EY Parthenon

Key Insights

Strategy at Scale: EY-Parthenon combines the focused strategy expertise of the former Parthenon Group with EY's global network of 150+ countries, giving consultants access to Fortune 1000 clients across virtually every industry.
Fast-Paced, High-Impact Work: Project teams are lean and engagements move quickly, especially in private equity and transaction advisory, so junior consultants take on real responsibility early and rarely do the same type of project twice.
Strong Exits, Strong Culture: Alumni land at Fortune 1000 companies, top grad programs, and even Bain, and the firm's tight-knit culture, rooted in its Boston boutique origins, has survived and scaled through its integration into the broader EY platform.

EY-Parthenon is the global strategy consulting arm of Ernst & Young (EY), one of the Big Four professional services networks. Formed in 2014 through the combination of EY and The Parthenon Group, a strategy consulting firm founded in 1991, EY-Parthenon brings together strategy advisory capabilities with EY’s broader global platform.

Today, EY-Parthenon advises corporate and private equity clients on growth strategy, transaction strategy, portfolio optimization, and enterprise transformation initiatives. As part of the EY network of member firms, EY-Parthenon operates globally while maintaining a distinct focus on strategy consulting.

In 2026, EY-Parthenon was named a Top Ranked Consulting Firm by Management Consulted.

Firm Stats

Website	EY-Parthenon
Parent Organization	Ernst & Young (EY)
Headquarters	Boston, Massachusetts (U.S. Strategy Hub)
Global Network	Part of EY’s global network operating in 150+ countries
EY-Parthenon Professionals	25,000+
Offices	45+ offices across 25+ countries
Global EY Revenue (FY2025)	~$51B
Service Line	Strategy (within EY Strategy & Transactions)

EY-Parthenon Careers

A career at EY-Parthenon puts you at the center of high-stakes strategy work for some of the world's largest organizations. You'll work on project teams advising C-suite clients, conducting market research, building financial models, and developing strategic recommendations across industries. EY Projects span corporate growth strategy, private equity advisory, and transaction work, so no two engagements look the same.

The Associate Program gives undergraduates broad exposure across sectors and engagement types, helping develop the well-rounded strategic skillset needed to become a transformative business leader. EY For MBA candidates, EY-Parthenon offers a dedicated Consultant Program designed to accelerate career growth from day one.

Team sizes are small, typically four to five people per engagement. That lean structure means junior consultants take on meaningful responsibility early. The expectation for client-facing roles is to work in person with the team 40 to 60 percent of the time, depending on the engagement. Check out their careers page for more info.

Internships at EY-Parthenon

Intern pay - especially at the MBA level - is higher compared to what you will find at many other consulting firms, and prior interns have found it a good foot in the door for landing permanent positions.

Practice Areas

EY-Parthenon operates within EY’s Strategy & Transactions service line and focuses primarily on strategy-led advisory work for corporate and private equity clients.

Core areas of focus include:

Corporate & Growth Strategy – Market entry, portfolio strategy, and long-term value creation planning
Transaction Strategy & Execution – Commercial due diligence, integration strategy, carve-outs, and divestitures
Private Equity Advisory – Investment thesis validation, buy-side and sell-side support, and portfolio company strategy
Turnaround & Restructuring Strategy – Performance improvement and cost transformation initiatives
Digital & Business Strategy – Enterprise transformation aligned to technology and operational modernization

EY-Parthenon works closely with other EY teams to deliver integrated strategy through execution, particularly during mergers, acquisitions, and large-scale transformation initiatives.

Industries

EY-Parthenon works within almost every industry imaginable, from telecommunications to manufacturing and everything in between.

EY-Parthenon Office Locations

EY-Parthenon has local offices in 45 cities. 7 of these offices are located in the United States, specifically in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. The firm also has 3 offices each in Australia and China, as well as 5 in India, which tells us something about the firm's plans for future growth.

EY-Parthenon Work

EY-Parthenon consultants work on strategy engagements for corporate and private equity clients, with a strong emphasis on growth strategy, market entry, and transaction advisory. Work is delivered directly to senior client leadership, including C-suite executives. Most engagements run up to six months, and project focus shifts regularly across industries and client types.

