Break into management consulting without much experience

Hi guys,

I am graduating from Rutgers, New Brunswick in October 2016. In addition, I am a chemistry major with a 3.8 GPA. During my undergraduate years, I was a teaching instructor as well as a teaching assistant for several chemistry classes. Initially, I was pursuing a path towards academia, but after considering the ROI for getting a pHD in specifically organic chemistry, I decided to shift my career. Currently, I am attempting to break into management consulting/ strategic consulting at a Big 4. Recently, I have landed a non-paid consulting internship with a no name start up in its very early stages (less than a year). My boss is a former Deloitte consulting manager who has been consulting for over 10 years in the industry, and has huge faith in the start up as we have been generating revenue. For the last two months, he has been training me as any other Deloitte consulting intern/analyst. I have learned how to create decks, SOWs, client experience, etc. as well as other skills in marketing and finance as we are a very small team. I know that I am off cycle for applying to one of the Big 4. I was wondering if people could give me some feedback as what should I do next? Should I continue interning at this area or should I find work elsewhere? Are there any other methods of getting into Big 4 much sooner... maybe as a experienced consultant, anything? Should I make myself more marketable by taking CFA part 1, some sort of masters, etc? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Hi hi, have got job offers from top consulting firms, including Strategy& which may be on your list so here's some advice.

  • 3.8 GPA is good. Can you do an MA at an Ivy league? you need that brand name school wise

  • At least in London, a start up (unless its a very VERY recognisable one) is not going to cut it and research isn't really enough either. Again, try get an internship under your bel in a brand name company

  • Apply to regional / less prestigious offices instead of core ones (ex. NYC). Lowers your competition

Otherwise, network, network, network.

 

No, you should not bother with a CFA or any other type of certification program.

A master's degree directly out of undergrad will also not be helpful, EXCEPT for the fact that it puts you back in the pipeline and puts you back "on-cycle". You would go in at the same level as a new undergrad. Maybe a small pay bump, but wouldn't count on it.

You are not qualified as an experienced consultant, and would not be for years.

The job you have now makes sense. Finish it out, and pump your boss for contacts at Deloitte and other firms near the end of your time. I would be looking for other employment in parallel

 

I'd go to the blue chip IT company overseas in your shoes. It just shows a more impressive career progression-from blue chip IT to Internal Consulting in an overseas IT company. You'll also get your international experience-and you can volunteer on the side while there. Your best bet going into either MBB or MBA business schools">M7 is excellent career progression and instances of leadership in this space. Not too familiar with the inner workings of the peace corps so curious as to what types of biz dev opportunities you'd be given while serving.

A couple years of experience overseas and you could try to get on with MBB as an experienced hire or attempt the b-school route-fresh off 2 stints in Consulting type roles, some international experience, perhaps a foreign language?, and solid career progression

 

I'm no expert, but I imagine your best bet is to build yourself up, get into a killer top-notch MBA school, and pursue MBB from there. That being said, I have no idea what your best option is. Perhaps you have some better options you haven't thought of yet?

 

If I were in your shoes, I'll go the peace corps -> MBA business schools">M7 B-school -> MBB route. I think that peace corps will be a valuable and unique addition to your resume, and I'm sure will be looked on very favorably by B-school admissions. If you do not want to go to B-school, then try to lateral to MBB asap. You might have to start from the bottom, at the same level as an recent grad, since the reality is that lateraling to MBB at the pre-MBA level is very difficult. Good luck.

 

only realistic way would be to get into a top mba and get an offer from ocr by nailing the interviews. you have no shot at lateralling into MBB or any other high end strat consulting shop (such as OW, ATK, etc) from your background, without a top notch MBA. I graduated from a top Ivy and MBB only gave interviews to kids who had at least 3.8 GPA. it is incredibly selective.

 

I appreciate all the input.

One point of contention for IvyGrad (nothing personal; more of a general comment): I'm not sure that I totally understand the thought process behind repeating this line of reasoning over and over again. This idea that unless you graduated from a target school with a 3.8 GPA, the only way to get into MBB is to go to a MBA business schools">M7 B-School is a bit of bullocks.

I get it, that's what the numbers say: the average MBB hire either went to a target undergrad and graduated with a 3.7+ or went to a MBA business schools">M7 B-School.

Here's my take: A lot of people regurgitate that because it's easy. "Why didn't I get an offer at MBB (ibanks, BB, etc)"? The easy answer is: because your GPA, GMAT, non-target, etc. The hard answer, and what I believe to be true is: because, overall, your not an attractive candidate. These guys don't hire based on one number, they hire based on the entire candidate.

That is not to say numbers don't count. The numbers are a way to weed people out since the lot to choose from is so large.

All I'm saying is, let's try to be a little more creative with our answers. I've spoken to a couple family friends that are partners (a couple at MBB and a couple at the Deloittes, Accentures and ATKs of the world). Whenever I'm lucky enough to get a moment of their time, none of them simply say "get into a top MBA program and go through OCR." They all say things like "what opportunities do you have where you can develop skills that are needed to be a management consultant".

Nonetheless, again, I appreciate the advice.

 

well people say things that are politically correct in real life such as "anything is possible, yes, you can break into MBB or BB IBD with 3.0 gpa from non-target". regardless, you'd realize why people on this site are saying you need a top mba to break into MBB or BB IBD, when you actually try to break into these gigs from your current background without a major inflection point. (top mba) Nothing personal against you, it's just that most people who are non-MBB or non-BB IBD would need to go get a top MBA to get a crack at these gigs.

there are so many qualified people who are covetting for these few jobs. in this economic environment, kids from Harvard with 3.5 gpa are having rough time landing first round interviews at consulting/ IB.

best of luck, though.

 

I haven't read the whole thread, but your best bet is to go to the foreign company, get at least one promotion, and then go to business school, because you are not going to get in as an experienced hire analyst. The most "unusual" candidates that we hire (this includes everyone who went to an East Coast state school that isn't UVA) are almost never laterals, and our laterals are almost always people who work for a bank, a lower-tier consulting firm, or something else within the professional services realm and who have much stronger grades at much better schools.

If you really, really want to lateral, there's a ~2% probability that you can bust ass at this new company, network your balls off, and get in 3 years from now, but then you'll be too old for being an analyst to make sense in your career trajectory. At that point you'd be wiser to just go to business school and join as a post-MBA.

One of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over.
 

Not hard to see that you're not close to MBB right now. From your post I can tell you lack the balls and gumption to be a successful management consultant.

"My CEO is never there so I have to be a self-starter." Terrible attitude, squirt. Good luck.

