AON Consulting Careers, History and Interview Guide
Aon Consulting refers to Aon’s advisory work across risk, insurance, benefits, workforce, rewards, retirement and people strategy. It sits at the intersection of professional services, insurance brokerage, risk management and human capital consulting, where clients need advice that affects both financial resilience and employee outcomes.
For candidates, the company matters because its work is rarely one-dimensional: a consultant may interpret data, understand regulation, build client-ready recommendations and communicate trade-offs to senior stakeholders. The same project can involve cyber risk, employee health benefits, executive rewards, pension liabilities or workforce transformation. That makes Aon a useful employer to study for consulting, analyst, actuarial, client management, operations and business advisory roles. Interviewers are likely to value structured thinking, commercial awareness, evidence-based judgement and the ability to explain complex topics clearly to clients who are making high-stakes people and risk decisions.
This guide covers where the company came from, who controls it today, what it publishes about purpose and values, and how its services are organised.
1. Company Overview
About AON Consulting
Aon describes itself as a global professional services firm focused on helping clients make better decisions around risk and people through its Risk Capital and Human Capital capabilities on the Aon About page. That makes it a useful case study for interview preparation because roles can sit across client consulting, analytics, broking, actuarial work, employee benefits, rewards, health, wealth and transformation. If you are preparing for selection conversations, pair this company view with a role-focused AON Consulting interview preparation guide so your answers connect company context with practical interview examples.
Company History
A candidate should read Aon’s history as a story of consolidation and repositioning: the business moved from insurance roots into broader risk and human capital advisory, then continued to reshape its portfolio through acquisitions and operating-model changes. Interviewers may probe whether you understand this mix, especially if your role touches consulting delivery, client advisory, broking, benefits, actuarial analysis or workforce strategy.
W. Clement Stone founded Combined Insurance Company of America, one of the businesses that later formed part of Aon’s corporate lineage.
Patrick G. Ryan founded the insurance brokerage business that became Ryan Insurance Group, building the other main predecessor behind Aon.
Ryan Insurance Group and Combined Insurance Company of America merged, creating the business foundation from which Aon developed.
The company adopted the Aon name, a brand move that supported a more unified identity across insurance, broking and advisory operations.
Aon acquired Alexander & Alexander Services, strengthening its position in insurance brokerage and risk advisory.
Aon acquired Hewitt Associates, deepening its benefits, retirement, HR consulting and workforce advisory capabilities.
Aon moved its corporate headquarters to London, reinforcing its international operating profile.
Aon completed the acquisition of NFP, expanding its risk, benefits, wealth and retirement advisory reach for middle-market clients.
2. Mission, Vision & Values
Mission
"We shape decisions for the better to protect and enrich the lives of people around the world."
Aon publishes this as its official purpose on the Aon About page; use it in interviews to connect your examples to better client decisions, risk protection and people outcomes.
Core Values
Aon publishes the following values in its own words on its official careers pages, and they are best read as behavioural expectations for client work, collaboration and inclusion.
Prepare interview stories against this exact list: one example of client impact, one example of trusted teamwork, and one example where you helped a colleague or client succeed under constraints.
3. Products and Services
Aon’s services combine advisory, broking, analytics and delivery across risk and people topics. This makes the company relevant for consulting, business analyst, actuarial, rewards, benefits, broking, operations and client success roles; candidates applying for analyst positions can also use a dedicated AON Consulting business analyst interview guide to translate these service lines into project-style answers.
- Commercial Risk Solutions supports organisations with risk identification, insurance placement and risk advisory, including areas such as property risk, casualty exposure, cyber risk and business interruption planning.
- Reinsurance Solutions helps insurers manage their own risk portfolios through reinsurance strategy, treaty placement, capital advisory and analytics for exposures such as natural catastrophe losses or specialty insurance books.
- Health Solutions advises employers on employee health, wellbeing and benefits programmes, covering examples such as group medical insurance design, benefits benchmarking, workforce wellbeing strategy and vendor management.
- Wealth Solutions focuses on retirement, pensions, investment and financial wellbeing, including actuarial valuations, pension risk management, retirement plan design and investment governance support.
- Talent Solutions covers workforce and human capital advisory, including rewards strategy, executive compensation, assessments, skills planning, employee listening and organisation design.
- Human Capital Analytics and Advisory uses data to support workforce decisions, such as pay equity reviews, benefits utilisation analysis, attrition diagnostics and scenario modelling for restructuring or growth plans.
- Mergers, Acquisitions and Transaction Advisory supports deal teams on people and risk issues, including benefits due diligence, insurance review, pension obligations, executive rewards and post-deal workforce integration.
4. Key Competitors of AON Consulting
Aon Consulting competes in a specialised professional-services market where large employers and institutions buy insurance broking, risk advisory, employee benefits, retirement, rewards and workforce consulting support. Competition is usually decided on depth of risk analytics, insurer relationships, actuarial capability, sector expertise, implementation quality and how well the firm can support multinational clients across markets.
