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Re: Management Consultant Jobs on your mind?

Posted: August 18th, 2012, 10:48 am
by mbadropout
Sid,

Consulting firms are very selective in the campuses that they hire from. Since you are planning to execute a career change, choosing the right school becomes doubly important. If I were you, I wouldn't go beyond the IIMs and ISB. Please refer to one of my blog posts on top 20 consulting firms for information on which campuses such firms hire from.

The fact that you come from a non-traditional background would not matter much here. Career changers with 5 years of corporate experience would be offered entry or near-entry level positions, typically that of "Associate".

Could you clarify which specific program(s) you have in mind when you say "EMBA from ISB"? If you are gunning for ISB, in your situation, I would consider only their PGP program (and not PGPMAX, or any other program).

-Amit.

Re: Management Consultant Jobs on your mind?

Posted: September 23rd, 2012, 12:34 am
by SJoshi
Hi Amit,

Absolutely thrilled to have come across this website!
I have recently graduated from King's College London with a First Class Honours (Top 8% of the graduating class) in Biomedical Science and have my goal set to begin a professional life in the field of management consulting. I have personally engaged with a few members of the McKinsey and Company, Deloitte, Bain & company and Accenture teams and the interactions have only strengthened my choice to begin on this professional path. I have decided to move back to and start my career in India. I have already started working on a few online applications. It would be great if you could read through my profile and provide your views.

Education: King's College London (2009-12) BSc Biomedical Science -1st Class Honours
Ahmedabad International School (2006-2009)
Cambridge Interational Examinations (CIE) A-Levels: Bio 'A', Chem 'A', Maths 'A', English'A'
CIE AS-Levels: Bio 'A', Chem 'A', Maths 'A', English 'A'
CIE IGCSE (10th Std): 8 Subjects at grade A*
Awards: 2 CIE 'Brilliance in India' academic awards (2007 and 2008)

Work Exp
Student Ambassador, King's College London- Appointed by the marketing department to promote King's and work on the colleges community outreach programs. Have represented King's at a number of higher education fairs and hosted upto 150 prospective students on open day events
Management Intern - KTG, Ahmedabad (A global mining, stonecraft and architecture company, business interested across 3 continents) - I applied and took this up to further my interest in and learn more about business processes. Got to work on interesting projects and learned a lot (won't make it too long here - but do have numbers to quote that show results!)
Research Intern - Intas Biopharmaceuticals - Analytical Chemistry, Regulatory affairs and Business dev departments

A pharmacology research project I did at King's is currently under review for publication in the British Journal of Pharmacology. I kick started the Model United Nations event at my high school, was President of the student Council, have been Vice President of the Biomedical science society at King's. Voluntarily mentor grade 6,7,8 students in math and science.

It would be great if you could share your views on how well my profile 'fits' for a starting position (for eg. the business analyst program at McKinsey). Also, I haven't yet personally engaged with consultants/recruiters based in India - do you have any idea as to whether they tend to recruit from the campus of the colleges they are tied up with? How easy/difficult/different is it for a student returning home to engage with the right recruiting team? I do know that consulting firms appreciate people from various academic backgrounds - does the same notion stand in India or would a Biomedical Science degree not be considered/appreciated?

Any steer or advice much appreciated!
Regards,
Shaivi

Re: Management Consultant Jobs on your mind?

Posted: September 23rd, 2012, 8:38 pm
by mbadropout
Shaivi,

Glad to know that you like this site - hope you find it useful.

For entry-level positions, management consulting firms hire mostly from top campuses in India (take a look at my blog posts on top 10 strategy consulting firms and the top 10 technology, HR, financial consulting firms). Though your profile would be a good fit for firms that are looking to grow in pharma, the fact that most of them hire directly from campuses makes things a little difficult for you. Here are three viable routes that come to my mind:

1) To better your chances, apply to firms that are looking to expand / grow in your area of specialization. At the moment, Accenture, McKinsey and ZS Associates (a boutique pharma consulting firm) are looking to grow their pharma consulting practice in India.

2) A second alternative might be to get absorbed into a "related" line of work and then work your way up to finally end up in management consulting. For example, you could find yourself a position at Novartis (they have a captive pharma consulting division at Hyderabad), and after a couple of years, during which time you will have gained significant "real world" experience, switch to a suitable role at a consulting firm. Another option could be to find yourself a position at a different (non-consulting) arm of a consulting major, for example at McKinsey Knowledge Center, perform really well for a couple of years, after which time the company should absorb you into management consulting.

3) The last option is to apply online or through recruiters. It is rare for consulting firms to use external recruiters to fill their entry-level positions. However, it is not unheard of.


If I were you, I would do the following:

1) Don't be too focused on McKinsey. Have a few other firms on your radar - those with a focus in your area of specialization (pharma consulting).