 

Looking for other ways than top b-school? Well you could become incredibly eminent in your field, publish several books and then lateral in as a partner. You could become a successful politician and develop a network of contacts that would be valuable to a consulting firm, and then lateral in as a partner. You could have some sort of original thought that gains traction in the academic world, get stories about the work published by the mainstream press rocketing yourself to fame, and then apply now and you'd probably at least get an interview.

Or you could go to b-school.

Sure there are lots of other ways to get a shot at an MBB job, it's just that all of them are incredibly unlikely outcomes. With a 3.1 and a 730 on the GMAT, you could get some good work experience and have a solid shot at a top b-school. Then you have a 1 in 4 or so (depending on the school) shot at getting hired at one of your desired firms.

I've worked at the largest office of one of these for several years now and I've never even heard of anyone not coming in post-undergrad, post-MBA or at partner. Does it happen? Probably. Is it common? Not at all.

Evalulating those sets of options, I think you're highest expected value outcome is to go to b-school. If you can't figure that out, you're probably not cut out for this sort of work.

(I'd also point out that if you have family friends that are partners at MBB and they wouldn't even put you in the first round as a favor, it's probably a sign that it's incredibly unlikely you're going to get a job there without some sort of step change in your career trajectory. B-school can be that change.)

 

I have to agree with IvyGrad. MBB seems even harder than BB IBD to break into from a non-target. As a state schooler with a dual major, ranked #1 in both majors by GPA, and a top 3 BB IBD internship (w/ full time offer), I didn't even get a phone screen from a single MBB.

 

As someone else trying to get to MBB just wanted to say I also appreciate the blunt advice from guys who are/have been there. Not easy to hear but important to know.

 

I really appreciate the advice, guys.

Since b-school seems to be the consensus, would moving to a larger (F100) company and working towards a promotion or two be the best experience to get into a top MBA program? Seems like no one thinks the Peace Corps will pay the ancillary dividends I would need to justify doing it. I know I can get a position at a F100 blue chip IT company in either their finance or internal consulting group. What do you guys think is the best move to make to set myself up for the best chance at a top b-school and MBB after?

 

I think the peace corps isn't a great idea if one of the big justifications for it is that it will help you get a job or get into b-school. It's just not that differentiated or well thought of (in my opinion). If you are genuinly passionate about going and doing that though it won't hurt you--I have a few friends that are now in MBB who did PC before b-school.

As to the F100 question, either job will give you a good shot at a top b-school. Pursue the job that would be more interesting to you--you'll do a better job there (which is what really matters).

My overarching advice here is to not worry so much about positioning yourself for MBB and worry about having a good time, an interesting job, and being a dynamic person. That's what they really care about. Can you solve the problems? Can I put you in front of a client? Do I want to have you in a team room with me?

 
squatz:

I really appreciate the advice, guys.

Since b-school seems to be the consensus, would moving to a larger (F100) company and working towards a promotion or two be the best experience to get into a top MBA program? Seems like no one thinks the Peace Corps will pay the ancillary dividends I would need to justify doing it. I know I can get a position at a F100 blue chip IT company in either their finance or internal consulting group. What do you guys think is the best move to make to set myself up for the best chance at a top b-school and MBB after?

F100 blue chip IT company in their internal consulting group sounds like the best option. Would give you a good shot at a good b-school, and probably a better chance at a top bschool than their finance team, but that second part is just a guess.

One of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over.
 

Just out of curiosity, when people are talking about non-target in this context, what are they really trying to say? Because I know that individual MBB offices in regional offices draw from what I might consider national non-targets in that they actively recruit from good regional schools (my MBB class has a few of these, though obviously lots more HBS type people). I wouldn't advise going to one of these schools OVER a top school as your odds still aren't that great, but this type of situation is a lot better than trying to be the one person that gets recruited into the firm from South Carolina Tech in the past decade.

 

timlambcurry, are you talking for MBA? So I imagine you're asking about Emory, Texas, UCLA, Vandy, etc. Yeah, I think if your heart is dead set on MBB then going to a regional school is a massive longshot, given the number of students that get hired from those places every year. My understanding is that they get hundreds of applications and give out just a few (each firm makes 0-3) offers. I'm not sure I'd want to bet $150k on that. As I'm sure you are aware, even at HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, etc. getting a job at these firms is far from a guarantee.

 
squatz:

I appreciate all the input.

One point of contention for IvyGrad (nothing personal; more of a general comment):
I'm not sure that I totally understand the thought process behind repeating this line of reasoning over and over again. This idea that unless you graduated from a target school with a 3.8 GPA, the only way to get into MBB is to go to a MBA business schools">M7 B-School is a bit of bullocks.

I get it, that's what the numbers say: the average hire either went to a target undergrad and graduated with a 3.7+ or went to a MBA business schools">M7 B-School.

It is really that way, as hard as it may be to believe. For example, the 2013 UG class (between 20 to 30 people) for an MBB in a major office had an average GPA of 3.75. 0 from non-targets, 1or 2 from semi target.

The firm has hired 1 non-target student BA/A/AC in in the past 2-3 years (that's 60-90 BA/A/ACs).

The 2013 UG class for a different MBB had similar stats. Average GPA of 3.7+. 0 from non-target.

And it's not just about numbers. But they have way more than enough kids fromjusy target schools to fill all the spots. (There are a lot more people wkth 3.7/3.8+ than you would think.) So they get to consider the "qualitative" sides AFTER filtering for the stats.

Of course partners will not tell you that it's near impossible for anyone without those qualifications to get the job, just as the firm's website or an HR person wouldn't. But the possibility is very slim.

 

Your concentration and minor are in line with what Big 4 recruiters typically look for in an undergrad hire. Go to the campus recruiting events, build rapport with the recruiters, and make a lasting impression. So long as your GPA is above a 3.2 (ideally 3.5), you know how to carry yourself, and have the ability to entertain a conversation you should be golden.

Also, I would brush up on whatever information you can find on the respective companies' website and reference your interest in an industry or service line they offer. This shows that you somewhat have an idea of what you want and have the done some research.

Also, make sure your LinkedIn profile is set up and resume is clean. Leadership experience (clubs, organizations, etc) will help a great deal. Make sure you list them.

Senior Consultant, S&O | Deloitte
 

There are large ones(headcount wise) Big 4 (Consulting divisions), Accenture,etc. or look into smaller shops/boutiques.

Vault has a good list of firms for you to look into (Don't take "rankings" to heart): http://www.vault.com/company-rankings/consulting/vault-consulting-50/

Also find out the ones that recruit at your undergrad. Chances are you have a higher chance of securing an interview.

Practice interviewing/cases diligently.

Best of luck.

No pain, no pain.
 

Thank you for your reply.