1. Marsh McLennan
A global professional services firm in risk, strategy, and people.
- Overview: Parent company of Marsh (insurance broking), Guy Carpenter (reinsurance), Mercer (HR consulting), and Oliver Wyman (management consulting).
- Services: Insurance and risk broking, reinsurance broking, employee benefits and HR consulting, strategy and management consulting.
- Market Position: The largest global insurance broker by revenue with significant scale in human capital consulting via Mercer.
2. Willis Towers Watson (WTW)
A global advisory, broking, and solutions company serving corporates and institutions.
- Overview: Operates across Risk & Broking and Health, Wealth & Career businesses, combining insurance brokerage with HR and benefits advisory.
- Services: Property/casualty and specialty broking, benefits and retirement consulting, actuarial and investment advisory, data and analytics.
- Market Position: A top-tier global competitor in both insurance broking and human capital consulting.
3. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Gallagher)
An international insurance brokerage, risk management, and consulting firm.
- Overview: Operates brokerage and risk management (Gallagher Bassett) businesses, with a growing employee benefits consulting practice.
- Services: Commercial insurance broking, employee benefits and HR consulting, third‑party claims administration and risk services.
- Market Position: One of the largest global brokers, with strong presence in middle‑market brokerage and benefits.
4. Mercer
A leading global human resources consultancy within Marsh McLennan focused on health, wealth, and career.
- Overview: Advises employers on benefits, retirement, investments, compensation, and workforce strategy.
- Services: Employee benefits and health consulting, retirement and investment consulting, talent and workforce advisory, outsourced solutions.
- Market Position: A top HR and benefits advisor that competes directly in health and wealth consulting.
5. Lockton Companies
The world’s largest privately held insurance brokerage and consulting firm.
- Overview: Privately owned global broker serving commercial clients across industries with risk and benefits solutions.
- Services: Commercial insurance and risk management, employee benefits consulting, retirement services, and specialty lines.
- Market Position: A major global competitor known for client service and private ownership, with meaningful scale in brokerage and benefits.
5. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Aon’s CSR fit is strongest where its business already has expertise: risk, people, resilience, inclusion, health, financial security and better decision-making for organisations. In interviews, connect CSR to how a professional-services firm can improve outcomes through advice, data and employee participation, not only through donations. Before naming any specific programme, verify the latest company communication on Aon Consulting so your example is current and accurate.
Community Resilience
A risk advisory business can support communities by helping people and institutions prepare for disruption, uncertainty and recovery.
Inclusive Opportunity
Human capital consulting naturally links to inclusive hiring, workplace accessibility, leadership development and fairer employee experiences.
Skills and Education
Consulting teams can contribute through mentoring, financial literacy, career-readiness sessions and practical exposure to analytics and business problem solving.
Ethical Business Conduct
For a firm advising clients on risk and people decisions, integrity, confidentiality and responsible advice are CSR-adjacent responsibilities in daily work.
Climate and Risk Awareness
Risk consulting can connect to climate resilience, business continuity and helping clients understand exposure to environmental change.
Health and Wellbeing
Benefits and workforce advisory work gives candidates a credible way to discuss wellbeing, prevention, employee support and healthier workplaces.
6. Interview Process & Selection Rounds
Aon Consulting hiring usually follows a structured professional-services pattern: recruiter screening, role-fit conversations, technical or case evaluation, stakeholder interviews and final alignment. The depth changes by function, seniority and location: analytics and actuarial roles may test modelling depth, consulting roles may use business cases, and senior roles place more weight on client leadership, commercial judgement and team management.
Application Review and Recruiter Screen
This round checks your resume, notice period, compensation expectations, location fit and reason for applying. For early-career candidates, the recruiter may focus on education, internships and communication; for experienced candidates, the screen tests relevant domain exposure, client-facing experience and role stability.
Functional or Technical Interview
This round tests whether you can do the job, not just describe it. Risk, actuarial and analytics candidates may face data interpretation, Excel, statistics or modelling questions, while HR consulting, benefits and client service candidates may be assessed on advisory judgement, stakeholder handling and structured communication.
Case, Assignment or Work Sample
Some roles include a practical task to see how you think under realistic constraints. Consulting candidates may solve a client-style business case, business analysts may prepare insights from a dataset, and operations or service roles may be given prioritisation, process or client-response scenarios.
Manager or Panel Interview
Hiring managers assess ownership, problem solving, collaboration style and how you handle ambiguity. Senior candidates should expect deeper probing on revenue responsibility, client escalation, team leadership and examples of influencing decisions without having direct authority.