2) Polish and fine-tune your resume. Practice solving cases - it is very likely that you will be asked to solve a a few during your interviews. Read up on consulting firms and make sure you know all that you possibly can about the firm(s) that you are interviewing with.

3) Get referred by people that are currently working for consulting firms. Such firms receive tons of resumes through the online route, most of which will never even be read by human eyes. A (employee-initiated) referral goes straight to a manager or HR person, who will at least skim through it.

4) In parallel, forward your resume to (external) recruiters. Let then know that you are open to captives (Novartis, etc.) or other lines of work (McKinsey Knowledge Center, etc.).


As an entry-level candidate, execution is key. Work on the handles that are directly in your control (resume, preparation for interviews, etc.).

Let us know if you have any other queries.

-Amit.

Re: Management Consultant Jobs on your mind?

Posted: October 5th, 2012, 6:13 am
by DUPC
I have been hooked to this site since last week and have found it extremely helpful. Great job Sameer, Amit and the entire MCB team. This is my first post on this forum and I hope get some advice which would help me approach my goals in a informed and structured way.

Here's my profile:

- Final Year B.Com (H) Student at University of Delhi (Tier 2 College)
- Very Average Grades
- Interned at the Consultancy Arm of a Venture Capital Fund, mostly doing strategy consultancy for start-ups.
- At the time of applying would have a one month experience working in the social sector in Turkey/Ukraine/Romainia
- 2 Year part-time work ex in a well known international brand name not for profit organization (Almost every recruiter has heard of it). Worked in the corporate client acquisition and servicing department at mid-management level.
- Average extracurricular.
- Raised funds in college fests
- Worked in the career services office in college
- Was president of the OC of an Anti-Tobacco seminar and cultural event with a budget of mid-six figures.
- At 17, started a consultancy practice in the domain of Online Marketing, ran it for 3.5 years serving over 300 small and medium business and grew my practice to over 2 million annual turnover. Managed a team of over 20 full and part-time employees. At the age of 20 sold the business and goodwill.
- Interned at a Start-up IM firm, training some of their new recruits in online marketing.

Could you please evaluate my profile for MC?

Also I'd be greatfull if you could help me with the following queries:

1) I love management consultancy based on what what I know about it. What motivates me is the prospects of working in multiple industries and solving higher-level management problems. At this stage in my career I think it would be the most fulfilling job role for me. But I have doubts about whether I'd be able to culturally fit in. From my basic knowledge of the industry I get that most entry-level analysts are engineers and most of them IITians, Teams are smaller in India and average age is closer to 30. Everyone's different from me and there isn't any diversity at all is what I get. As a 21 year old, I'd ideally want to work in an environment with bigger teams, average age closer to 25 and people from diverse educational backgrounds. Do you think I will be able to find my ideal work environment in any Top MC firm in the front office?

2) A lot of people with profiles similar to mine, who I personally know,(Though all of them, unlike me, have graduated from brand name colleges like Xaviers, SRCC, CBS, LSR etc) have made it into Bain Capability Centre and Mc Kinsey Knowledge Center. I might have a better chance trying to get research roles over there also the culture there is more to my liking, but considering that my long-term and MOST IMPORTANT goal is to get into a T5 international B-School 3-5 years later, I figure a back-end research role might not be my best option. My question is:
a) How easy or difficult is it to transition from a research role to a front office role in top MC firm and how long does it take?
b) Assuming it is difficult for me to break into a top MC firm right away, would you suggest I take a research role and move to a front office role after sometime, keeping in my mind my goal to get into the MBA class of '19 or '20 at an Ivy league B-school?


Looking forward to your insightful advice and thanks in advance :)

Re: Management Consultant Jobs on your mind?

Posted: October 14th, 2012, 7:13 pm
by mbadropout
DUPC,

From what you have provided - B.Com from tier 2 college, avg. grades, avg. extracurriculars, etc. - I think getting into what you call a "front office" role is going to be a long shot.

Moving on to your queries:

1) You are right in saying that teams are smaller in India, and most entry-level analysts are engineers from IITs and other tier 1 schools. However, I think the issue of being able to culturally blend in or finding the ideal work environment isn't something that you should worry about. That is anyway going to happen, mostly spontaneously, once you are able to get your foot in the door. The problem at hand is how to get your foot in the door.

2) (a) It is not very easy to transition from a research role to what you call a "front office" role. At MC Knowlege Center, you will be competing mostly with IIT'ians with 3-5 years of work experience. A few rock stars take a couple of years to transition, while most take longer. Having said that, I have seen quite a few (very high-performing) analysts executing the transition quite smoothly / easily.