I've been going through the Vault Rankings and applying based on that, how I got the Pearl Meyer & Partners interview.

I know Deloitte recruits at our school, but I believe their recruiting is done. On our career site a principal at Deloitte is listed as a potential "mentor" so I should reach out to him and build a rapport.

Wish I started this early, however I was unsure what track I wanted to peruse either Equity Research or Consulting.

Any other advice you have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

At this point I think formal recruiting for a lot of the large consulting shops is over. Unfortunately they give out a large chunk (if not all) of their offers to candidates who started the process in September/October. If you're already a senior and this is something you really want to do you're going to have to reach out to boutiques and network your way to an interview. Don't count on the online websites to get you anywhere, call/email until you get a response from a living, breathing human.

 

@"ebbitten"

Yeah I think I am going to have to break in through the boutique route. Which brings me to another question how easy is it to move within consulting?

@"Hugo Stiglitz"

Yeah I'll reach out to the principal at Deloitte and to my alumni network to build a connection with them and move on from there.

 

This is for Big 4 primarily: Reach out to they key recruiters both from your campus, but also find the recruiter contacts for the ones that handle non-target or off-cycle hires. as many mentioned, its a bit late in the game, but you should reach out to get on their radar. What happens often, is that they host a alot of interviews and offers, and it takes them until January/February to figure out who has all accepted, in which they will reevaluate how many people they have versus their goal. If they haven't met their quota, they will do some off-cycle interviews in the spring to fill out their quota

Knowing the HR and other connects there will be able to get you in touch with the right people at the right time.

Hugo
 

@wsonobody

From my impression (and this is 110% hearsay) if you're trying to move "up" in the consulting world its at least as difficult as getting your initial offer was. The reasoning is as follows. Prestigious consulting firms hire most of their people in junior positions fresh from some sort of prestigious university/college. There are far fewer people in the senior positions than junior so they can get everyone they need for the senior positions from the natural narrowing process. They have plenty of applicants for the junior position from sources that they "trust". These sources are easy for the people hiring you to justify to their managers and easy for people who work with securing clients. No one looks down on someone for hiring a Princeton grad. So there's never really a defined entry point for people who've been out and working for a while. This isn't to say that you/people can't/haven't gotten in just that there is not a defined process and the demand is relatively low.

Another thing to consider from the firms point of view is that if McKinsey hires a bunch of people from Accenture and then their clients see the resumes of all of the consultants (which happens some places) the client may wonder why they spent the extra $$$ on MBB. This is ultimately (IMO) why prestigious consultancies care the most about the pedigree of their workers.

I'll reiterate that this is not to say that you can't do it and I'll also say that this is all assuming that by "move within consulting" you meant lateral to a more prestigious firm. You may want to lateral to a similar firm but one that works more in an area that you're interested in or one that is a better size/better geographic location. These things I think would be much easier (though not necessarily easy) to do.

Finally if you're dead set on MBB and you're a senior in college you still have the chance to go get another degree down the road which reopens the OCR door.

 

I agree with ebbitten here. I don't know of any consultants who got their CFA; it just isn't generally useful in advisory services. MBAs, however, are super popular among consultants at almost every level.

 
Best Response

What is your specific question? 3.4-3.5 GPA isn't good for consulting, it's average at best, and for MBB too low. At my MBB our soft cutoff is around 3.7. Where did you do your undergrad and masters? The major matters much less than the school pedigree. Are you a target? Semi-target? Non-target? What networking have you done? If you've been twiddling your thumbs for six months it sounds like you're not putting in enough effort.

What previous experience do you have? Are you applying to healthcare specific consulting firms or do you want to work at a general strategy firm with a focus in their healthcare practice? It looks like the latter from your previous threads about Oliver Wyman. Strategy firms will hire you on as a generalist, not into one practice, unless you're on the "expert track".

Typically, expert tracks are for people who are already several years out of school and have a network in that field - sounds like you aren't there just yet.

Where are you currently located? With all due respect, your grammar is weak which leads me to believe that English isn't your first language. Advice will differ based on global region.

 

Oh come on devildog, what is your deal? This guy has never done this before, what's wrong with asking for some advice from people who have? Who are you to say whether "consulting is for OP" or not because he asked a question on a forum regarding something he/she has no experience with?

If you don't have anything to say to help op, just don't say anything at all or direct op where he should be asking these things.

Do you get some kind of kick out of tearing down the confidence of kids fresh out of (or still in) undergrad?

 
Teletype:

Oh come on devildog, what is your deal? This guy has never done this before, what's wrong with asking for some advice from people who have?

The kid asked for advice and I offered some. He's since removed his post, but one of the questions he asked (among a number of other, perfectly reasonable ones) was "should I live with a colleague?". I see this kind of behavior a lot in new associates -- they get told during training that there's no such thing as a dumb question, and they take it literally. Then during their first project their manager gets inundated with questions they could have answered by googling for 30 seconds or thinking about it for 5 minutes. I don't know whether the OP should live with a roommate from his firm, but he should have thought about it enough to realize that no random internet stranger is going to have any useful insight for him before asking the question. Having the random internet stranger instead point out that it's a dumb question is far better than having his boss do it after he starts.
 

A few thoughts (MBB alum):

Clubs: it seems like your volunteer work is strong enough (and leadership-oriented enough) that I would guess the lack of clubs won't be a big issue. This probably varies by firm (McK is incredibly leadership-oriented, from my personal anecdotal experience) and maybe school (if everyone is active in a lot of clubs, you might end up standing out in contrast), but I would think you still have a solid shot.

Overall: There is a lot of content here, but I'd still try to squeeze it to one page (I think you can bump GPA up into the education table with some creative formatting, I'd move your test scores up to that section as well without increasing line for line, and maybe change the "additional" section to list format and see if that does it.

You have a lot of cool jobs that don't fit cookie-cutter molds, so make sure you can speak about them intelligently and focus on the analytical parts of the role and the results of everything you did.

Education: Not sure what additional coursework in MAN is - if I'm the outlier, may not need to change

Unlimited Mobile: I might change "self-sustainable" to "sustainable" - I think self is implied; I'd switch the first and second bullets (not a big deal, but I would read the second as more impressive and showing that you rank them as such can't hurt); I wouldn't call it due diligence unless you are specifically looking at a transaction or major investment.

Support Division:

First bullet is vague on the context of the work - I may just not know, but what is a "Social Media and Web 2.0 option"? If it was about developing a social media presence, make that clear - if it was changing the social media strategy in a material way (reducing risk of information leak from the corporate account post-Netflix, for example), make that clear. Mostly to show that you know the context of the cost-benefit and risk analyses.

