific underrepresented groups.

The firm has a number of affinity groups that support its diversity efforts: the Women’s Leadership Network, WMPride, Black Employee Network (BEN) and the Pan-Asian Network. West Monroe Partners received an impressive score of 100 in the 2021 Corporate Equality Index.

West Monroe Partners Culture

West Monroe prides itself on a ‘people-first’ model which facilitates a collaborative culture. And this isn’t just marketing BS – employees report that the firm walks the talk. 94% of employees say that West Monroe Partners is a ‘great place to work,’ compared to just 54% at typical U.S.-based companies. One former employee even says that his “co-workers are [his] best friends in the city.” And that’s the overall feel within the firm – folks love coming to work at West Monroe.

At West Monroe Partners, you’ll work typical consulting hours, which means your schedule can be unpredictable during busy seasons and you’ll have to work some weekends. But, management is accommodating to employee needs. Employees feel like they have a say in their schedule for the most part.

You’ll likely do some travel at WMP, but it’s not mandatory and you can request to be staffed on local projects if you want to avoid traveling.

Work-life balance at West Monroe Partners is better than at competing firms. Leadership makes space for employees to have lives outside of work and offers generous PTO and vacation time (4 weeks PTO + holidays off).

Professional and career development opportunities exist around every corner at West Monroe Partners. The firm has an extensive formal training process in place plus additional opportunities for employees to learn new technical skills and/or receive mentorship from a peer or leader.

West Monroe Partners Interviews

Interviews at West Monroe Partners include a mix of behavioral and case interviews. The firm wants to see if you’re a cultural and personality fit and test your technical skills and how you think.

You’ll typically run through 3-5 interviews, all with different West Monroe employees so the firm can get a full picture of what you bring to the table. The West Monroe Partners case interviews are all based off real client situations in an effort to closely simulate life on the job.

The best way to prepare for West Monroe Partners case interviews? Out-loud practice with a partner. Get expert partner practice by working with our globally distributed team of MBB coaches. They have 24/7/365 availability to help you get ready for consulting interviews! Learn more.

West Monroe Partners Salary

The average salary at West Monroe Partners is slightly lower than competing firms – around $85,000 per year at the undergraduate entry-level. That’s the base salary and doesn’t include a wide range of additional benefits. Additionally, all employees share equity as part of the firm’s employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). See the full details in our Consulting Salaries Report.

Conclusion

If working for one of the top-ranked management and technology consulting companies in the world sounds interesting to you, check out open roles at West Monroe Partners. Make sure you’re prepared for the firm’s case interviews by working with an expert coach today.

 

Additional Resources:

• Top 25 Consulting Firms
• Top 10 Boutique Consulting Firms in US
• Consulting Resume: Complete Guide
• Case Interview: Complete Prep Guide