How we help
A one-to-one advisory built around one candidate.
ECS is a private, one-to-one career advisory led personally by Hassan Akram, for candidates and families targeting the most selective careers in corporate law, investment banking, private equity, venture capital and consulting.
It is not a course, a cohort, a template pack or a package of hours. Every engagement starts with a diagnosis of where the selection case is actually breaking down, and the work is then built around that candidate’s firms, evidence, format and calendar.
Apply for a Private DiagnosticLed by Hassan Akram. Parent or sponsor welcome. Applications are reviewed for fit before a Diagnostic is offered.
The model
What one-to-one actually means here.
You work with the principal.
Sessions are with Hassan Akram. Not an associate, not a coordinator, not a junior intake team trained on his materials.
Nothing is delivered to a group.
There is no cohort and no class. Nobody else is on the call, and no part of the engagement is a recorded programme you work through alone.
The plan is written for you.
The frameworks are shared across clients; the diagnosis, sequence and firm list are not. Two candidates targeting the same firm can receive very different work.
The practice carries the rest.
Scheduling, session records, materials, evidence and progress tracking sit with the practice, so the founder’s time goes to judgement rather than administration.
Personalisation
What is built around each candidate.
“Bespoke” is easy to claim, so here is what actually changes from one client to the next.
Your target firms
Preparation is built against the specific firms in scope, because a Magic Circle training-contract process and a bulge-bracket markets process reward different evidence and are assessed by different people.
Your failed stage
Work starts wherever the case is actually breaking down - the written application, the screening tests, the interviews, the assessment centre, or the strategy above all of them.
Your evidence
Your experience, academic record and commitments are rebuilt into a case an assessor can read quickly. Nothing is invented; what is already there is made legible.
Your cycle and deadlines
The sequence is set against the real calendar in front of you, including where an application should deliberately be held back rather than submitted early.
Your interview format
Rehearsal matches the format you will actually face: video interview, case exercise, group exercise, technical round, partner conversation or superday.
Your family situation
Where a parent or sponsor is involved, their role is agreed at the start - what they see, what they do not, and how the candidate keeps ownership of the process.
What is included
What the family receives.
- One-to-one sessions with Hassan Akram, not a coordinator or an associate.
- A written advisory plan setting out the diagnosis, the sequence of work and the firms in scope.
- Application and written-evidence work firm by firm, reviewed line by line.
- Interview, assessment-centre and written-test rehearsal against the real format.
- A record of every session, with assigned actions tracked to completion.
- Access to the ECS frameworks, drills and preparation materials used inside the engagement.
- Parent or sponsor involvement at whatever level the candidate has agreed.
What ECS will not do
The limits, stated plainly.
We do not sell access.
ECS holds no relationship with any employer that could influence a hiring decision, and would not offer one if it did. Every outcome on this site was won through the firm’s own process.
We do not guarantee outcomes.
Hiring decisions rest entirely with the firms. ECS guarantees the quality and honesty of the preparation, not the result.
We do not fill in applications.
The candidate writes and speaks for themselves. If they cannot defend a line in an interview, it does not go in.
We do not take everyone.
Applications are reviewed for timing, fit and capacity. Where ECS is not the right answer, we say so at the Diagnostic rather than after an engagement letter.
The route in
Four steps, in order.
- 01ApplicationReviewed for timing, fit and delivery capacity. Not every application leads to a Diagnostic.
- 02Private DiagnosticLed by Hassan. The family leaves with a clear read on which stage is failing and why, whether or not the engagement proceeds.
- 03Programme ScopingWhere there is fit, the advisory scope, cadence, firms in scope and investment are set out privately.
- 04Engagement and onboardingThe family decides with the scope in front of them. Onboarding follows that decision, not before it.
Pricing is not published. Scope and investment are discussed after the Diagnostic, and only where an engagement would be appropriate.
Questions families ask
Before applying.
Is ECS one-to-one, or a course?
One-to-one. Every session is between the candidate and Hassan Akram. There is no cohort, no group class and no self-serve programme. The frameworks and materials are the same across clients; the diagnosis, the plan and the work are built around one candidate.
Who actually does the work?
Hassan Akram leads every Diagnostic and every advisory session personally. The practice around him handles scheduling, session records, materials, evidence and progress tracking, so that the founder’s time is spent on judgement rather than administration.
What does personalised mean in practice?
The target firms, the failed stage, the written evidence, the cycle and deadlines, the interview format and the family’s role are all set per candidate. Two clients targeting the same firm in the same cycle will still receive different sequences if their selection problems differ.
How does an engagement start?
With an application, which is reviewed for timing, fit and delivery capacity. If it qualifies, the family is invited to a Private Diagnostic. Programme Scoping and a family decision follow only where there is fit.
Is pricing published?
No. Scope and investment are discussed privately, after the Diagnostic, and only where an engagement would be appropriate.
Related reading: the documented track record, the briefing for families and sponsors, and Hassan Akram’s background. Families working across several cycles should read multi-year family advisory.
If the problem is real, start with the diagnosis.
ECS works with a limited number of private clients each year. Families may apply for a Private Diagnostic to establish whether an engagement is appropriate.
Apply for a Private DiagnosticOutcomes vary by candidate and process. ECS does not guarantee offers, interviews or other results, and is independent and unaffiliated with any firm or university.