Absolutely No Chance at all?! Is Management Consulting a dream I should give up?
Hello everyone,
As there are many of you who have extensive experience in the Management Consulting industry, I would like to humbly ask for your honest opinions on a question that has bothered me for a while (any criticism is welcome):
Should I give up pursuing a job in the management consulting field or there are still ways I could make it happen?
A little bit background about me: I got my undergrad from a non-target school and got a one year master (Non-MBA) from a bottom-of-the-list target school. I later took a sales position at a Fortune 1000 company and worked there about 1.5 years. Almost two years after graduating from college, I felt exhausted doing stuff that I don't enjoy at work. I always wanted to be a management consultant. Apparently, I didn't make the cut when I was in college. I have no rights to blame others for this. I know I could have worked harder. Or maybe I wasn't just sharp enough compared to other competitors. This probably sounds corny and cliche, but the most important reason I wanted to join the management consulting field is that I truly enjoy the nature of the work. Whether it was pro-bono consulting projects I took on or case competitions I participated in when I was in college, the type of work always got me excited. And, of course, I'd be lying to you if I didn't admit that I was appealed to the financial reward prospect in the field.
I am a very realistic person, and I understand that my chances of ever getting into a top 20 MBA or a first/second tier consulting firm are extremely slim to none. But I guess I would be still more fulfilled career-wise if I could at least get my foot into the door of MC one day. Is this a path worth pursuing given the slim probability described above? Or do you think I should just focus my efforts on something else going forward?
Thanks for everyone's time! Again, any feedback is appreciated :)
just position yourself for a T20 mba and you can break into alteast T2 consulting, or try to break into strategy (internal consulting) - although your sales background will probably make that hard
Hi Kendrck, thank you for your reply! I understand that sales are just not appealing to T20 MBA admission officers. In your opinion, what type of background will provide me a better shot to get into a T20 MBA (given that I won't be able to come from an IB/management consulting/high-tech field)?
I think you'd be surprised (in a good way) at the difficulty associated with getting into a Top 20 MBA program. They're very expensive degrees and not attractive to many people.
If this is definitely what you want to do, spend some time outside of work to study for the GMAT. If you score well (and assuming you can take the tuition + opportunity cost), you should have a good shot at a top 20 program.
Contrary to the comment above, I think getting into a T2 will be tough. They have smaller classes and the same pre-interview screening criteria as the rest of the top firms. But remember there are a wide range of firms to target. You have the strategy firms but you also have the MC arms to the Big 4 (who hire a lot of people), technology consulting arms, human capital, implementation, etc.
Hopefully there are other post-MBA careers you'd be happy with if consulting recruitment doesn't work out in this scenario.
Thank you so much for such an insightful reply! And I appreciate your good wishes as well!
I agree with this I'm currently share an office with plenty of MCs for a Big 4 and they are always hiring people with different backgrounds and right out of college. You could always apply and speak about your passion for consulting in undergrad, and talk about how your real world experience has made you realize how great your passion for MC truly is.
I wouldn’t give up hope. If you score well on GMAT, I think your chances are good at MBA which might be your best bet.
But I’ve seen others who had many unorthodox paths to MBB from linked in. Although MBA is the more common route, it isn’t the only one.
Hey Introspection - I would be curious to understand what steps you have taken to try break into Management Consulting?
I guess where I am coming from, is we all often hear how people want to get into the field for various reasons, but don't really try that hard... they simply apply with the masses and that's the extent of their commitment.
Ultimately, if you aren't fussy about the reputation of the firm it shouldn't be that difficult to get into the field. My $0.02 of advice would be to meet with people who work in the firms that take referrals very seriously. Promote yourself.
Just take the time to reflect what have you really done to break into this field - I think it's still possible you need to re-baseline what is realistic to expect.
Hope this helps.
CB
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