Consulting job right after engineering undergrad or after industry work?
I'm about to apply for colleges for my undergrad (electrical/computer engineering). After doing some research, I would really like to go into management consulting and then eventually transition over into an engineering industry management role, since I am interested in the bigger picture of engineering, but can't stand doing technical work my whole life. I am a little confused on the process however, I'd greatly appreciate if people could help me out on a few things.
Is it possible to get a management consulting job right out of college with an engineering degree? If so, would I have to take specific classes and internships? This would be ideal, as I could exit consulting right around where I would want to settle down with a family at 28-30 with an industry management position. Also, would target schools for tier 1/2 firms be the same for an engineering major as a business major?
If not, would I have to work in industry for a couple years, get an MBA, and go back then?
Some of the things I am asking may be completely wrong, since I am just a high schooler. Please correct me if anything I said is not factual.
Thanks everyone
Yes, it is certainly possible. You have the quant skills (which will be crucial) and you can learn to refine some of the softer skills such as client management (through interaction with people) and a generally sound business sense (by taking business courses or joining consulting societies etc). You have to also understand what you truly like about consulting. Management consulting can vary from interesting to dull as hell. One month you could be doing innovating business model transformation for a F500 company and the next doing back office IT system optimisation for a mid-sized company in a flyover state.
You could leave your degree liking IT or tech consulting specifically in which case companies like IBM, Capgemini or Accenture would be your target.
Start looking into the type of consulting out there (strategy, management and IT) as well as what that means for each sector (strategy consulting in energy will often be asset valuation, in pharma it'll be market access plans etc).
Thank you so much for the input. What do you think about minors, maybe one in econ or business administration?
They can't hurt - it'll help round you as a candidate and perhaps teach you some useful skills a pure engineering won't
I'm an engineering undergrad currently interning in strategy consulting. More than just possible, it's a great route. Top firms really like good engineering students.
Your value as an engineering student is that they believe you'll have the analytical / quant skills down. The only additional thing really is to demonstrate that you can be a communicator / team player / leader, etc. There are many ways to demonstrate this in university - EC's are the most common one.
You do NOT need to take any business courses or special designations or whatever. I would definitely encourage you to take one or more if you have interest, but it's not a requirement. I took one course in marketing/strategy that fit in my schedule so far, and I found it helped a tiny bit when I jumped into case interview prep, but nothing substantial.
In terms of target schools, I would say they are roughly the same but there is more nuance. For example, a Carnegie Mellon engineering student is going to look more impressive than a non-engineering student at that school. There is still a positive bias in favour of their traditional target schools. For example, Yale doesn't have a very good engineering program, but you'd still be a top tier target in recruitment there regardless.
To summarize and address your question on future paths, you have roughly 2 options that are common:
1) Recruit for management consulting in undergrad and break in either via an internship or as a full-time recruit. Work there for a few years and then exit into your desired industry management role.
2) Start out in engineering doing technical work or whatever for a couple of years. Go do your MBA. Recruit for either a management position out of your MBA or recruit for consulting and then exit to a management position after a few years in consulting.
Both are viable options, obviously. #2 is particularly good if you would like to TRY engineering work / have that experience under your belt (but only for a short while). Of course, it's also a lot more expensive with the MBA. #1 is probably the most direct route, based on your goals.
Thank you for the input!
All else equal, it will help you to get as much quantitative background as possible, even at the risk of learning some useless math you’ll never see again.
Others may disagree, but I don’t think college courses are good places to learn “people skills”, so a more business-focused track won’t help.
Thinking about an MBA is also a little too early. In four years, all your preferences and ideas may be the exact opposite of what they are now.
As someone that just graduated with an ECE degree from a top 10 engineering school, I personally wouldn't recommend it unless you're also interested in going into a PM role. The main reason being that if you're planning on going to a top 10 engineering school you'll more than likely encounter people that genuinely enjoy engineering/development and that are willing to put in 100s of hours extra into projects and classes because they want to. Along with that most classes are based on a curve, which makes it harder to maintain a 3.6-3.7+ that alot of you're top strategy consulting firms require esp if its MBB. Therefore, its going to be alot harder of route to get to a strategy consulting role if you don't even think about going into development or PM. Personally, I would've done MIS because I realized I didn't enjoy engineering, and I would've ended up in the same place either way. However, to each is their own, just do more research and see what classes that the majors consist of and what you're interested in
Thanks for the help! GPA is something I'm worried about. Is it specific schools or in general is it hard to keep a high GPA in engineering, because I've heard specific schools make it harder to get a better GPA in. Do you have any advice on how to end with a 3.5+ GPA? Maybe schools to possibly avoid, tips, things like that?
Et nesciunt cupiditate sed aliquam. Suscipit beatae sed dolorum. Libero delectus provident repellat assumenda alias. Dolores voluptatem dolorum rem qui nulla quis voluptatem libero.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...