any hope for top 50 consulting firm at 30 w/o mba?

For those who realized late (ish) in life that they want to do consulting, are there any firms that will hire a Business Analyst or Associate who's been out of undergrad for 7 years?

Should I be looking at Tier 2 or Tier 3?

I know MBA is the most direct route to make up for lost time, but is it the ONLY route?

5 Comments
 

Top 50? What have you been doing since? If you ahve been working in industry it might be worthwhile to focus on firms that have a strong practice or work in that space

 

Definitely harder, but not necessarily impossible. A couple 30 somethings made it to round 1 at a Tier 2 with me, and one made it to the 2nd (idk if they got to 3rd or not too), but I ended up getting as an undergrad. When I first found out people that much older than me were also interviewing, I got a little nervous and did a lot of research. From what I saw they definitely prefer to grab ya straight from undergrad. Consulting in general is easiest to break into when you're fresh from a degree program, whether thats ugrad or grad. MBA would be the best route from where you're at, but if you're set on avoiding it, see if there's any networking you can do and come up with a solid story to tell.

Good luck!

"Buy gas. It's a sure-fire commodity with no risk except for the sure risk of fire." - Stephen Colbert
 

It really depends on the experience you have gained since graduation but if you get a masters (doesn't have to be MBA) then that could help you break into the field. I got my masters with another student who was in his late 40's and he got a job as a consultant, granted it wasn't an entry level position because he has a lot of work experience but he still broke into the industry.

 

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