The career path is structured and progressive. Undergraduates typically enter at the Associate Analyst level, while MBA hires come in as Associates. From there, the path moves through Senior Associate, Consultant, and Director. Expect one to two years between Associate Analyst and Associate, another one to two years to reach Senior Associate, and three to five years at the Associate and Senior Associate level before moving into a Consultant role. Consultants typically spend two to three years in that role before becoming eligible for Director.

Project teams are lean, usually four to five people, made up of Analysts, Associates, and a Consultant. EY-Parthenon uses a two-case staffing model, meaning consultants are often active members of two project teams simultaneously. This structure creates broad exposure and accelerates learning across engagement types.

The nature of strategy work at EY-Parthenon is generalist by design. You'll move across industries, client situations, and problem types rather than specializing in a single vertical. Expect a heavy emphasis on Excel modeling, structured problem-solving, and client communication at every level. Consultants who thrive here tend to be intellectually curious, comfortable with ambiguity, and motivated by variety in their work.

Exit Opportunities

Exit opportunities from EY-Parthenon are plentiful and varied. After a couple of years as Analysts, many employees decide to attend graduate school or enter industry. Many former Parthenon-EY consultants can be found working for the Fortune 1000 companies they used to consult for (more money for less hours!), and some even find their way to Silicon Valley to work with exciting new startups.

With Parthenon's recent partnership with EY, exit opportunities are only more plentiful as consultants have a larger and more global network to tap in to as they make their next career move. As far as former EY-Parthenon consultants ending up at other firms, Bain seems to be the biggest landing spot. This makes sense, as Parthenon's founders are ex-Bain and the methodology and persona of the two firms are similar.

EY-Parthenon is quickly becoming an even more well-respected name in the field of strategy consulting, and top graduate programs as well as top global firms see it as good training and proving ground for young professionals they are considering hiring.

EY-Parthenon Culture

EY-Parthenon operates within EY’s global network while maintaining a focused strategy consulting identity. Culture can vary by office and region, but teams are generally structured around small, project-based engagements that emphasize collaboration and analytical rigor.

Team Structure & Environment

Project teams are typically lean, allowing junior consultants to take on meaningful responsibility early in their careers. Engagements often involve close interaction with senior team members and direct exposure to client stakeholders.

Given the firm’s focus on strategy and transaction advisory work, project timelines can be fast-paced, particularly during due diligence or deal-related engagements.

Professional Development

EY-Parthenon provides formal onboarding, structured training programs, and ongoing professional development resources. Consultants are evaluated through performance review cycles and are typically assigned career advisors or mentors to support growth and progression.

Because EY-Parthenon operates within the broader EY network, consultants may collaborate with professionals across tax, transaction, and implementation teams on integrated engagements.

Work Model

Travel requirements vary depending on the nature of the engagement. Transaction-related projects may involve shorter, more intensive work cycles, while corporate strategy projects may follow longer planning timelines.

Overall, EY-Parthenon’s culture reflects its positioning as a strategy-focused practice within a global professional services organization: performance-driven, team-oriented, and centered on analytical problem-solving.

Target Schools (Undergraduate)

Amherst College
Brown University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Duke University
Fudan University
Harvard University
Imperial College London
India Institute of Technology Bombay
India Institute of Technology Delhi
London Business School (Masters)
London School of Economics and Political Science
Nanyang Technological University
National University of Singapore
Northwestern University
Princeton University
Singapore Management University
Stanford University
University of California, Berkeley
University of Cambridge
University of Chicago
University of Oxford
University of Pennsylvania
University of Southern California
Williams College

Target Schools (MBA)

Darden School of Business
Haas School of Business
Harvard Business School
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
INSEAD - Paris
INSEAD - Singapore Campus
Kellogg School of Management
London Business School
MIT Sloan School of Management
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Tuck School of Business
Wharton School of Business
Yale School of Management

EY Parthenon History

Founded in 1991 by two former Bain consultants, Parthenon Consulting was established to be a specialty boutique strategy firm based out of Boston, MA. The co-founders saw an opportunity to leverage their existing client relationships from Bain to create a collegial, tight-knit firm atmosphere (there is definitely an unspoken mantra of work hard, play hard!). Today, the firm consults for many Global 1000 corporations.