Second bullet may read better as: "Researched, developed, and presented strategies..." (if that's what you did - if not, I'd describe the meat of the project rather than try to squeeze in the word strategy); it's unclear whether the third bullet refers to both prior bullets or just the first, so I might clarify or assign savings to each bullet separately.

Hobby Shop:

I think this is the best-written section. I might take a stab at some basic financial metrics as icing, but this is really pretty strong. If you had a gross margin % after the $45k revenue, it would be nice context, or maybe if you had an initial investment amount (starting inventory, maybe?) or something. I might also clarify what kinds of items in the first bullet.

Non-profit Hospital:

First bullet might read better as: "Advised and implemented entertainment-based charity events, raising average donation..."; the second bullet sounds a lot like end-to-end organizing of fundraisers, in which case I might just say organized xx fundraising events resulting in yy donations; if you got any corporate sponsors to donate in-kind, maybe another bullet on soliciting corporate in-kind sponsorship to throw great events at manageable budgets or something; I'd simplify the last point to "Assist charity management with raising over $200k in debt" and if you are specifically responsible for targeting HNW individuals, add ", specifically responsible for soliciting contributions from high-net-worth individuals in the local community" or something

Volunteer Org:

I'd shy away from hour totals, especially without detailing the activity. Generally, you want to show that you focus on results, not labor input, and I don't think 100 hours is a threshold that is particularly important to emphasize. If you have bullets describing specific activities, I think you will get more credit (and nobody will be trying to estimate your hours spent).

Hobbies;

I'd fix the spelling on "traveling" and bump strategy games to the end of the list if not eliminated entirely.

Good luck in the job search process.

 

Thank you for the review signposts. I've updated my resume taking into consideration your comments. A few things:

1) Education - MAN stands for management, IDK how relevant that is, but I've taken strategy classes in management so I thought it might be relevant?

2) The base formatting of this resume isn't changeable due to university recruiting issues. We use some online system to submit resumes for jobs and all of our resumes have to conform to this standard. For the actual resume I drop onto the company's website, I'll change up the formatting to read better, unless the changes I've made look good?

3) I've changed up my resume a bit, took out the volunteer org I was in and added a small blurb about tutoring. If you could take a glance at my updated resume, I'd really appreciate it

Thanks again for helping me out. Realistically speaking, MBB is probably a crapshoot for me because I'm not in the school's honor program and they recruit almost exclusively from that pool. I was aiming at Deloitte/Booz/Oliver Wyman, more of the tier 2 level, with MBB being a reach. How do you think I fare?

 

Strange, both of you said to shorten it to one page but on my computer it is one page.. maybe an issue with the margins? I've uploaded it in PDF format with change in font, let me know if theres any new critiques! I really appreciate all the help

 
karypto:
Happy endings don't always happen, cheer up and keep at it. Is there a reason why you want to do management consulting? Would you consider yourself a people person, or a shy introvert?

yea that's right....well i am not shy guy...and i think i am good at consulting...but you never know...

 

I can't see you getting a consulting job right now with your current work experience. You don't have the experience to get a post-MBA-level job, and you've been working for too long to get a post-college job. I guess you could try to transfer to a firm with an IT practice if you have work or educational experience that makes you a good fit for that, but I don't see that being a great career move, given that you already have a tech job.

Honestly, the time for an MBA might be sooner rather than later. You have enough work experience, and you're looking to make a career change; that's exactly the reason why most people go to business school. If you think you might be able to jump right to a consulting firm, talk to any of your contacts there and see what they say, but business school should definitely be on your short-term rader.

As for which firm you should target, I don't any particular firm would be more receptive to you than the rest. Eventually you might be a good fit for McKinsey's Business Technology Office, given your tech background, but if you assemble the right credentials any firm would be a potential fit.

And if you want more information about all of these firms, use the search box on the top of this page. All of the firms on your list have been discussed ad nauseam.

One of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over.
 
cartman:
On a more serious note, I think 2x2 is on the dot. You probably will need to go get an MBA and hopefully land a job through on-campus recruiting. From there, choose from the offers you actually get. There's no point in sweating over which firm is 'best for you' right this moment.

with all due respect you people think that i can't get into consulting without MBA?

Thanks

 

Do it. Unless the smaller firm you're working for has a niche in the buy-side, it's going to be tough recruiting to PE from there. Bain and McK have good track records in PE because they do a lot of work with PE shops, and thus the analysts have some (albeit limited) experience. If I were you, I would look at the analyst class that just left your firm and see where they went. If you like those exit opps, then don't switch, but if you want something more along the lines of MBB exits, then do. Honestly, 1.5 years isn't that much time to lose in the grand scheme of things. Yes, you'll be older than your MBB class, but you'll have experience that can make you advance much faster if you do well. Overall, I say make the switch.

 

Go to MBB. The alumni base and your coworkers will be huge assets for you down the line -- that's a great opportunity to see what others have done and assess what you want to do afterwards. Especially at McK and Bain, many analysts/ACs go onto do PE, and the transition is made easier by having those contacts.

If the relationships you have built at your firm are already very strong, then perhaps MBB wouldn't help you that much in this aspect. But keep in mind some analysts/ACs are also older (have taken years off), and 1.5 years isn't that much.

For B School, the acceptance into HBS/GSB depend on which one of the MBB -- PM me if you'd like more details.

 

Take the MBB offer. At your point in life you are building a CV and MBB is close to the best brand you can get against your name. Plus the networking alum point noted above – do not underrate the multiplying effect this has in addition to college alum as your colleagues exit into other industry roles, etc over the longer term. Its unlikely a boutique can match this in general terms (though may be able to in a particular sector). And as an additional plus, I expect you will learn and benefit from the contrast offered by MBB over your current employer.

 

^lol @ TFA stint

what are u doing bleedblue82?!?! u got the offer now RUN LIKE THE WIND to MBB and never look back lest you be turned into a giant salt shaker and blown away by a monsoon.

consider this: now instead of telling people "I work at a small strategy consulting firm, you probably wouldn't know its name but..." you no longer have to be hang your head ashamed and can now stare deeply into their eyes and whisper "Bain & Company" or mouth slowly "Boston Consulting Group" licking your lips and watch their eyes open wide and mouths gape open with amazement. not to mention all the women from deloitte S&O asking if they can have your manchild.

========================================= We are excited to formally extend to you an offer to join Bank of Ameria
 

@ews09: Yeah, I just stuck my offer in the mail. Hard to say no.

@Piper: that's pretty funny, mainly because as much as we all pretend that's not important to us of course we care that people know where we work. We're all tools if we're on WSO...

@ringtailed: Appreciate the spirit of the advice, but... yeah man, you're doing TFA. doesn't quite compare. Enjoy your time there though, and good luck!