(b) I think taking up a research role is your best option. Best case scenario - you turn out to be a rock star and transtion to a "front office" role in a couple of years. Worst case scenario - you "hang on" for 3-4 years in a research role, and then pursue an MBA at top school and re-enter the MC world 2 years later as an Associate in a "front office" role.

-Amit.

Re: Management Consultant Jobs on your mind?

Posted: November 4th, 2012, 12:17 pm
by ravi
Hi Amit,

Currently,I am working on SAP platform since last one & half yrs.
I have strong interest in Strategy Management Consulting.
Now,I want to start career in this field,but I have some question in my mind.
1.I am not sure whether I am eligible for this career because I am not MBA person.I have bachelor degree in Computer Science Engineering.

2.If I am eligible then from where and how should I start?
3.Most of management consulting firms select candidates from IIT & IIM.
Is there any chance to get entry in MC for non IITians & non IIM candidates?

waiting for your kind reply,
Ravi

Re: Management Consultant Jobs on your mind?

Posted: November 6th, 2012, 4:44 am
by mbadropout
Ravi,

It is difficult to get into pure play management consulting from core IT. Since (I am assuming) you have total work experience of 1.5 years, all of it in SAP, one option could be to apply for entry level positions at management consulting firms. Apart from development, if you have been involved in any IT consulting-type work in your current role, that would help build a good story. The other option is of course the MBA-assisted career change route.

Coming to the issue of eligibility, an MBA is not necessarily required. However, that is the standard route that most entrants to management consulting firms take.

You can start by building a solid resume, and then a great story (why you chose IT, why consulting, and how everything ties in with your short and long term goals, etc.). Next, request colleagues, friends, seniors from college, relations, etc. that work in management consulting firms to forward your resume to their recruiting divisions. These days, firms fill a lot of vacancies from internal referrals.

Management consulting firms aren't necessarily looking for IIT/IIM graduates. They are on the lookout for people that can solve real world (unstructured and complex) business problems. The way I look at it, since that is a small subset of the total employable pool, they use the IITs and IIMs of the world as institutions that have already applied a series of strict filters, thereby bettering their odds of being able to find such people with "solutioining" minds among their graduating classes.

-Amit.

Re: Management Consultant Jobs on your mind?

Posted: November 10th, 2012, 11:53 pm
by shans.bgp
Hi....This is a wonderful initiative. I would be very kind of you if you review my profile too. I am interested in general/strategic consulting.

Have very good acads..94 % 10th, 85 in 12th , 86 in B Tech (ECE)from a top NIT. Working with DRDO (Govt of India) for the last 5 yrs exact. was active in extra-curricular activities in school nd college but not in job.have done varied jobs here.

1)Have done coding for technology products
2)coordinated with centres across more than 50 locations on IT infrastructure related issues
3)Now looking after project activities and acting as coordinator between centres and head office for project sanction and monitoring of project status.

Appeared for GMAT but got a mere 660. Didnt apply for ISB fearing such a low score. Will try for XLRI through XAT. How fit I am for a strategic consulting job and should I try with a higher GMAT acore next year for ISB (I will be older by 1 more year). presently 29.

One more thing - i never had an interest in science & tech. :D

Re: Management Consultant Jobs on your mind?

Posted: November 25th, 2012, 9:22 pm
by mbadropout
Shans.bgp,

At this point in time, since all of your experience has been in IT, strat consulting would be a difficult nut to crack. However, armed with an MBA from ISB, things should be easier.

A few thoughts to consider:

1. Though I don't know enough to be able to comment on an MBA from XLRI (Sameer and team will be able to throw more light), what I do know is that most strat consulting firms hire from ISB (please take a look at my posts on top strategy consulting firms). Therefore, you should definitely try for the latter.

2. It would be great if you are able to make it into strat consulting after graduating with your MBA. However, I have come across a great number of instances of graduates (with prior IT experience) from top schools not being able to find a suitable strat consulting position, and hence opting for an IT consulting position instead with one of the biggies (Accenture, IBM, etc.). Read this post on the best IT strategy firms. To make a long story short, have a plan B in place just in case plan A (strat consulting) does not materialize.

3. When you join a strat consulting firm, you will probably start a rung or two lower than where you are today - something to keep in mind.

Good to know that someone with no interest in science and technology is excelling in an IT role at DRDO.

-Amit.

Re: Management Consultant Jobs on your mind?

Posted: November 25th, 2012, 10:29 pm
by MBACrystalBall
dreamz44 wrote:I am currently based in USA and plan to move to India. I am working in a semiconductor IC company here for the last 6 years. My background is in R&D design/project management.
:
Looking at my options in India, in particular post-mba, I believe management consulting is one avenue I am very interested in.
:

Hi Sriram,

Moving this to the ISB forum for MG to answer.

He's from ISB and he worked as a management consultant at McKinsey. So he would be able to tackle your queries about both - ISB and consulting.