Elite Careers Strategy
By Application · Limited Intake Each Year
For families

Where does your child really stand?

We establish where your child stands, and why. We tell you honestly what is realistic.

We build a clear, personalised route towards their goals. And we work closely with them to execute it.

Request a Private Diagnostic

Parents join the Diagnostic.

“Probably the best decision we have made for our son.” Parent of an ECS client

Hassan Akram presenting at the Festival of Education at Wellington College.
Hassan Akram, Founder and Principal Advisor, at the Festival of Education, Wellington College.

100+ documented outcomes and selection progressions, including training contract offers at Gibson Dunn, White & Case and Ropes & Gray. See the evidence →

In the pressFinancial TimesThe Independent

Advisory led by Hassan Akram, supported by the ECS client team and specialist preparation resources.

The full record: 106 documented outcomes and selection progressions across 53 candidate journeys. Hassan Akram has spoken to audiences associated with Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management and MIT Sloan.

A father and his teenage son together outdoors
An older professional and a young woman discussing work together at a laptop
The questions families arrive with

Answered plainly, before you apply.

Is my child actually capable of this?

Sometimes not yet, and we will say so. The Diagnostic assesses the candidate’s profile against their ambitions and tells you what is realistic now, and what would change it.

Why are the offers not coming?

Applications, tests, interviews and assessment centres each need different preparation. ECS identifies the stage that needs attention.

Will this be handled discreetly?

Yes. Most families are never named. Evidence is held privately and published only with explicit consent.

What is my role as a parent, and will my child keep their independence?

Parents and sponsors are welcome at the Diagnostic and the family decision. We agree the parent role with the candidate at the start, including what is shared. The candidate owns their work and decisions.

What if ECS is not the right fit?

Then no engagement is proposed. The Diagnostic can end with a recommendation to wait a cycle, or to go elsewhere.

What a family is paying for

Why families retain ECS.

A family retains ECS for judgement and sustained preparation around the candidate’s goals.

Clarity
A diagnosis of the selection challenge or longer-term positioning decision before work is scoped.
Advisory leadership
Hassan Akram leads the advisory and applies firm-specific judgement to the candidate’s priorities.
Execution
A written advisory plan, firms in scope and assigned work with clear standards, reviewed as results and deadlines change.
Client coordination
The ECS client team supports day-to-day coordination.

Where the brief spans a year or more, scope follows the decisions ahead. Continued support is scoped around the next need, from early opportunities to the first role. Multi-Year Family Advisory →

Guides for the sixth-form years: do A-levels and university choice matter, do you need a law degree and the first-year recruitment calendar.

Two private-client engagements

What a diagnosis changes.

Karam Kahlon, University of Exeter, named ECS private client with documented HSBC investment-banking internship and Blackstone spring insight outcomes.
Named with permission

Karam Kahlon, University of Exeter

Started with no investment-banking interviews from a university outside the traditional front-office pipeline. Across a multi-year advisory engagement: an HSBC 2026 investment-banking internship and a Blackstone 2026 spring insight place.

Read the case →
Redacted White and Case London training contract offer letter, anonymised at the family's request. Evidence held on file.
Anonymised at the family’s request

White & Case, London Training Contract

Four consecutive cycles of applications and not one assessment-centre invitation. ECS's diagnosis was that the written case was falling at the first screen. It was rebuilt and rehearsed against the real assessment format. The documented outcome: a training contract offer.

Both outcomes followed paid private advisory engagements. Outcomes are not guaranteed. Outcomes reached on the public ECS frameworks alone are shown separately on the track record.

“Probably the best decision we have made for our son.”

Parent of an ECS client
Anonymised. Role only.

Speaking

At the Festival of Education, Wellington College.

Hassan Akram’s talk to the festival audience: “Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge Are Overrated”.

The audience at Hassan Akram's talk at the Festival of Education, Wellington College.
Hassan Akram presenting at the Festival of Education at Wellington College.
Wellington College event board for Hassan Akram's talk, Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge Are Overrated, at the Festival of Education.

Festival of Education, Wellington College.

How it works for a family

A clear process for the family.

Diagnostic, then scope and investment, then your decision.

Request a Private Diagnostic

What the engagement contains is set out on the engagement.

Apply together.

A limited number of families each year. A parent can start the application and join the Diagnostic.

Request a Private Diagnostic