The Cambridge Group
Visit Website: www.thecambridgegroup.com
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Overview
Introduction
The Cambridge Group is a boutique strategy consulting firm that helps clients identify profitable new growth opportunities, optimize portfolios of products or services, unearth breakthrough innovation, reinvent categories, enhance brand equity, and optimize pricing. Services include mergers and acquisitions, corporate and business unit strategy, go-to-market activation, digital strategy, marketing strategy, innovation and design and pricing and promotion.
Company Stats
Employer Type
Size
Featured Rankings
Vault Consulting 50...
Major Departments/Practice Areas
Corporate and business unit strategyMarketing strategyInnovation......
Major Office Locations
Chicago, IL (HQ)...
Employment Contact
Pilar Pueyo - Human Resources Director...
Firsthand Findings
A smaller growth strategy outfit with a “family-like” culture, The Cambridge Group wins big among its employees for its relatively flat hierarchy and the deep sense of camaraderie shared by the people who work there. The firm operates from an “each of us and all of us” perspective that helps consultants feel supported and empowered at every level of their careers. A low-travel model (pre-Covid-19) and a general sense of flexibility ensure a stronger work/life balance than many other consultancies.
The Cambridge Group positions its people for success early on, with ample opportunities for training that often take the form of on-the-job, tactical learning. Salary seems to be relatively competitive, and people are overall satisfied with the combination of exciting w...
About the Company
If the consultants at The Cambridge Group were your Economics 101 professor, you would not have learned supply and demand, but rather demand and supply. The simple belief that demand should be placed before supply is the principle that differentiates TCG from other consulting firms. Since 1975, the firm has helped clients develop and execute strategies that are driven by a superior understanding of profitable demand. TCG applies its demand-led expertise across global industries including consumer goods, financial services, retail, media, and high technology.
The firm focuses on using demand to help clients identify profitable new growth opportunities, optimize portfolios of products or services, unearth breakthrough innovation, reinvent categories, enhance brand equity, and optimize pricing. Some of the world's most successful ...
Employee Reviews
- “The "each of us and all of us" culture means that we operate as one team with everyone helping each other out. We have an extremely close-knit firm where junior analysts are comfortable socializing with our most senior partners.”
- “The Cambridge Group is a small firm that has a huge impact with our clients. With the small size comes many great things, including better personal relationships with all of your co-workers and a real familial spirit where everyone is looking out for each other. It's rare that you find a combination of such exciting and interesting work, and such a great supportive environment.”
- “The reasons I joined TCG are the same reasons I'm still here years later. There wasn't some weird drop-off between the "sell" story and the reality of the experience, and that authenticity has always been huge for me. If you're looking to do really interesting, strategy consulting but actually have a life and feel like you're working with your friends, TCG is tough to beat.”
- “Our work is somewhat unique for consulting - understanding specifically how different firms tackle their clients' problems and the spaces they work in is something I think should be one of the most important parts of evaluating a potential employer.”
- “It's very hard to find a culture where you really get to know everyone in the firm in consulting. We do really cool work, but I think the type of people we attract is what makes you want to stay a long time.”
- “Cambridge feels more like a family than a consulting firm, and there is not one person at the firm that I wouldn't want to work with. On top of that, we get to do really fun growth strategy work for some of the top companies in the US, where we get to have a real impact…I think few consulting firms have as much impact as we do, with so few people. Cambridge has a very unique and special culture.”
- “In general, it's much better than institutional consulting, but still more volatile than some industry jobs. Travel is totally reasonable, and people are flexible about how, when and where you get work done. As long as you're delivering on responsibilities, that flexibility makes the job a whole lot more enjoyable. ”
- “Cambridge is unique in a few ways. First, we're very small which means you know everyone at the firm and your co-workers become your close friends. This also means we have a very supportive and collegial culture where everyone is always looking out for each other. Second, we have a non-travel model so we travel very little which means the work/life balance is excellent compared to many of the big consulting firms. Third, we do super interesting work with cool clients, so the work is always fun and clients are excited to see us.”
- “Even before COVID, we had a non-travel culture, meaning we only traveled for important client meetings. Now everyone is working from home or working remotely, and it has continued to work out really well. The firm has always been flexible when it comes to letting people work remotely.”
- “The most important health & wellness initiative is working from home, which the firm has supported historically and during COVID. Efforts to dial up fitness subsidies e.g., via gym memberships, went nowhere earlier this year, which is just as well due to the global pandemic.”
- “We have an open vacation policy so you can take as much time off as you need, provided you plan for it and make sure not to leave project teams stranded. Taking time off is part of what keeps you balanced and centered, and that's always been a priority at TCG.”
- “In general, it's much better than institutional consulting, but still more volatile than some industry jobs. Travel is totally reasonable, and people are flexible about how, when and where you get work done. As long as you're delivering on responsibilities, that flexibility makes the job a whole lot more enjoyable.”
- “Compensation is directly linked to performance.”
