Breaking into Consulting - experienced hire vs. undergraduate applicant
Hello!
I’m a non-traditional candidate. Graduated from NYU in political science in 2010, had mediocre grades, went out to Jakarta, Indonesia, started a website with the help of wealthy friends that was acquired for a pretty penny. None of us had debt so now we've got the models and bottles without being fat and sleep deprived and shit.
I’m a few months into relaxing, but I'm thinking about the next step. What are my chances at some mid-tier consulting firms?
I’ve got some experience, but not from a prestigious source. Zero quant background, but I think excel’s easy enough to learn since I’ve got some basic programming knowledge.
Do I apply as an experienced hire? I expect they’ll want me to know how to model. I don’t know how to do that. Do I apply as an undergraduate applicant?
I’m not concerned about pay as much as I’m interested in the network and general biz knowledge you get from a few years in consulting. I’d take a few years of nasty pay as long as my steak dinners are comped and I've got some time for the gym.
If you guys are wondering why I’d ever go back to a 9-8 after having some success at being an entrepreneur, it’s because I know that I was lucky. I’m pretty sure the next few ventures I try my hand at will fail miserably and I’ll end up being a penniless graduate. So, wondering what my options are in consulting.
Thanks!
You're going to need to network. I'm not sure you can get into the pure prestidge whore places at the moment, but im sure that they are some boutiques which would be into hiring a successful entrepreneur.
Your problem is you don't have the standard consultant profile. You might want to try your hand at b-school for an MBA if you're really intent on this path. B-schools tend to like successful entrepreneurs and if you get a legit M7 degree, then I think you'd have a very good shot at consulting.
You are going to have to give us more information then that. What is your GPA, previous work experience etc.
A couple of generic things:
1) The further you move from the standard recruitment profile, the less advice people will be able to give you because your situation becomes more unique
2) This isn't necessarily a bad thing by any means, it just means you're going to be in unfamiliar territory. I'm sure there are people in consulting that started their own business and moved into consulting from there, but you'll have trouble finding those people for advice. The key is being able to explain how the business you started helped you understand more about business.
As one poster above mentioned, maybe give b-school a shot. Admissions are still going on, so it might be worth looking into that. If you haven't taken the GMAT yet, you may want to look at applying to bschool next year. In the meantime, since you have about 10 months before schools even start accepting apps, maybe look at starting an online nonprofit since you have experience with websites. If you get something up and start working on it, and express an interest in continuing to work on it, this could work hugely in your favor.
If bschool isn't for you, I'd just start cold-calling and cold-emailing people, just networking in general. For cold emails just say something simple like:
Dear ____, I graduated from college in 2010. I had the opportunity to start a company, which was successfully sold recently. I'm very interested in consulting and was hoping you'd be interested in grabbing a cup of coffee and talking about the profession. Thanks, xxx
I don't know if I'd use that exactly, but something short and sweet that highlights your success starting a company. Also, you might want to look at VC, too. They love people who ahve started their own companies.
I agree, people around here are so fixated on the traditional path that it'll be hard to get some concrete advice... but I do think that business-school would be the way to go... actually on second thought where's Patrick? he could help you out...
with that being said i have one question... how much did you make from the sale of the website? (you can lie and say whatever you want... i'll get a kick out of just getting an answer)
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