‘The Beauty of Consulting Is That There Is No Ceiling’

HSE graduate Nadezhda Markova became Director of the Deal Strategy and Market Research Group at Kept, one of Russia’s largest consulting firms, two years ago. In an interview with Success Builder, she spoke about modern ‘consulting with a human face,’ women’s mentorship, and why not every soldier should dream of becoming a general.

— When did you enter consulting and how did it happen?

— In 2011, I began my career as a market analyst at PwC with a focus on the automotive industry. This specialisation was not accidental—it was preceded by a summer job at Ford in my first year at university. There I worked on approving discounts for dealers, which gave me a practical understanding of the car business. At the time, I did not yet realise that this experience would become one of my key advantages in applying to PwC and that it would determine my subsequent industry focus. For the first three years at PwC, I dealt with internal consultant requests, providing analysis of the automotive market. I then successfully passed the selection process for consulting practice, including a partner interview with case studies, and since then I have been developing specifically in consulting.

— What alternative paths were available to economics graduates at that time?

— I would say that more than half of the top graduates aimed to enter banking or consulting. In the case of banking, we are mainly talking about international investment banks: Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and so on. Working there was prestigious, but extremely difficult to get into. As for consulting, graduates usually chose the Big Four (KPMG, PwC, EY, Deloitte) and the Big Three (McKinsey, BCG, Bain). The selection was no less challenging there, with high requirements and very intensive work. Graduates were drawn by the value of the name on their CV and exposure to international standards.

— In your view, was it harder to start back then or is it harder now? What is the level of competition for a vacancy today?

— In my opinion, when it comes to consulting, it is harder to start now—not only because of the increased demands employers place on graduates, but also because AI is developing rapidly and can take on a large share of the routine tasks traditionally assigned to entry-level specialists. As for competition, the figures depend on the vacancy, but on average it is about 15 people per position.

— If you were hiring today, would you take on your younger self?

— Absolutely. When you start as an analyst, all that is required of you are strong technical skills, accuracy, and diligence. Without false modesty, I can say that at the start of my career I possessed these qualities, so my ‘past self’ would have received an offer.

— At what point do you stop being a ‘junior researcher,’ and who makes that decision?

— Let me briefly explain the structure of a consulting company. At Kept, where I currently work, there are three analyst levels: first-year, second-year, and third-year analyst. These are followed by the senior consultant position, which keeps the same internal gradation. Then you progress to manager, senior manager, director, and partner. Your competencies and evaluation criteria change as you grow. At the beginning, technical skills are paramount: how quickly you find and process information, how efficiently you work in Excel, how fast you can design a presentation in PowerPoint. At the mid-level—manager and senior manager—the focus shifts more to client communication, operational project management, and team development. Work in Excel and PowerPoint takes a back seat, giving way to management tasks.

— Is it more interesting?

— It is not so much a question of interest as of natural career progression. Each stage requires a new set of competences. At director/partner level, the priorities are the strategic development of the business: attracting clients, mentoring, and financial performance. Routine calculations are delegated to junior staff. At director level it is no longer necessary to remember all the Excel formulae, because my value lies elsewhere. I must solve complex client problems, listen to them, and build strategy. The beauty of consulting is that there is no ‘ceiling’ here and you cannot get stuck in a single role. As you move up, you naturally progress to the next stage: some skills fade into the background while you acquire new ones.

— Can one skip the starting positions and immediately get to where it is interesting?

— More no than yes. Consulting is structured so that enormous resources are invested in junior specialists, who are given unique opportunities to build up case experience. I cannot think of another profession where people at the start have access to such a high level of expertise. Teams are not formed randomly, but for a specific task. They include people with relevant competences and specialisations. As a result, in six to eight weeks—the typical length of a short project—you accumulate experience comparable to a mini-MBA. This is why, in my view, the most successful leaders and partners are almost always those who have gone through the journey from the very bottom. They not only have managerial skills, but have deeply absorbed the culture and methodology of consulting—something impossible to achieve if you skip the earlier stages.

— When you say ‘first-year consultant,’ ‘second-year consultant’—how literally should that be taken?

— Not literally. It varies. Everything depends on a person’s motivation and abilities. On average, if you work well and show progress during the year, you get promoted once a year. In rare cases, promotion can happen twice in a year. To put it in numbers: about 70% move up one step per year, 25% move up two. As for a career overall, I think that in 12–15 years you can progress from analyst to partner.

— Is promotion influenced by the human factor?

— Consulting has the most transparent career progression system. Here it is impossible to get a position through backroom deals or connections. Because work is based on the principles of close teamwork, everyone sees the contribution and progress of each colleague. So, as a rule, no one questions promotions.

— Can someone get stuck at the bottom of the career ladder?

— I would divide this into two cases. The first is a conscious choice: when someone clearly states that they do not want ‘faster, higher, stronger,’ but prefers to grow at their own pace while maintaining a work–life balance. This is a normal position, as long as one is honest with oneself and with the employer. The second case is when ambitions are declared: when someone openly says they want to grow quickly. In this situation, we work out a plan together: what competences they need to develop to reach the goal. Sometimes a single year is not enough to acquire all the skills required at the next grade, and the path takes a little longer. In both cases the intensity of effort and pace of growth will differ, but ultimately, with a clear understanding of goals, the person achieves what they want. Moreover, a consulting career is not only about vertical progression. There is also horizontal development, when you become a deep expert in your niche, and this path is no less respected.