EY was founded in 1989 after the marriage of accounting firms Ernst & Ernst and Arthur Young and Co. In the subsequent two decades, EY became a major player in the implementation consulting game, becoming known as one of the Big 4 alongside Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC.

Recently, these firms have started getting in to the strategy sphere as well. Deloitte got the ball rolling by acquiring Monitor in 2013, and EY followed it up by partnering with Parthenon in 2014. Combining strategy experience with a worldwide network, financial backing and brand-name, EY-Parthenon has grown successfully without losing the familial culture that was so important to its co-founders.

EY-Parthenon Interviews

The typical hiring process from application to offer will vary largely depending upon the position that you are applying for, but you can expect the timeline to take anywhere from 2-12 weeks. Be prepared for 2-3 rounds of interviews, the first of which may consist of connecting with a recruiter for a phone screen. This is where you make your elevator pitch to give a good overall picture of who you are.

This will be followed by 1-2 rounds in the office with 2 interviews per round with Consultants and Managers (2+ years of tenure) for more specific questioning regarding your past experience and the role for which you are interested. You can expect these two interviews per round to be back-to-back and no longer than 30 minutes. The first one will generally be a behavioral (fit) interview, with maybe a small case thrown in at the end. The second will be a full case interview (EY-Parthenon case interviews usually consist of either market sizing or profitability cases). The firm employs case interviews that are typical mid-range case interviews - not as numerical as McKinsey, but more specific strategy (and numbers) than HR cases.

The final round will look like your typical final round interview - a combination of fit and case interviews, and then a group presentation thrown in at the end for good measure. The fit interview here will usually be with a Partner, and the final case interview will usually be conducted by a Consultant. Don't neglect the fit interview questions in your interview prep!

EY-Parthenon (and strategy firms in general) are looking for well rounded employees who can work with a variety of different clients on many different kinds of projects, so hiring someone who is flexible, able to adjust but still capable is a must for them. There will be fit questions sprinkled throughout your interview process, so be prepared to answer questions such as "Why consulting?", "What are you most proud of on your resume?", and "What would be one challenge you would face if you joined EY-Parthenon?"

Now for the bonus round: The firm regularly asks interview finalists to make a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation for a prospective client as well. They will throw your group into a room for an hour, along with a massive binder of data, and ask you to come up with an executive-level presentation. Not only will this test your hard data analytical skills, but your soft skills as well.

Our advice: Focus only on what is most important during your presentation. You only have 15 minutes and want to make the most of your time. In your preparation time, show the firm that you know how to think like a consultant and highlight the most important data (don't fall into the trap of focusing on everything).

Networking your way into a position at EY-Parthenon is not hard to do, if you’ve got the right education and experience. First of all, the firm hosts info sessions and career fairs at dozens of schools across the US. Access the firm's events calendar to find out when and where you can network with someone from the firm and make sure you have your consulting-ready resume ready to leave with them.

Secondly, set up your LinkedIn profile and search for EY-Parthenon employees in your network. LinkedIn shows over 4,000 firm employees in the United States alone, so it's possible you know someone who knows someone at EY-Parthenon.

If providing strategic advice, increasing revenue streams and PE work are your passions, you'll be a great fit at EY-Parthenon.

EY-Parthenon Salary & Compensation

EY-Parthenon offers competitive compensation aligned with strategy consulting market standards.

Compensation typically includes:

Base salary
Performance-based bonus
Signing bonus (for select roles, including MBA hires)
Retirement and 401(k) contributions
Health, wellness, and parental leave benefits

Entry-level roles include:

Associate (undergraduate hires)
Senior Associate / Consultant (MBA and experienced hires)

Compensation varies by geography, role level, and performance.

For the most current EY-Parthenon salary figures by level, refer to Management Consulted’s annual Consulting Salary Report.

Conclusion

EY-Parthenon is a compelling option for candidates who want true strategy work without sacrificing global reach or firm prestige. The private equity focus, lean team model, and fast project cycles make it a strong training ground for anyone serious about a career in consulting or corporate strategy. If you are ready to compete for a seat here, your case interview preparation needs to be sharp. Start with the Management Consulted Case Interview Guide and consider working with a former MBB coach through the Black Belt program to give yourself the best possible shot at landing an offer.