Best bschools for consultant jobs

You already know about the top consulting recruiters in the industry. If not, read these posts on the best strategy consulting firms and the top technology, HR, finance consulting firms first.

You also know that the best consulting jobs on the campus go to MBA graduates from the top ranked business schools. But if you haven’t worked in the consulting industry before your MBA, a career change can be a big challenge.

But there’s good news. There are a few business schools that can increase your chances of becoming a consultant, even if you weren’t already one before the MBA. These are the hot-spots for getting consulting jobs that pay high post MBA salaries to compensate for the monies you pumped into the bschool coffers. McKinsey, Bain, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Deloitte Consulting and several others from the industry come over each year to recruit the best MBA talent.

Interestingly the usual suspects (like Harvard and Stanford) don’t figure at the very top of the list.
 

Top Bschools for management consultant jobs

While the other columns in the table below are self-explnatory, the third one needs some background as it might be the most important one for you if you are using this table to shortlist the best consulting schools. The percentages listed under ‘Career Change to Consulting’ indicate the non-consultant to consultant conversion ratio i.e. how successful the bschool was in getting more MBA students placed in the consulting industry.

For instance, 20% of the Harvard class had prior consulting experience before starting the MBA. So the fact that 24% of the graduating class ended up in consulting in not very impressive, as it means only 4% of those without consulting backgrounds were able to get consultant jobs upon graduation.
 

Average Management Consulting salaries post MBA

Excluding outliers in that table (like Kelley), the average post-MBA consultant salaries are in the $110,000 to $125,000 range with a $20,000 – $25,000 sign-on bonus. An annual compensation package of $130,000 – $150,000 for a newly minted MBA isn’t too shabby, right? (Read Consulting Entry level salary in USA, UK, India, Germany, Australia)

What attracts consulting firms to these bschools and prompt them to pay such high salaries to ‘Associate’ level positions (the starting designation for post-MBA consulting roles)? Is it the university brand, the locational proximity…or maybe, er, their average GMAT scores. Not really.

What’s most important to recruiters from the consulting industry are the skills that applicants bring with them that will be put to the test immediately – problem solving, communications skills, emotional quotient, working in teams, dealing with people from diverse backgrounds, and of course all the other technical skills and frameworks they pick up during the MBA course.

For many of these bschools, the MBA admissions process involves a rigorous selection methodology that covers written, verbal and professional expertise. Effectively, business schools gave filtered out many of the candidates that may have the aptitude for consultant jobs.

So if you are keen on entering the management consulting industry for reasons ranging from the high consultant salaries to the glamorous jet-setting lifestyle, your first stopover would have to be at one of these bschools. Select the right launchpad and get closer to your first consulting job.

Think you could be a good management consultant? Get a free profile evaluation on the MBA Crystal Ball forum. Post your profile here –> Management Consulting jobs forum

Related read,
– Life after consulting: Exit options