— How quickly did your own career develop?

— Over my career I have had two double promotions. But, of course, there have also been difficulties over 15 years of work. Not so severe, however, that I ever seriously considered leaving for industry. ‘Going into industry’ is what we call moving to any non-consulting company.

And often, I create the conditions for growth myself—sometimes by forcing them.

— What made you move from PwC to KPMG?

— I have enormous respect and gratitude for PwC (now Technologies of Trust) and all the colleagues who contributed to my professional development. I still keep in touch with some former colleagues—many of them have become directors and partners or built successful careers in industry, and I am genuinely happy for their success. My decision to move to KPMG coincided with the realisation that I was ready to step up to a new level. At that time, KPMG was launching a new practice and I was invited to develop it. In the course of discussions with many partners on the way to this offer, I realised that it resonated with me very strongly. I also knew it would be a big challenge for me to do something on my own.

— And formally, in terms of positions?

— At PwC I rose to the position of junior manager. At KPMG I was hired as a manager and eventually grew to director. To move into the categories of directors, partners, and, starting next year, senior managers, you need to pass what is called a ‘panel.’ This involves defending your case before all the partners in the department. I had to explain why I deserved to become a director, why I was suited to the role, what I had achieved, what my financial goals were, and so on.

— Was it a happy day?

— There is a well-known joke in our profession: there are two happiest days in any consultant’s life—the day they join a consulting company and the day they leave it. On a serious note, leaving PwC was not easy for me at all—it certainly was not a ‘happy day.’ But stepping into my new role at KPMG was without doubt a joyful and inspiring moment.

— What inspires and motivates you?

— I think it is very important to have a role model at each stage of your career, someone who drives you and shows by example how to work effectively and build a career. I had such mentors both at PwC and at KPMG. Now, at Kept, my immediate supervisor plays this role for me. We joined the company a month apart and have grown together ever since. In addition, there are many female leaders at Kept. For most of my career, my managers were women who by their own example showed how one can successfully combine a career, motherhood, personal life, and hobbies. This kind of support—female mentorship—has been very valuable for me.

— Above director, is there only partner?

— Formally yes, but even within the partnership role there is a gradation of levels, up to senior partner and managing partner of the firm.

— And are you planning to go all the way?

— I am certainly interested in that prospect. Here it is important to understand why you want it and what you hope to achieve. Becoming a partner means essentially becoming a co-owner of the business. Until partner level you are an employee on a salary; from that point you begin to receive a share of the profits. This changes both your motivation and your level of responsibility. You need to build client relationships and bring new projects into the company. It is an entirely different role.

— Do you have your own office?

— No, that is not our custom. Our new office on Leningradsky Prospekt—which, by the way, won the 2025 Best Office Awards—is organised as an open space. Each employee books a workstation in advance for the days they plan to be present. When you leave in the evening, you must leave your desk completely clean, because the next day someone else will sit there. Although the office is quite large, it is not designed to accommodate all 3,500 Kept employees at once. Nor is that necessary. Since the pandemic, we have officially had a hybrid work format, in which each group leader sets the number of mandatory office days. In our group, there are two such days a week. But when a new person joins the team, we try to come in more often so that they can see how we interact and integrate into the team more quickly.

— What personal qualities help to build a career in consulting?

— First, curiosity and an analytical mindset. The ability to get to the heart of things and uncover deep cause-and-effect relationships is a very valuable quality for any consultant. Second, responsibility and the readiness, in critical moments, to take on commitments and act in the interests of the project, even if this requires flexibility in managing your personal time.

— You have just mentioned two stereotypes associated with your field. Is it true that consulting pays high salaries, but everyone works 24 hours a day?

— There is a consulting joke: ‘We have total flexibility—you decide for yourself how many hours to work at the weekend.’ I would put it this way: in the past, working conditions in consulting were far more uncompromising. People used to compete over who had the least sleep and the most working hours per week. But the industry has changed a lot. I would describe modern consulting as ‘consulting with a human face.’ Yes, we still work a lot, but within reasonable limits. Weekend work is now more of an exception, and when it happens, the team is usually warned in advance. As for pay, there is an opinion that in the first few years consultants earn on average less than in particular market industries, but in the long run financial growth in consulting often turns out to be higher. Ultimately, it comes down to a personal choice: whether to seek quick results or to play the long game by investing in your experience and expertise to gain more later.

— Is an economics degree essential?

— Most of my colleagues have a financial or economics background, but we have also had successful consultants in the team who trained as historians, diplomats, and even former professional athletes. What matters is not so much the diploma as whether the candidate has basic analytical skills, mental flexibility, and a readiness to learn quickly.

— What advice would you give to young people who want to try consulting?

— I would advise them to take part as actively as possible in activities where you have to interact with others to solve a common task. This could be case clubs, volunteering, or internships. By the time you graduate, you will already have your first professional contacts, an understanding of work processes and teamwork principles, as well as responsibility for results. All of this is highly valued by employers in consulting.