What’s a beacon program?

  • Elite Brand: Impactful consulting experience for a recognizable brand.

  • Consulting Project: An experience that helps you signal to firms that you know what consulting is and that you are very interested in it.

  • Mentorship: Learning full-time from an elite, top tier consultant Project Leader.

  • One or several weeks, full-time, during college breaks, in an exciting destination.

  • Housing, meals, insurance, excursions etc. are included.

  • Participants often do another internship in the same summer, before or after Beacon.

  • With a completed Beacon project on their resume, alumni have gone on to receive full-time and internship offers from all MBB (McKinsey, Bain, BCG), as well as from all Big Four, consulting firms.

  • The opportunity to present final recommendations to client leadership

  • A network of peer and professional contacts

a week in the life

Each day of the Beacon Fellowship follows a similar structure, but no day is the same. During the Beacon experience, Fellows gain valuable insights about consulting, their career paths, and the new city in which they are immersed, learning from their McKinsey/Bain/BCG Project Lead.

This typical weekly schedule is representative of most programs, but exact schedules may vary.

project lead

All Beacon projects are led by an experienced consultant, having worked at McKinsey, Bain, or BCG, and often studied at top institutions such as Harvard Business School. The project lead will guide participants through the entire project for an elite client host, coordinate client interactions, and provide Fellows with personal insights into the life of a top-tier consultant.

Project Lead from Bain & Co. and a Harvard MBA grad, discusses with a Fellow at a client site in London (England).

elite brand

Beacon’s client partners range from large industry leaders and government organizations, to non-profits and innovative start-ups, each facing distinct complex challenges. For the duration of their Fellowship, Beacon Fellows work at or near the client site, developing real solutions to solve clients’ complex needs under the guidance of their experienced Project Lead.

Beacon Fellows with the Airbus crew after their final presentation in the ProtoSpace at Airbus Madrid (Spain).

with beacon on their resumes, Alumni have received top consulting internship & full time offers

Impact

beacon Fellows have gone on to secure internships and full-time offers from Bain, BCG & McKinsey and other prestigious consulting firms, as well as entrepreneurship, corporate finance and banking.

Below is a resume entry from one of our alumni displayed along typical resume entries for a traditional business internship & business study abroad program.

 
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PhD-Authored Study Shows Beacon Alumni Progress on The Competencies that Top Consulting Firms Seek

Beacon Fellows report progress in key consulting skills. Overall, 92% of Beacon Fellows believed they had progressed on the International Council of Management Consulting Institute’s Competency Framework, which includes analytical skills, consulting knowledge, business insight, assignment management, & professionalism. In addition to the impact on the Fellows, their skills, & their opportunities, our project create real impact for the clients. Clients are frequently blown away by the quality of our Fellows’ work and often implement the Fellows’ research and recommendations immediately.

Beacon Fellows before their first group meeting (Rome, Italy).