 

bleedblue - How'd you get the initial interview in the first place? Alumni or personal connection, or something? Curious because my story is the same...except without an MBB offer (coming from a target, didn't get MBB in undergrad, about 1.5 yrs into a boutiquish strategy firm)

 

I had a few friends who worked at this specific firm, and they let me know that recruiting was going on. Submitted my resume through them, heard back the next day - honestly, don't think the connections helped me as much as the work experience on my resume. For MBB, hiring people like me is like getting 1.5 years of training for free.

If you have any friends at these firms, ask them to keep their ears to the ground - you're probably SOL till July/August in terms of the regular recruiting cycle, but you never know what might pop up.

 

Banking is always, and perhaps in your case, the best option to segway into consulting later.

One other option would be to go to a fortune company and be a stud. I know several MBA students at my school that got offers after working at a fortune company. I would not recommend going to a 2nd tier consulting firm if your end goal is MBB. While most 2nd tier firms like OW and Booz will send you to an ivy mba program, firms would be hesitant to hire you as you have been groomed as a consultant in a different culture. Also, many 2nd tier consultants decide to go back - places like Booz and OW offer great opportunities and, arguably, a similar, albeit smaller, alumnus program for future exit opportunities. If your end goal is to be a consultant, I would include 2nd tier firms into your pursuit. To have your end goal targeted specifically to MBB is limiting yourself.

 

you're going to need to work more than just 2 years in IBD to get into a top business school... that said, starting out at a BB in IBD can be a great way to end up at a top MBA program. If you can land a job at a solid PE firm or HF after your stint in IBD you'll be a great candidate for mba ("2+2").

 

Yeah, like IP said, it's hard to roll straight from BB IBD to HWS - you have to do something else before or after to flesh out your application. But coming from consulting, that's not the case - three or four years at Monitor (the point at which you get up-or-outed) is more than enough experience to get into a top school, for example. I do know a couple of people who did BB IBD then either PE or VC and ended up at MBB, but not a lot - let's be honest, most people who start in banking stick with finance.

Neither option is a bad one, and both can lead you to MBB if that's where you want to go. But what I might add to list of things to think about is this: you said you want to do consulting after your MBA. If I had to guess, it's because you think you'll enjoy consulting more or that it's a better fit for your personality/skillset/etc. If you have the chance to do consulting pre-MBA, I would just take it; though it isn't at the firm you want, it is the job you want, and it's no worse than banking for MBA placement. You'll also be surrounded by people with similar long-term goals; if you go into IB, you're not going to be around many aspiring consultants (though there may be a few).

One of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over.
 

The main factor that determines if a post undergrad job is good for post mba consulting at MBB is just if it gets you into business school. I hear people on forums like this talk about not wanting to hire from other firms, but I don't think thats actually true. Plenty of the post MBA folks at my office were at other consulting firms pre-mba and then jumped while they were in business school, and MBB firms hire from big 4/other consulting firms at more experienced levels to meet specialized needs more frequently than you would expect.

In answer to your original question, going somewhere like Deloitte S&O or one of the strong boutique type firms (OW, LEK, etc) is probably the fastest, way to have a really good shot at a T10 program in 2-3 years, which would give you another shot at MBB recruiting. However, if I were you I would pick something you're interested in maybe doing long term and trying that right now. Might add a year or two to the timeline but could pay dividends later (if you're a consulting lifer, than by all means try out another consulting firm).

 

its not the best actual career advice, but if youre life is determined by getting into MBB, then the first job should be whatever gets you into an MBA business schools">M7 Business school- this ISNT good career advice, but i guess if its life or death having banking experience won't be a huge factor, and although it might help, slaving away for 2-4 years at a job that you don't like won't do you much good- in addition, to get into a really top business school, you'll have to work at a high quality shop with promotions (think Goldman, MS, JP Morgan), which means you'll be trying incredibly hard for a career you don't really want....

On the other hand, you could work for a T2 consulting shop, or even T3, gain some experience, and go for a 1 year or shortened MBA if you have the stats down the road, and trade up to MBB

 

hey man, i don't know much about Consulting personally and how to break in from a non-traditional background, but we just released the latest version of our consulting case interview guide: Make Your Case. The 2012 version has a bonus case, so now there are 11 original practice cases.

My guess is people's advice will be to network at smaller regional consulting boutiques and be very prepared once you get those interview chances.

We don't have a ranking of consulting firms, but we are adding more consulting companies to our WSO Company Database every day. And we just added in the feature for users to give Company Reviews, Interview Insights and Compensation Info. //www.wallstreetoasis.com/wso-company-database

Good Luck, Patrick

 

Hey, TimeTraveler. You are asking for regional shops, but fail to mention where you are located. Perhaps pointing that out would help. Moreover, you should try to provide us with more information about your qualifications, such as, major, how is your undergrad ranked (not all non-targets are the same), etc.

I managed to get an offer with a non-traditional background, though my academics where in order. I must also admit that I don't know anyone with that kind of GPA that has applied to these firms; however, I think that it should not kill your chances. Again, without any other information is hard to tell how you should approach this, but I don't believe that GPA alone means it is impossible to get the interview.

Others will argue that they would rather take one of the hundreds (or thousands) of applicants that do not have that blemish in their application; nevertheless, networking could still potentially get you that interview. When I say networking, I do not mean that calling a bunch of people or even meeting with them will automatically get you an interview. You need to have other things in your background that indicate that you are as smart and capable as the rest of the candidates. You need to strike the people you meet as XYZ company material.

 

But since all you do was accounting how do you know consulting is right for you?

Did you have any interest at university regarding consulting? Did you tried it? Sometimes we want something becuase we think that it would be good for us but not necessarily this is the case.

Regarding transfer from audit to advisory I think this is doable. I know some people who have done that. All you need to do is to show some skill and desire but sometimes when you transfer from audit to advisory you loose your grade and you could start at the lower level that your audit job would promote you to.

Best luck anyway!

 
Charle:
But since all you do was accounting how do you know consulting is right for you?

Did you have any interest at university regarding consulting? Did you tried it? Sometimes we want something becuase we think that it would be good for us but not necessarily this is the case.

I'm still in undergrad, so I have no experience in either field. All I can go by is classes and what I've read on various forum, articles, etc., describing each field. From that it seems to me consulting is more enjoyable. Again, I'm going on zero experience, so who knows.

ValuationGURU, thank you for the information. I've heard people say that its very doable, and then I've heard others say its damn near impossible. I guess it varies for each person/career.

--Art Vandelay

 

Making the switch from audit to advisory is fairly easy as long as you are tops in your group. Quite a bit transaction advisory work requires a CPA and audit experience. Accounting is a good skill set to have and if you are able to network effectively you should be able to make the move to consulting. I am not sure on the time frame for the switch. I know several auditors turned consultants.

