Engineer + MBA = Consulting??
Hello everyone,
I graduate in a few months and have been considering exit options. While I ultimately want to get into aircraft finance & leasing, recently a manager, in the aerospace/defense practice, at McKinsey agreed to pass my CV along.
So that got me thinking; and now I have a few questions...
1.) What kind of position would one with my background expect at the firm? Salary? (i'd like to live in NYC, but DC is the likely candidate)
2.) What do you think of boutique aviation/aerospace firms vs big 3? (ie. Seabury Group vs Mck vs BCG)
3.) Any other firms I should consider with strong aerospace/aviation component? And what are some typical exit options (in aviation) after a few years at a Big 3 firm?
My background:
- 4.5 Years of experience at Boeing doing engineering work (airplanes)
- 2 Years at the FAA doing engineering work in commercial space (rockets)
Currently doing Foreign Affairs at the FAA (1.5 years - making sure other countries adopt our regulations)
BS & MS in Aerospace Engineering
- MBA (Global Executive Program through Georgetown & ESADE... Expected 8/12)
Any insight would be greatly appreciated! I don't mind the travel and am unattached/no kids... so hard work for a few years is not an issue for me.
Thank you in advance! MT
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that future looks bright for you, financially.
Hahaha... I pray you're right :) Any insight on the rest?
I'm sure you have plenty of project based experience, but do you have any management experience? If so, I wouldn't even think about accepting anything lower than Engagement Manager level at MBB.
manbearpig...
I have project management experience... Managed people & resources to get stuff done... But never held a managerial role... ie. manage people & their careers.
Which do you mean?
That's perfectly fine. I meant management experience in the context of project execution. As an Engagement Manager, you will certainly need to be a people manager as well, but you'll be mainly responsible for executing projects from start to finish, putting together project teams, assigning work etc. If you feel comfortable with this, I see no need for you to come in at the Associate level, unless you want to be a generalist, which I think would be a colossal waste of your experience.
I would guess you'd come in at Associate/Consultant level and not EM/PL level.
As a comparable, a colleague of mine did 5 years of aerospace engineering in industry, got a graduate degree in supply chain/operations, and then entered MBB at the post MBA level.
You'd have to put on a hard sell to get in at the EM/PL level.
My colleague is 5 years plus a dedicated Master's degree (comparable to MBA). I have another colleague that is phd + 5 years biotech experience and he came in at post-MBA level. A another was 7 years in nonprofit with a top 10 MBA and started at post-MBA.
I'll say mtoure80 is borderline EM/PL at best. Most people I see that lateral at the manager are from other consultancies and even laterals from one MBB to another MBB typically lose 6 months of tenure credit in the process.
If mtoure80 wants to come in at EM/PL in MBB, he will have to sell his experiences very strongly, because on paper it doesn't seem clear cut to me. It also doesn't help that he doesn't get his MBA until August of this year.
Thank you guys for the feedback! I know at MBB you progress every other year or so (depending on competence of course) so i'm ok with coming in at an Associate. I need a bit of time to adjust to the business but hopefully my education and experience will allow me to move to P/L quickly...
phdconsultant... you said it doesn't help i get done in August. Do firms only bring people in at set times of the year? ie. if I get an offer mid-summer can I start in the Fall?
And when considering firms... how important is boutique in aviation/aerospace vs MBB? Pros and cons (other than prestige and exit options because of the former)?
With respect to August...this was in reference to selling yourself as a manager. It's hard to say you should be EM/PL if you get your MBA in August while all the Associates/Consultants will have gotten their MBAs in the spring. As far as start dates, you can start whenever. It all depends on the needs of the office at the time you would start. If they are very busy, then they'll want you immediately. Late summer is usually an over supply of consultants since clients go on vacation and project work slows a bit and a new class of consultants start to role in.
I am not the right person to answer boutique vs MBB for aviation/aero/defense.
Thank you!!
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