- “Cambridge is extremely competitive at entry-level undergraduate and entry level MBA levels in terms of compensation. The compensation begins to diverge a bit from the big strategy firms as you move up ... but there's a clear trade-off here - slightly lower pay for better, more interesting work, good people, less travel, and a better lifestyle/work/life balance.”
- “Heavy base and low bonus at most levels means stability but lower incentive for high performers to stick around.”
- “It's base-heavy, which has pros and cons. Management is wisely transitioning to a more bonus-focused approach across many levels which is more appropriate for our work.”
- “Compensation is competitive with other consulting...you make a little less but the other benefits justify it. Since the firm's management buy-out, there is now more flexibility around bonuses and it's great to see that kind of reward when you contribute to a good year.”
- “Salaries are not quite as high as the big strategy consulting firms, at least at the upper levels. But there is definitely a trade-off here, as I mentioned earlier between a better work/life balance, better firm culture, great work & clients ... and slightly lower pay. To me, it's still worth it to get paid slightly less to have a better life, and work with really good people and clients.”
- “The best aspect of career development at TCG is the flat hierarchy that the firm has. As such, consultants at every level are expected to bring their perspective to every project, and everyone values that perspective. One area of development as regards to firm development is diversity opportunities…”
- “The training is more focused on real-time support in the context of a project that is supplemented by formal training on key topics.”
- “There is a strong sense that the people at Cambridge want you to succeed, and as a result there is a lot of informal mentoring and training that goes on to help people get promoted and to help you step into new roles.”
- “Best is that we are a small firm and therefore are in close contact with senior partners, which provides great learning opportunities. Worst is that because we are small, there are arguably fewer people/styles to learn from.”
- “Cambridge is a small firm where everyone wants to help you succeed and develop. This is true whether you are a first year Analyst, or an Associate Partner looking to make the jump to partner. Everyone at every level wants you to succeed.”
- “Highly merit-driven [promotion process] and most of what you learn you learn by doing the work with other people. Having a tight office culture enables that.”
- “Diversity makes the firm better, and that has always been reflected in hiring and talent management.”
- “Everyone at the same level starts at the same compensation regardless of gender, age or any other factors.”
- “I have been promoted before my male peers. I'm proud to continue a sustainable lifestyle as a mother and a consultant.”
- “Never seen any issues with advancement.”
- “Pay is generally very standardized.”
- “There is very limited female leadership.”
- “We have continued to be busy during COVID. There have been no layoffs, salary reductions, furloughs or rescinded offers.”
- “We were able to quickly pivot when COVID hit, and we've successfully transitioned back to doing our more typical strategy projects in more recent months. We currently have more work than we have people, and I feel very good about our business outlook for this year, and the years to come.”
- “We're concentrated in industries that are weathering the current storm: center-store grocery and CPG / personal care. I'm confident we're going to do great.”
- “We are well-positioned as a small and agile firm despite the uncertainty and challenges that COVID brings. Fortunately, we don't need to be on-site at the client to do our work and are fully functional working from home.”
- “Cambridge is constantly looking for ways to improve, whether it's updating our website, creating a new visual identity, or forming internal initiative teams to spur new ideas or ways of doing things. Due to this, and the fact that we're now an independent firm owned by the TCG partnership group (and no longer part of Nielsen) we have the ability to make quick changes and do what is best for our people. I'm very confident in the firm's leadership and our ability to weather a downturn in the market, and despite a looming recession/depression, I'm confident in TCG's ability to continue our positive trajectory.”
- “Exciting new stage of operating as an independent firm.”
Getting Hired Here
- “Always looking for smart, highly proactive, analytical thinkers seeking a tight-knit office culture. We general have two rounds of interviews, and really like to have candidates in our office to see what the place is like.”
- “[We look for someone who is] analytically minded and able to see the forest for the trees, not get bogged down in the data.”
- “Interview and callback process is consistent with other top firms that recruit formally at universities. The ideal candidate is a team player, not egotistical, inquisitive, intelligent, interested in the consumer industry, and willing to support the firm beyond their job description.”
- “Speedy response. Looking for pro activity, creativity and core problem solving.”
- “We call all interviewees, regardless of whether they received an offer or not. The ideal candidate is passionate about growth strategy and understanding consumers, and also has strong quantitative acumen.”
- “Market entry, product portfolios.”
- "Market sizing.”
- “Consumer segmentation insights.”
- “Open-ended case questions typically looking at how a business might be able to grow within the context of certain market/competitive conditions. More about how people think than getting to a right answer. We also have many fit-related questions.”
- “Typically we ask a candidate to think through a growth challenge and develop an approach to exploring and solving it. Our cases don't have "right" answers, they're really just about seeing how someone's problem solving brain works. We'll also ask about past experience, successes and failures, the usual stuff that helps add color to what's on a person's resume.”
- “We typically have a standard case with some sort of market sizing, a written case where candidates have to prioritize a few slides from many and write headlines and a brief executive summary. And, of course, there are fit questions.”
Perks & Benefits