 

Ah, one thing I always liked about the Big 4 in Germany: audit, tax, or advisory - you can get into each path right from the start just as easily and don't need none of that "target"/"non-target" crap. If you're good (and your GPA indicates that, as even a 3.5 is hard to get at a public school), you get the interviews and ultimately can get the job.

 

I don't know how things are in the US and other parts of Europe but I''ve heard that advisory maybe sometimes inferior to audit in following parts:

  • less job security
  • your projects may vary and if there's no business for your group you may be doing tasks that are far less interesting than your primary interests.
  • you are longer a doer not supervisor

Probably getting into typical management consulting firm would be a better option?

 
Charle:
I don't know how things are in the US and other parts of Europe but I''ve heard that advisory maybe sometimes inferior to audit in following parts:
  • less job security
  • your projects may vary and if there's no business for your group you may be doing tasks that are far less interesting than your primary interests.
  • you are longer a doer not supervisor

Probably getting into typical management consulting firm would be a better option?

Certainly, I'd rather do typical management consulting than advisory, I just figured advisory may be easier to get into, given the fact that the Big 4 all have advisory branches, whereas Deloitte is the only one with a full on consulting branch.

Fredbird:
Ah, one thing I always liked about the Big 4 in Germany: audit, tax, or advisory - you can get into each path right from the start just as easily and don't need none of that "target"/"non-target" crap. If you're good (and your GPA indicates that, as even a 3.5 is hard to get at a public school), you get the interviews and ultimately can get the job.

I'm entering my junior year this upcoming fall, and have a 3.92 overall GPA, 4.00 Accounting GPA. From what I've read, the summer between junior and senior year is the time to [try to] get consulting internships, as well as summer leadership programs at the Big 4 firms, so that will be my aim for the upcoming summer.

The plan now is to get an MAcc to fulfill the CPA requirements, but obviously that would change if I got a full time consulting offer. I just like to have as many options as possible, as I'm sure others do too.

I feel as though my resume is pretty good at this point in my college career. I have had an internship at a local CPA private practice, and little odds and ends jobs, but my main component on it currently is a Managing Porter job at a used car dealership. Obviously the industry isnt exactly consulting or accounting, but I did it because I was in a management role. Here's to trying for consulting internships this summer, as well as Summer Leadership Programs at the Big 4!

--Art Vandelay

 
valuationGURU:
Have you tried getting an internship at a BDO/Grant?

I have not. Again, I was under the impression that most of this takes place for the summer after junior year. That seems to be the case with most of these companies. I did a quick browse on BDO and that seems like the case there as well. This year I'm going to apply for several Consulting internships for the summer, as well as all the SLPs that the accounting firms have.

Another question, will it "look bad" that I'm waffling between Consulting and Audit? For example, if I get an internship at a consulting firm, and then ultimately interview for an audit postion (or vice versa), will it look like I wanted to do consulting and couldnt cut it, and therefore settled with audit?

Side note, great responses so far. Thanks for the help. Very quick responses, I wasnt expecting that coming from the CC business forums.

--Art Vandelay

 
valuationGURU:
I think the accounting firms look at sophomore interns as well. I am not 100% on that, but I thought I saw postings for those positions a few years back. Anyway, I think as long as you have a solid reason for why you are choosing audit and not consulting, then you should be fine. Just don't have a lame excuse.

As far as I know from recruiters, you intern one year before you look to get a full time offer. I.e., if you plan to do five years, you intern between senior year and the masters program. So I'm still a year from that.

As far as telling them why I'm not going to consulting, that makes sense. Thanks for the help again. With consulting firms, I'm going to be at a major disadvantage because it doesn't appear that any of them recruit on campus (Big 4 does). Hopefully, I can just apply without going through the on campus recruiting. If not, I'm hoping to find a MAcc program at which they may recruit, at least a few mid tier ones. I'm considering Baruch.

--Art Vandelay

 
valuationGURU:
I have never heard of consulting firms hiring from an accounting masters program? I may be wrong though, just doesn't seem right. I think your best bet is to do audit for a couple years and move from there. Or try to maneuver yourself on to an advisory team.

I'm sure you're right. And I'm sure it'll be easier to try to transition once I've done audit for a few years considering I'm not at a target. Thanks again.

--Art Vandelay

 

consulting = staff augmentation (scut work) and/or helping your client do/say things internally/externally that are unpalatable.

unless you immediately grasp this your career in consulting is going to be very frustrating.

 
fermion:
consulting = staff augmentation (scut work) and/or helping your client do/say things internally/externally that are unpalatable.

unless you immediately grasp this your career in consulting is going to be very frustrating.

Are you saying that its not all its cracked up to be? Not exactly sure what you mean by this

--Art Vandelay

 

i am saying that they claim it is about coming up with smart ideas and producing "value" but believe you me, your client is rarely going to need a 23 year old kid telling them how to run a business they have been running for decades.

 
fermion:
i am saying that they claim it is about coming up with smart ideas and producing "value" but believe you me, your client is rarely going to need a 23 year old kid telling them how to run a business they have been running for decades.

Haha, makes sense. My main goal is to go into private practice as a CPA. But I just like to have my options open, and management consulting seems better than audit.

--Art Vandelay

 
fermion:
i am saying that they claim it is about coming up with smart ideas and producing "value" but believe you me, your client is rarely going to need a 23 year old kid telling them how to run a business they have been running for decades.

Yet, companies, for years, have been hiring these 23 years in a multibillion dollar practice. My university hired McKinsey with a whole host of 23 year olds (albeit with some old guys too) to develop a new strategic plan. Almost three years later, my university was ranked in the top ten undergraduate business schools in the nation.

They add value, trust me.

 

Part of the reason I want to get out of this game is that we are glorified industrial spies and tools for internal political bickering. Your McKinsey example falls into the latter category because what happens in turnaround scenario is that faction A stovepipes specific data to McK to create the plan that it wants. We never get all of our data from third party sources alone. Then faction B is silenced because McK with its mighty reputation says we ought to do it this way.

Please, if you are still in school, do not muddy the waters with your incomplete knowledge. My intention is not to be cynical and nasty, but part of the reason I want to leave the field is that it is far, far from what they sell it as. You can still have a fulfilling career as a consultant selling this kind of "value" but if you do NOT get hip to the program soon and understand what you are REALLY selling it will be frustrating for you.

 

Regarding the move to advisory at Big4, I would say it is definitely possible, as long as you had some finance training in your curriculum. Then you could move quite easily to non-top-tier management consulting. Best of luck!

www.FemaleConsultant.com - We will show you how to get into and succeed in consulting as a woman.
 
