'Making the transition from business to consulting can be difficult. You are looking for someone who is presentable, who understands the market they are talking about and who can bring innovative ideas to the table as well.

'The idea candidate? Somebody who has successfully transferred their skills from a different sector and is willing to go the extra mile, who will have a real impact on the business and make a real name for themselves. It's about what they can add to the business.'

Philip Geiger, chairman, Xayce

'Recruiting senior people is harder than recruiting junior people. You're looking for more, and the cost and risk of taking them on is much greater. We want people with an entrepreneurial spirit, who are prepared to do things slightly differently, not necessarily by the book, because it's the right thing by the client.'

John Lockton, managing director, LCP Consulting

'We're looking for people who can understand the process with the client. As consultants, you have to bear in mind that we don't run their business, we help them run their business. We have to work with the senior guys and help them understand the job relevant to their business needs.

'There's also a balance between someone who's never been a consultant before and at a senior level decides to move into consultancy. If they have experience working in a project environment early on in their careers, they'll find the transition a lot easier.'

Mark Wyllie, business unit director, Axon Global

'We look for salespeople, people who have a strong track record in running profit-and-loss programmes. All the people we hire at the senior level also have to have the ringt sort of personality for exciting, influencing and persuading clients. They have to have the values we have: no-nonsense, straight-talking consultants.'

Roselyn Carson-Marcus, government services group recruitment manager, PA Consulting Group

'At the senior level we want individuals who can explain the threads in their CV: you may have changed industry, but you've done it to gain skills and experience.

'If they're coming from financial services, we look at their CV for strategic projects. We're a transformation consultancy and we like it if they've worked in areas of transformation: like operations, human resources, strategy, IT management.

'At partner level, we look for individuals who can make executive decisions and are confident with that, but who also are team players.'

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