Questions about APD/PhD resume & recruitment process

I'm an engineering PhD at Stanford. 2 years out of undergrad, ~3 more to go, but I'm quite sure I don't want to pursue a research career. I hope someone can clear up these basics:

1. It seems McKinsey + BCG make up most of the PhD opportunities. Therefore it's pretty much top firms or bust?

2. Salary is ~135k + bonuses for the first 2 years and most people exit afterwards. But what's representative of post-exit salary? Or at least a reasonable range? In my field one can start at 120k+ doing research in industry so I certainly hope it wouldn't DROP after exit.

3. At the top ~6 MBA programs, it seems >40-50% of the portion of the class going on to consulting get MMB offers. I've even heard HBS/GSB automatically make it to 1st round interview. What's the selectivity like for PhDs? My program at Stanford is #1 ranked, but do I still need to go through the whole testing + resume screening deal?

4. Should I take the GMAT to put it on my resume? Also, is 1 page or 2 pages preferable for PhDs?

Thanks!

 

The real question is why are you pursuing a PhD if your goal is to get into consulting? Why not get a masters, work for few years, get a MBA and go through that route? Also, nobody puts their GMAT score on their resume unless you want it to get tossed out. You are welcome :)

 

I get paid ~50k/year (including summer internship) to spend my mid 20s at Stanford, a quasi-resort with a lot of benefits and other 20 somethings. And at the end I get a free advanced degree that the startup world takes seriously, unlike an MBA. Pretty good deal. And it's not bad from a time/finance perspective either - getting recruited at age ~27 with zero debt.

I don't think you're familiar with MBB recruitment, where test scores DO go on resumes. Check their websites.

 
mcerst:
I'm an engineering PhD at Stanford. 2 years out of undergrad, ~3 more to go, but I'm quite sure I don't want to pursue a research career.

So quit. Trust me. The last years are by far the most painful.

1. It seems McKinsey + BCG make up most of the PhD opportunities. Therefore it's pretty much top firms or bust?

There's a thread like 3 below yours: //www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/advanced-degree-programs-for-life-scienc… that mentions a few other firms.

2. Salary is ~135k + bonuses for the first 2 years and most people exit afterwards. But what's representative of post-exit salary? Or at least a reasonable range? In my field one can start at 120k+ doing research in industry so I certainly hope it wouldn't DROP after exit.

1) Depends on what you do next 2) "most" don't exit after 2 years, it's something like 30-40% 3) By the third year you're making right at 200 with bonus

3. At the top ~6 MBA programs, it seems >40-50% of the portion of the class going on to consulting get MMB offers. I've even heard HBS/GSB automatically make it to 1st round interview. What's the selectivity like for PhDs? My program at Stanford is #1 ranked, but do I still need to go through the whole testing + resume screening deal?

You're kidding, right?

4. Should I take the GMAT to put it on my resume?

No.

Let me be frank with you: I don't think you understand at all the attitude of consulting firms towards PhDs. Yes, it's a great talent pool. Yes, there are many successful consultants at all tenure levels who came into their firms with non-MBA backgrounds.

But firms are still far more selective with PhDs/JDs/MDs than they are with MBAs. There is absolutely no such thing as "automatic 1st rounds" for PhDs. Why in the hell would there be? There is no reason to think that just because someone is in a "#1 PhD program" (and let's be honest, that means little for research-based PhDs--who you work for and what you do matter far more) that they have the skillset to be a consultant.

Approaching consulting as a backup plan, something that you'll "settle" for, is a sure recipe for failure.

 

Thanks, devildog. Don't worry too much about me. I have it pretty good with a mostly theoretical thesis and a famous advisor. Not every PhD is an unpleasant toil. I'm here because I like it. But that doesn't mean I'm going to keep with it after graduating -- I've seen industry research first hand, and it's qualitatively different in a way that I don't care for.

Two things: Am I still correct that McK + BCG makes up the majority of hires? Also I was under the impression that most exit within a few years. So 2 years is not it, but would most be out by year 3 or 4?

Regarding "settling", that's what most PhD consultants did. They decide against traditional paths in the last year or two and pivot to consulting at the last moment ("settling"). But they made it. So much for sure recipe for failure. If anything, thinking about it 3 years out is pretty good.

 
Best Response
mcerst:
Thanks, devildog. Don't worry too much about me. I have it pretty good with a mostly theoretical thesis and a famous advisor. Not every PhD is an unpleasant toil.

Writing a thesis sucks. No two ways about it.

Regarding "settling", that's what most PhD consultants did. They decide against traditional paths in the last year or two and pivot to consulting at the last moment ("settling").

You're wrong. "Settling" would mean that someone wanted to be a professor or an industry researcher, couldn't hack it, and ended up in consulting. We don't have many of those. People with PhDs who get hired by consulting firms get hired because consulting is what they want to do--they just figured it out fairly late in the process.

I'm a particle physicist, my field is shrinking and the research isn't very exciting given that the Higgs is looking more and more like a SM particle. So I left. I didn't leave because I couldn't get a professor job--in fact, I hold an adjunct appointment and teach on the side at an R1 university.

If consulting is something you want to do because it interests you, great. If you think you'll only want to do it for a couple of years, also great. But if you think you want to do consulting because you don't want to do research and can't think of anything else... that probably won't work out well for you.

But they made it. So much for sure recipe for failure. If anything, thinking about it 3 years out is pretty good.
With that attitude, you're going to have lots of success. You have it all figured out, don't listen to a guy who's actually done what you're trying to do. Best of luck I guess.
 

BCG recruits at Stanford for Masters and Ph.D. candidates. The school name matters far more for consulting than the advisor name for obvious reasons. As the more academic of the big 3 firms, we don't judge Ph.Ds more harshly contrary to the above opinion.

The fact that you're a STEM Ph.D. will also give you a leg up. Which field of engineering are you in? We have a slew of Stanford EEs here. I'm a MIT EE myself.

 

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