FemaleConsultant:
Regarding the move to advisory at Big4, I would say it is definitely possible, as long as you had some finance training in your curriculum. Then you could move quite easily to non-top-tier management consulting. Best of luck!

Thanks for the help. So would a double concentration in accounting and finance be favorable? I've heard from others that it shows that you arent really quit sure what you want to do.

 

Honestly, get all the big ERP skills and SQL you can....excel and access help too when confronting a whole lot of messy data. ERP systems just because they are big business.

Remember, technical skills are great but they will want to see experience managing change, project managing, solving problems for your area etc.

Also, we're called PwC ;) So Quality Assurance checks are big too....nothing goes in front of the client with a mistake, because if you made a mistake there how can they trust your analysis.

And, it never hurts to reply when the right jobs come up at any of those firms. Good luck.

 

I'm sorry, but you will probably need to go to business school. You might have a shot of landing an interview if you have a personal connection that will really pull for you, but the chances are slim.

Think about it, why would a firm want to hire you? You have zero experience with anything business-related and are way too old to start fresh with the undergrad hires....so where would you fit in?

Maybe you could spin your teaching experience into something related to education administration, that could indicate some management/leadership skills but it's a stretch. Keep in mind that consulting is tough to break into, even with all the right qualifications. If you don't want to business school (which is really the best bet), I think getting some other kind of business experience (marketing/pr/start up come to mind) needs to happen first.

 
Optimistic Consultant:

Think about it, why would a firm want to hire you? You have zero experience with anything business-related and are way too old to start fresh with the undergrad hires....so where would you fit in?

.

Yea, that's exactly what I thought, but not having business related experience will also keep me out of business school, so is there really a solution? My understanding is that I have to go to a T15-20 for my MBA to really matter, and I'd have to do it full time. Without business experience, there's no way I'd get in, and I'd have a tough time getting internships once I'm there for the same reasons.

 

Thank you Tyler. I'm in pharmaceutical sciences and works on biologics like peptides. I love sciences and doing research, but do not exactly like the life style of a scientist. I want to do something that involves more interaction with people. After doing a little bit of search, I feel like consulting is my thing. To leverage my science background, I am looking at strategy consulting boutiques that focuses on healthcare, life sciences and pharma/biotek. I'm not sure this is enough but again, I just want to make use of some leisure time to start learning something and get exposed to the field earlier before I actually need to find a job.

 

The firm I'm joining is in that space, the commonalities for people there are a top tier MBA, masters/PhD or undergrad. Everyone has an interest in tackling problems and business in general. There isn't a single skillset that is most important, I can't code, but I've done research (basic science) and had prior IB SA stints.

My first suggestion is read up on business in general, I like "The Ten Day MBA" it's an easy read and will give you a decent background. Drucker has a lot of great stuff, the HBR Essentials series is tremendous. To start getting ready for case interviews David Ohrvall's "Crack the Case" was great, also look at Case in Point and the Vault Guide. Stats and coding aren't terribly important, beyond what you already likely know.

 

I agree with guyfromct, you certainly should try to find out more about consulting, and the different firms. But you should also come up with a good clear list of what you're looking for. You said you don't like the lifestyle of a scientist.

To that, I would think you should make a list of what you are looking for in a job or a firm. In particular from a lifestyle choice. Is it work-life balance, working on a team, compensation? What is driving this decision. Knowing what you want from a job is helpful when you start looking at what firms are out there, and what skills different firms prioritize.

Based on your research of the different firms (try WetFeet Guides, ManagementConsulted.com, and FirmsConsulting.com) to get going, and what you are looking for in a job you should be able to narrow down the field of firms you are looking for. If you are strictly looking at very small boutiques, then you may want to reach out and contact a few of them just asking in general what skills or competencies they look for in their consultants.

Once you know this, you can come back here with a few ideas of what will work for you (decision criteria), and what firms meet those and we can give you more information on that or consulting in general.

TT

 

Doing multiple internships will not make you seem like a job hopper. With 3.45 AND non target MBB as well as most of T2 will be very difficult so I would network hard. having multiple people at each firm go to bat for you will be vital. As for Deloitte, they are much more lenient on GPA but networking will be important assuming you aren't in a consulting club at your school that funnels to big 4 (pretty common at state schools).

Fortune 500 roles look great to consulting firms so your strategy in terms of internship selection is on point

 

What is the general distribution of analyst classes across regions within these three firms. I.e. how many analysts are in, for example, the San Francisco office of Mck vs. the New Jersey office?

 

your experiences (especially recent ones) speak to your abilities more than a grade point average from undergraduate so you have a great shot at top firms. They may still want an undergrad GPA but they will definitely take another look since you will have a Harvard MBA on your resume.

 

More recent experiences carry more weight, so having HBS on your resume helps quite a bit, but the low GPA will raise quite a few questions about your problem solving ability. Depending on how long you've been out of college, you might be able to get away with not having your college gpa on your resume. Regardless, make sure to play up the real world problems you've tackled in your resume, and have a good reason for the low college gpa that doesn't communicate that you lack intellectual capacity or the ability to focus on things you may not find that interesting.

5 Things That Will Make Your Consulting Resume Stand Out - http://bit.ly/S6JIY

At school, or even beforehand, get involved with a pro bono consulting project or in addressing some other problem/opportunity that you can talk about during the interviews.

Gotta Mentor www.GottaMentor.com Connect to the Advice & People You Need to Achieve Your Career Goals

Gotta Mentor Connect to the Advice & People You Need to Achieve Your Career Goals
 

Funny enough I am in an extremely similar situation. Great grades, great school, great experience, working for Fortune 50 company in Corp. Fin. but entirely unsatisfied. Weighing a transition now vs. waiting to get an MBA so I would also appreciate any advice if someone has been in a situation like chocotaco and myself

 

Have a think about why you want to get into consulting because when you interview as an experienced hire, they will vet you hard. I spent a year and half corporate law and just accepted my consulting offer. I went to an off-target school. I net-worked my a** off and got in the door with two great firms. I think with your grades and experience and the right sponsor, you could make into a first round int. Talk to some senior guys at your company now, they' most likely know a consultant or two. Schedule a "chat" where you're able to stroke their ego while asking good questions. An MBA is not a free ticket into mid six figure salary land. It is, however, a nice ride into mid six figure debt.

 

Xepa is right...this topic has been covered extensively covered before.

If you know you want to do management consulting, then clearly consulting internships would be a better fit. If you are truly interested in banking, then feel free to try it out. MBB respects brand name internships, and a BB internship would definitely qualify. Stop searching for the "right" steps (aka some formula that everyone unanimously believes is right) to get to what you perceive to be your dream career and do what interests you at the highest level possible.

