Is 26 too old to be an incoming entry level consultant?
Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone had experience starting in consulting not immediately after college. I'm 26 and starting as an incoming analyst at a boutique strategy firm. I graduated from college in 2015 but started my own company and sold it in 2018. I then wanted to steer away from the industry (food & bev) so I jumped to consulting because I like the strategy aspect - not the food industry aspect.
When I decided to go into consulting, I knew that I would have to start from the bottom. I networked with a lot of people and most said that, unless I had an MBA form a top school, I would have to start as an Analyst. I honestly feel ok about it, because this is totally different from my previous role, which was mostly strategy planning and execution and fundraising.
Now I realized that I'm a lot older than all of the peers that will be starting with me. I looked up some of the seniors at the firm on LinkedIn and most of the people my age are already 1 level up (Associate). Is this something that people care about at all?
Thanks everyone.
You ran a company and sold it - why are you starting as an Analyst?
That said, no, it's not weird to start at 26. Plenty of people start older than that.
Most of the network I reached out to said that since I didn't have a top MBA and my company was a food startup, which essentially requires different skillsets etc. etc. They all wanted me to start out as Analyst and said that maybe my skill/experience will be valued during promotion. I know of another guy who had his own startup and started out again as Analyst at the same firm too.
You're worth more than an analyst
What was your exit worth?
Not big, let's put it at that. I was running out of time on my visa to run the company. * shrug *
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