I’d like to reach out to this forum for some advice, as I am currently in a tough position as I look to enter consulting.
For a few months, I have been trying to enter the management consulting industry. I went to a target public school (top 15 undergraduate business school) and started my career with an oil & gas supermajor, supporting functions such as supply chain, procurement, and operations. I have been in this industry for ~3 years since completing my undergraduate degree. I am trying to leverage my supply chain experience & energy industry background to enter the consulting industry, targeting roles focused on strategy, procurement, and human capital (at the Senior Associate & Consultant level). I’ve been eyeing firms such as Deloitte, KPMG, Accenture, PwC, West Monroe Partners, etc. All of these firms actively recruited at my university. On paper, I think I am a strong candidate.
However, here’s the problem: even despite being referred for every role for which I have applied, I have received ~no~ invitations for first-round interviews, which has been upsetting. I wanted to see if anyone has been in a similar position, and if they have any advice. Should I be applying for entry-level positions to boost my chances? Is my resume weak (or not consulting-focused)? Should I consider going to grad school (i.e., MBA) and then attempt to enter consulting after I graduate? Thanks in advance for your guidance!
Hi jogro778, the silence is deafening, sorry about that.... Any of the threads below helpful?
If those topics were completely useless, don't blame me, blame my programmers...
Have you been explicitly dinged from these positions, or have you just not heard back? The HR functions at the Big4 offices I have interviewed for in the past have been quite unorganized, so if you haven't heard back, I would recommend you kindly nudge someone at HR. Don't ask your referral to ping HR, but do it yourself.
Assuming Senior Associate and Consultant levels are equivalent to level 2 and 3 consultants, that may potentially be too high of a position. I would stick to applying to the Senior Associate position, but this was also something you could have confirmed with your referral contacts and HR before applying. Also, when you say strategy roles, are you applying to Monitor Deloitte and Strategy& or Deloitte S&O and PwC Strategy? The former two are harder to get into, fyi.
MBA is a decision you have to make based on your career goals and financials, but if you want to break into a Big4 consulting practice, you can certainly do so without the MBA. MBB may be a different story.
Regarding the roles at KPMG, Accenture, etc. that I have applied to, I have been dinged from a few positions, but not all of them. I am still optimistic- I think I am going to take a brief break and begin applying for more roles after the holiday season. I’ve been working with a few recruiters that I have emailed for specific feedback – I am hoping that will help. At Deloitte, I am looking primarily at Human Capital – I am looking to leverage my experience in being part of a global department transformation. At PwC, I have applied for procurement and supply chain consulting-related roles, not Strategy. I think these divisions maximize my chances of “getting in” – since they are not quite as selective as some of the ones that you listed.
I agree that I shouldn’t need to get an MBA to enter consulting. Ideally, I would like to work for a few years at a mid or large size consulting firm, get an MBA from a top 10 program, and then consider MBB. I appreciate your input and assistance on this topic! Thank you again.
There is some differentiation between the NAM and EMEA recruiting cycles (and I'm not too familiar with NAM, unfortunately -- and it sounds like you're from this region but please correct me if I'm wrong), but in EMEA these firms tend to do online tests and Hirevue / 'simulated job experiences' before first round interviews. Not positive if NAM runs the same process, but if you have been coming across these, perhaps you have been having trouble getting through this particular stage of screening? IMO this is the toughest part of screening because you're not speaking to / seeing another human being on the other side, however, if this is the problem it can absolutely be remedied.
I am based in Chicago, and I am looking at roles in the U.S. One of the struggles with large companies is that the recruiting process can be very automated until you get through to the interview stage(s) - there are tons of applicants and "getting through" is very selective. I'm confident I can do a good job once I get through to a final round interview.
Unfortunately it's like that everywhere. You could also aim for a smaller firm and get some field experience, which you may be able to leverage into a place at an MBB/ Big 4 - especially if you're a top performer.
In terms of this round, I would stay optimistic - the consulting recruitment cycle starts later than banking and a bulk of smaller firms do recruit following the New Year.
I'll take "sob stories nobody cares about" for $1,000, Alex.
Yeah it can happen that a referral doesn't help. Imagine a firm that has 1000 applicants. Without referral, you are 1 in 1000 and with you may be 1 in 200. But if they intend to offer Round 1 interviews to 100 people, there may be 100 people either with similar qualification but better referral or same referral but better qualifications.
Anyway, if you're into supply chain work, there is a firm called Implement Consulting (https://implementconsultinggroup.com/) who do supply chain consulting. Interesting firm, check them out.
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