"Someone Powerful" - Consulting
I have been emailing alums about getting into consulting post-grad and the first person to reply gave me some news, I pretty much already knew, that it would be almost impossible to break into consulting post grad without a "very good connection" with a "powerful person." Does anyone know typically how high up this person would have to be?
I have been referred for an interview with a partner before that worked. But besides that, is Manager high enough? Senior Associate? Senior Consultant? I'm not sure the ranking systems of most of these firms....
Engagement Manager/Senior Associate is the minimum level I would expect you to need. Obviously Principal/Director/Partner is preferable.
Partners/Directors are probably the only ones. They have the authority and ability to actually set up a first-round interview for you. They tell a recruiter to send you a congratulations email, ask a few of their Associate/Managers to interview you, and then voila - you've got yourself an assured first-round. Then it's up to you. I've seen this happen for undergraduates from non-targets applying for a summer - the other main non-OCR way people try to get in - and imagine that the process would be the same for you. I can't imagine that anyone below Partner would be able to do this...
Thanks guys, yeah, I got lucky with the partner before, any chance you guys know the general ranks at a firm (I know they all have different titles)? Would it go something like this?
Partner/Principle Engagement Director Senior Manager Manager Senior Consultant/Senior Associate Consultant/Associate Analyst/General Entry level
Yeah, that's generally correct - Principal* is at your Engagement Manager level in some firms, though I think in Deloitte Consulting's case, Principals are the equivalent to Partners.
There's often a Senior Entry Level position for your 3rd year at the firm for some companies. Business school is usually the divide between this layer and Consultant/Associate.
Depends on the firm and the office location. I know several offices of MBBs in Europe/Middle East/Asia that encourage lower level consultants (Analysts, Associates etc) to find new talent for the firm. They can refer you and give you a pretty good shot at a first round if you leave a good impression. This might not be as relevant to North American offices because many NA offices don't recruit year-round but I would definitely recommend speaking to whomever you can at the firms you're interested in.
Depends...I've seen Senior Associate = Engagement Manager and Senior Associate = Senior Consultant. Depends on the firm.
As others have said, specific titles vary by firm. However, regarding your question, you'd likely only have luck if you knew someone at the senior manager or higher level. By most firms rankings, that would be 4th up the ladder (i.e. Analyst/Consultant --> Senior Consultant --> Manager --> Senior Manager).
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