MBA Crystal Ball

Hi Amit,
I m Btech CompSc2010 from Punjab tech Univ. with 65%,+2 with63% ,10th 80%(100% in Math).undoubtdly my Acads is poor

currently I m wrking in TCS in banking& financial services domain..last20 months. role is server Administration(Troubleshooting,handle server issues kind of stuff). i m pursuing CFA, level2 candidate. Can i move towards Mgmnt consulting using my exprience, which BSchool shud be in myList,
i dnt want start as fresher aftr mba ...
pls.. suggest best career path in which i can earn good salary ... :)



Thanks in adavnce...

Thanks a lot Amit for your reply...

Hey Amit can you suggest some India consultancies with a good e-commerce practice?

Thanks!

Hi Amit

Thanks a ton for posting this thread. My profile goes as follows:-

Experience : 4 years in the IT industry as a software developer with involvement into all the phases of SDLC starting from Requirements gathering till execution. I have experience in leading teams of 3 to 4 employees as well.

Extra-Curricular activities : I have been heavily involved in extra activities be it engineering days or in my work life. In the organizations i have worked with, i have always initiated new events that range from community involvement to fun@work as well.

Infact presently i am working with one of the Big4 firms and very keen to move into Management consulting.

I have a couple of questions as mentioned below:-

1. Is it very much required to do a full Time MBA to be a management consultant. My point is a full time MBA is gonna teach me the theory of Management subjects, a lot of case studies to discuss on, projects. However instead of a full time MBA , how about a 1 year executive MBA which would not require me to leave the job. My point is in such an MBA i would not loose the network and also get the theory , case studies. As far as interpersonal skills and smartness is concerned, i have a lot of it.

2. Another quick question -
In a number of previous posts by IT professionals, i noticed you have suggested them to move in IT consulting. So my question here is would IT consulting require me to start from writing codes again? Please share your insight in here.

Hi Amit,

I am completing my EMBA from XLRI Dubai Campus, request
your advice on career shifting to consulting.

Career Summary

Total Experience : 20 yrs
Mechancial Engineering in 1992

Have gone through the project life cycle for Oil & Gas and Power Projects many times.

Started with Praj Industries(2.5 yrs)as Project Engineer, then worked in Business Development for UB Engineering (2.5 yrs)and L&T Power(5 yrs)

After that Shifted to Dubai worked as operations manager for 4 yrs for a startup overseeing prequalification to product delivery for Oil & Gas Packages.

Executed Projects as Project Manager for Oil & Gas Industry ( 3yrs)

Presently working as Lead for Estimations for Oil & Gas Projects
supporting the Business Development (2 yrs)

I have complete domain knowledge for EPC Projects / Oil & Gas Process Package business segment / Power Plant basics.

I am specializing in Strategy and Marketing in MBA. Also a qualified PMP(2007).

Request you to advice, what are the chances of shifting to consulting and how can you help me.

Thanks in advance

Amit,

Using your current experience, it would be quite difficult to move into management consulting. Of course your chances would be better if you do an MBA (from the right school) and then execute a career change. Having said that, a possible area where you might be able to foray into successfully, and where you would also be able to use your current / past experience, is IT consulting. Do give this alternative a thought as well.

Regarding list of schools, I do not think I am qualified to assist you. Sameer and team should be able to help. However, before starting to create a list of schools, you will need to give this entire plan some deep thought. A few obvious questions that remain unanswered at this point in time, which admissions committees and recruiters at management consulting companies would surely ask, are as follows:

1. Why are you pursuing your CFA? Is it more of an induction effect, or are you firing in the dark with the hope that you will hit your target somehow? How is CFA related to what you are doing or what you would like to do / pursue?

2. Why management consulting? Why not IT (or some other flavor) of consulting?

At the risk of sounding like one of those elderly last-generation fatherly/grandfatherly types, I believe that in any career you can earn a good salary. The question ultimately comes down to how good you are in the career path you have chosen for yourself. The next step in the same line of questions / thoughts is to align yourself to a career path that agrees with your skills / talents, interests, etc. All of this requires a lot of thinking. Time is on your side - give it a good thought.

-Amit

Dupc,

E-commerce being a subset of IT Consulting, all the biggies (IBM, Accenture, TCS, Cognizant, etc.) do it.

Let me know if you were looking for something more specific.

-Amit.

Amahato,

On to your questions:

1. No, it isn't "required", but it helps. I personally think full-time programs are better, and here are the reasons:

(a) You are immersed full-time. That translates to more "experimentation" time, more discussions (in and outside the classroom), more interactions / touch-points, etc.

(b) MBA is experiential by nature and design. Attending classes in the evenings or weekends limits the extent of experiential learning since your classroom-time is limited. Discussions on those case studies continue beyond classroom-time, and spill on to lunches, dinners, next morning's team meeting, etc. From whatever little experience I have, the fire from a good case just rages on, refusing to be doused.

(c) Rapport building / networking is better achieved in full-time programs. I usually achieve much more talking to clients during an hour-long lunch than what I usually achieve in an entire day in a conference room. You will be missing out on a good number of those very important lunches / dinners / coffee breaks / activities / clubs.

(d) Recruiters don't give as much weight to part-time (evening / weekend) programs. Members of interview panels that I have been a part of or interacted with have always favored full-time MBA candidates.


2. One of the most important reasons why I have advised IT professionals to also think about IT consulting is because you can then put your prior IT experience to use - you don't need to start from scratch (coding). Of course when transitioning from a pure execution to a (IT) consulting role, there needs to be a change in thought process / approach - from a "fixing the problem immediately" approach (with a little bug fix here and a code change there, which is typical of most IT professionals) to more of a "longer-term solutioning" approach, and this transformation takes time.

Going back to your first question again, since you work for one of the Big 4, have you considered transitioning into a consulting-type role at your company? If you have been a stellar performer, an MBA might not be required at all. That way, you will get a feel of (IT) consulting, which will help you in planning your future course of action on whether to pursue an MBA and move into management consulting, or continue as an IT consultant.

-Amit.

Dheerendra,

20 years of experience, most / all of it in Oil and Gas, makes you the perfect candidate for an SME-type role in the consulting world.

Coming to execution, I think you have all the elements of your story already in place - you have done hands on work, managed projects, done BD, completed your PMP, and now armed with an MBA, would like to move to the strategic side of things. Make sure everything is sequenced and wrapped into a nice convincing story that recruiters will like. Pepper your story with instances / situations where:

1. You gained wide / varied experience across different areas within Oil and Gas,
2. How you mentored / provided guidance to your team members across projects,
3. Resolved a large number of issues / situations successfully,
4. Closed (or helped close) deals - quote dollar/currency figures.

For an SME-type role, recruiters from consulting companies would be very interested in the depth of your experience / expertise. If you are able to build a great story that focuses on the above points, then you have a fair chance.

The way I would be able to help you is the way I have tried to be of help to others on these forums - by answering queries / questions, giving feedback / assessments and (hopefully unbiased) advice, and playing the role of a sounding board.

-Amit.

Hi Amit,
Thank you for the positive feedback. I am rewriting my Resume in line with your observations.
Thnaks again
Dheerendra