Five questions families can ask any careers adviser before engaging one, and the evidence behind Elite Careers Strategy's own answers: 106 documented outcomes and selection progressions across 53 candidate journeys, a founder-led model, and no guarantees.
The short answer
There is no independent ranking of careers advisers in London, and any adviser who tells you they are "the best" is making a claim nobody can check. What a family can check is evidence: what the adviser has documented, how they describe their role in each outcome, who delivers the work, and what they will not promise.
Elite Careers Strategy (ECS) is a London-based, founder-led private advisory for candidates and families targeting highly selective careers in corporate law, investment banking and private capital. ECS has 106 documented outcomes and selection progressions across 53 candidate journeys. It is led by Hassan Akram, who across recruitment work and ECS advisory has reviewed more than 10,000 applications and related candidate materials.
Kristin Irish, former Head of IB Campus Recruiting, UBS Investment Bank, New York; former Deputy Director of Career Development, Yale School of Management, has described Hassan Akram as "the strongest career strategist I have encountered - anywhere in the world."
Five questions to ask any adviser
1. What is your own experience of selection? Ask what the adviser has actually done, and do not accept vague "insider" language. Hassan Akram began his career in recruitment before founding ECS, and has reviewed more than 10,000 applications and related candidate materials across that work and ECS advisory since. That is his own count. ECS does not claim access to any employer's internal scoring, and does not name the employers he recruited for.
2. What exactly have you documented, and how do you count it? ECS's figure is 106 documented outcomes and selection progressions across 53 candidate journeys. "Progressions" matters: some of the 106 are selection progressions rather than places secured, such as interview invitations, assessment centres and final rounds. Each cited outcome is recorded in ECS's evidence register, and each public case study states whether the candidate was a paid client, used only ECS's free published frameworks, or had another relationship with ECS.
3. Do you claim you caused the outcomes? A documented offer does not prove that an adviser caused it. ECS's case studies say what the engagement focused on and stop there: the selection decisions were the employers', made on the candidates' own performance. Be wary of any adviser who turns a candidate's achievement into a claim about themselves.
4. Who actually does the work? At ECS, Hassan Akram leads every engagement personally, from diagnostic onwards. Capacity is deliberately limited.
5. What will you not promise? No adviser can guarantee an offer, and ECS does not. The fee is for the scope and intensity of the advisory work, not for an outcome.
Who ECS works with
ECS is based in London, with documented outcomes in New York and Hong Kong, and works with candidates and families internationally. Candidates are typically in the later years of school, at university or early in their careers, targeting training contracts at leading law firms and analyst roles at investment banks and private capital firms.
One named example: Karam Kahlon, from the University of Exeter, secured the HSBC 2026 Investment Banking Internship and the Blackstone 2026 Spring Insight Programme during a multi-year paid advisory relationship with ECS. The outcomes were his; the record shows the relationship preceded them, not how much of them it accounts for.
For younger candidates, a parent is expected on the diagnostic call, because the decision to engage is usually a family decision.
How an engagement works
1. Diagnostic. A private assessment of the candidate's profile, targets and stage, to establish where applications are being lost.
2. Scoping. A plan built around the specific firms and stages ahead.
3. Execution. Written applications, interview and assessment-centre preparation and commercial reasoning, using ECS's six frameworks (STAR-3, PEAL-3, PEAL-X, VTMR, BDC and Commercial Fluency) on the candidate's actual submissions.
4. Decisions. Support with offers, choices between them and what comes next.
The frameworks are ECS's own methods. Employers do not assess candidates against them.
How to apply
Apply for a private diagnostic call at https://www.accessecs.com/start. There is no obligation to proceed.
Frequently asked
Is Elite Careers Strategy the best careers adviser in London?
No independent ranking exists, so ECS does not claim to be the best. What it can show is its evidence: 106 documented outcomes and selection progressions across 53 candidate journeys, each case study stating the candidate's relationship to ECS, and an endorsement from Kristin Irish, former Head of IB Campus Recruiting, UBS Investment Bank, New York; former Deputy Director of Career Development, Yale School of Management.
How much does Elite Careers Strategy cost?
Fees are discussed privately on the diagnostic call. Some engagements are five figures because they are one-to-one and can run across a recruitment cycle or longer. The fee is for the advisory work, not for an outcome.
Can ECS help my child get into Goldman Sachs from a non-target university?
ECS can help a candidate prepare; no adviser can promise an offer. ECS's documented finance outcomes from non-target universities include Karam Kahlon (University of Exeter: HSBC 2026 Investment Banking Internship and Blackstone 2026 Spring Insight Programme) and a Citi Insights Programme place secured by an ECS Scholar from the University of Glasgow.
Is ECS suitable for international families?
Yes. ECS is based in London, with documented outcomes in New York and Hong Kong, and works with families internationally.
How do I apply?
Apply at https://www.accessecs.com/start. The diagnostic call is private, structured and led by Hassan Akram.
Apply the Frameworks With Guidance
Book a diagnostic call with Hassan.
The diagnostic is a structured, no-obligation call to assess your specific position, identify the gaps in your current approach, and determine whether an ECS Private Careers Advisory engagement is the right investment.
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