 

Or is it possible or known to for someone to dabble in Big 4 and even some Corporate Finance then go to MBA and able to obtain Consulting job post-MBA? I just need a tad bit of what would be best pursuit.

"It is better to have a friendship based on business, than a business based on friendship." - Rockefeller. "Live fast, die hard. Leave a good looking body." - Navy SEAL
 

UT Dallas is a good school, but the Jindal SOM is completely focused on its academia and research, not growing career opportunities for its students. Here's an insider's opinion -- The school is just not doing what they should be to capitalize on its solid academic programs and increased standing in the rankings to build more corporate recruiting relationships. This is not likely to change until there is a major leadership change at JSOM. Rumor has it that Deloitte is going to start recruiting at UTD in the near future, but I will believe it when I see it. I have a few friends who got into Big 4 advisory roles from the MBA program, but the CMC did not help them with that.... they spent a lot of blood, sweat, and tears doing whatever networking they could on their own. By "consulting", I assume you are talking about some sort of financial advisory practice or S&O practice?

If consulting is where you want to be, and you are still in a position to transfer, than I would transfer. You're investing in the rest of your life. The right starting point is important, so don't worry about losing some credit hours on a transfer. Going to UT or A&M or Rice will give you a much better shot at recruiting opportunities. SMU's Cox might be an option, but a very expensive one, and I just don't know if they are consistently bringing consulting firms in-house to recruit.

I don't think an MSF or MPA is going to be as attractive for an advisory role as an MBA would be. MPA would work for audit or assurance, but probably not advisory. Again, it will really come down to who you know. If you can finesse your way into an interview, then anything is possible, but the JSOM's CMC is just not in a position to cultivate interview opportunities in that space right now.

FYI, UTD has maybe the best internal audit program in the country. UTD and LSU are consistently the best in terms of IA. I'm sure you know this. If you do not care what type of "consulting" you do, and you're OK with doing audit work, than you should easily be able to move into a Big 4 firm with an audit education from UTD.

Good luck.

 

Two things:

1) Unlike investment banking, most of the full-time employees at M/B/B consulting (and I imagine other firms as well, but not sure) come from full-time recruiting rather than internship direct hires. So don't worry if the internship doesn't work out this time around.

2) Bulge bracket investment banking internships to M/B/B consulting is fairly common. I know many who have done this (and planned to do it from the moment they started in investment banking). Try to get a return offer, since it helps, but a lot of the skills (attention to detail, work endurance, etc) are well-regarded in consulting.

 

Surferbarney (and any other vets that read this), I'm also a former enlisted Marine in his late-20's. I'll be joining MBB full-time in the fall and did not have a previous consulting internship. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the process or to just chat about our experiences.

 
  1. Start by networking. Who are the people that snagged internships at your school? Can they help you or put you in contact with some people that can?

  2. Get working on your resume and cover letters. See what the regular recruiting cycle looks like at your University (if it's a target).

  3. Practice Cases. Start by reading some case books, then move to live cases with other people. Value quality over quantity and try to see if you can find some contacts in the industry to help you out.

 
F. Ro Jo:

1. what kind of large state university?

2. you better be ready to talk about those frequent flyer miles. we're experts at that game.

  1. Big Ten school, not Michigan...undergrad b-school ranked in top 20. That should narrow it down.
  2. I can definitely do that. Not gonna lie, that's definitely a perk of consulting I would really enjoy more than the average person.
 
CoochieMane:

What were the "unique" interests? These new interests are so common and boring.

Strong resume. Get rid of the italics in hours/weeks, though.

Good point with the italics. I'll change that for sure. Thanks!

Previous interests section was as follows: Cars, collection frequent flyer miles, unique socks, wet shaving, Blu-ray movies

On a related note, I want to add something to my interests about my resale hobby/business. I buy/resell stuff all the time when I see arbitrage in the market. I justify my blu-ray collection by buying and selling other blu-rays so my net cost for the entire 250-movie collection is effectively $0. I've sold TV's, video game consoles, clothes, cell phones, toys, computers, and more. I can't think of a good way to succinctly put that into my interests..."consumer goods resale" was my first thought but I'm sure there's a better way to describe what I do.

 
chocotaco99:
CoochieMane:

What were the "unique" interests? These new interests are so common and boring.

Strong resume. Get rid of the italics in hours/weeks, though.

Good point with the italics. I'll change that for sure. Thanks!

Previous interests section was as follows: Cars, collection frequent flyer miles, unique socks, wet shaving, Blu-ray movies

On a related note, I want to add something to my interests about my resale hobby/business. I buy/resell stuff all the time when I see arbitrage in the market. I justify my blu-ray collection by buying and selling other blu-rays so my net cost for the entire 250-movie collection is effectively $0. I've sold TV's, video game consoles, clothes, cell phones, toys, computers, and more. I can't think of a good way to succinctly put that into my interests..."consumer goods resale" was my first thought but I'm sure there's a better way to describe what I do.

I do (did) similar things. I just left it off my resume and never bring it up in interviews. It's too hard to describe and you can end up sounding shady/weird if you try to explain it.

 
stvr2013:
chocotaco99:


CoochieMane:

What were the "unique" interests? These new interests are so common and boring.

Strong resume. Get rid of the italics in hours/weeks, though.

Good point with the italics. I'll change that for sure. Thanks!

Previous interests section was as follows: Cars, collection frequent flyer miles, unique socks, wet shaving, Blu-ray movies

On a related note, I want to add something to my interests about my resale hobby/business. I buy/resell stuff all the time when I see arbitrage in the market. I justify my blu-ray collection by buying and selling other blu-rays so my net cost for the entire 250-movie collection is effectively $0. I've sold TV's, video game consoles, clothes, cell phones, toys, computers, and more. I can't think of a good way to succinctly put that into my interests..."consumer goods resale" was my first thought but I'm sure there's a better way to describe what I do.

I do (did) similar things. I just left it off my resume and never bring it up in interviews. It's too hard to describe and you can end up sounding shady/weird if you try to explain it.

Yeah, good point. I think I'll just leave it off. Thanks!

Anyone have any more changes I should consider?

 

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alpha currency trader wanna-be
 

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Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • Cornerstone Research 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • McKinsey and Co 97.7%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Consulting

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  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $368
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  • Consultant (586) $119
  • 1st Year Associate (538) $119
  • NA (15) $119
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (145) $115
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (342) $102
  • Associate Consultant (166) $98
  • 1st Year Analyst (1046) $87
  • Intern/Summer Associate (188) $84
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (547) $67
notes
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