Final Fit, HR Discussion and Offer Alignment
The final stage checks culture fit, availability, compensation alignment and readiness to join the specific team. For campus or fresher hiring, this may be shorter; for leadership, consulting and specialist roles, it can involve senior stakeholders who test judgement, client maturity and long-term fit.
7. Common Interview Questions Across Roles
These are questions any AON Consulting candidate can face across functions; role- specific technical questions should be prepared from that role’s own guide.
General, Company-Fit and Behavioral Questions
8. Required Skills & Tools
Required skills are not one list at AON Consulting; they differ by career route, and the table below maps to the same routes used in Career Opportunities below, while analyst candidates can also use the AON Consulting: Interview Preparation For Business Analyst Role for deeper role-specific preparation.
9. Career Opportunities at AON Consulting
Careers at Aon Consulting are usually organised by consulting route rather than by one fixed campus-to-manager ladder, so candidates should match their preparation to the business problem they want to solve. The routes below reflect the main skill clusters candidates typically prepare for: advisory depth, client ownership, analytics capability and delivery discipline.
If you are preparing for analyst or consultant roles, the next practical step is to align your examples with the role route; candidates targeting analysis-heavy openings can also use this AON Consulting: Interview Preparation For Business Analyst Role guide to practise case-style and stakeholder questions.
Risk & Insurance Advisory
This route fits candidates who want to work on enterprise risk, insurance programme design and risk-transfer decisions through roles such as Risk Analyst, Insurance Analyst, Associate Broker, Consultant, Senior Consultant and Account Executive; promotion usually comes from building stronger placement judgement and becoming trusted on client risk decisions.
Health & Benefits Consulting
This route suits candidates interested in employee benefits, medical insurance, wellness programmes and renewal strategy through roles such as Health Benefits Analyst, Benefits Consultant, Client Service Specialist, Senior Consultant and Health Solutions Manager; promotion usually comes from turning claims, utilisation and renewal data into practical recommendations for employers.
Wealth & Retirement Consulting
This route is relevant for candidates with actuarial, finance, pensions or investment interest through roles such as Actuarial Analyst, Retirement Analyst, Investment Consultant, Pension Consultant, Senior Actuarial Consultant and Retirement Solutions Manager; promotion usually comes from model accuracy, regulatory awareness and the ability to explain long-term liability insights clearly.
Human Capital & Rewards
This route works for candidates who like organisation design, compensation benchmarking, performance incentives and workforce strategy through roles such as Rewards Analyst, Compensation Consultant, Talent Consultant, Human Capital Consultant and Senior Rewards Consultant; promotion usually comes from linking people data to business outcomes and presenting reward choices with commercial clarity.
Data Analytics & Technology
This route is suited to candidates who can combine consulting questions with data handling through roles such as Data Analyst, Business Analyst, Analytics Consultant, Technology Consultant, Data Scientist and Product Analyst; promotion usually comes from building repeatable models, dashboards or tools that improve decision quality across client engagements.
Client Management & Broking
This route fits candidates who enjoy client coordination, insurer negotiation, renewal planning and account growth through roles such as Client Service Executive, Account Manager, Broker, Senior Broker, Client Manager and Relationship Manager; promotion usually comes from retaining client trust while expanding the account through sharper servicing and negotiation outcomes.
10. Future Outlook and Strategic Plan
Aon Consulting continues to position itself around connected risk, insurance, and human capital advisory, building on the merger-led origins and unified Aon identity covered in the history timeline. For candidates, the direction is less about memorising a roadmap and more about showing how risk insight, people insight, client trust, and analytical judgement work together in consulting decisions.
Candidates preparing for analytics-heavy cases can use AON Consulting business analyst interview preparation to practise how business problems are broken into data, stakeholder, and recommendation layers.
Integrated risk advisory
Be ready to explain how insurance, enterprise risk, regulatory exposure, and client operations connect, rather than treating broking as a standalone transaction.
Human capital with business context
Prepare examples where workforce, rewards, benefits, or talent decisions are linked to measurable business outcomes, not only HR process improvement.
Data-backed client judgement
Expect to discuss how you would use data to narrow options, test assumptions, and communicate trade-offs clearly to a client sponsor.
Cross-border collaboration
Be prepared to show how you would work across time zones, functions, and client teams while maintaining documentation discipline and accountability.
Trusted advisory behaviour
Have a story ready about handling ambiguity, protecting client confidence, escalating risk early, and giving a recommendation even when the answer is not perfect.
11. Conclusion
AON Consulting sits in a specialist professional services market where client confidence depends on risk expertise, advisory depth, and the ability to connect people-related decisions with business exposure. Its direction depends on how well teams combine insurance brokerage knowledge, risk management, and human capital consulting into practical client recommendations. For someone joining, the opportunity is to work on problems that require technical comfort, stakeholder maturity, and structured communication. Use company-level preparation with role-specific practice such as the AON Consulting interview preparation guide to make your answers sharper.
