Most Promising Fields for Independent Consultants? - Looking for some suggestions...
Hello,
I like the idea of being my own boss, and in particular, being able to take time off to TRAVEL throughout my career...so I have been thinking about going for an MBA/PhD in an area of strength, putting some time in at a management consulting firm to learn the business, and then going out on my own as an independent consultant. If things don't work out as planned, I'll still have that PhD, so I'll be able to teach, and I'll have summer's off to travel (b-school profs make 100k+).
But, honestly, I'd like to make a little more than 100k/year...and I'd like to work a little less than 9 months/year. I'm guessing that some of you are writing me off as 'lazy' at this point and moving towards the 'back' button, but really, what is so wrong about what I'm proposing!? There are plenty of highly skilled professionals in our economy making a million+/year. What's so wrong about putting in the same time as them to get the right education, and then working half as much, for half as much!?
I don't need THAT much money to live the kind of life I want to live. Just enough to have a nice small house somewhere (a home base, if you will)...a car I'm not embarrased to be seen in...a large travel budget...and if I have any kids, the means to send them to a good school.
So, basically, I'm looking for a highly paid field with a shortage of highly skilled professionals. But, I'm not overly familiar with the landscape of management consulting at this point, so I'm looking for some leads to help get me started. Any feedback would be greatly, greatly appreciated!
Thank you very much in advance.
Sincerely,
Blue
Hmmm. A number of professors I know had outside gigs as independent experts. One of my professors took a day off from teaching class to testify at a trial about a structural collapse.
Take a look at this guy, for instance:
http://www.princeton.edu/~mulvey/
I say get a job as a professor for a couple years, be frugal and save some money up, get a few part-time outside consulting jobs, and if you still want to be an independent consultant after all of that, you've got a track record, a network, and some strong credentials.
Did you study econ or finance? You'll start at more than $100K/year as an econ or finance prof.
thank you for the response.
that guy looks like a real boss.
unfortunately, mathematics aren't really a strong point of mine...so things like financial engineering probably aren't going to be all that feasible for me.
my biggest academic strength is psychology I suppose, which I majored in. If I was to focus on a traditional area to become a b-school professor, the best idea might be marketing. But, I don't know how many consulting opportunities a professor like that would have?
For marketing/advertising, plenty. At Illinois, one of the avertising profs actually worked in industry on the side and was routinely driving back and forth between Champaign and Chicago. Apparently he liked teaching but enjoyed industry work more than research. Illinois was willing to put up with the lack of research because he was in the College of Business (less research focus), and his position was technically part-time at the school.
As a quick thought, Evanston, IL has both Northwestern and ZS Associates- a marketing consulting/ website analytics firm that's got a lot of folks with ties to the school (but apparently needs to get its programmers from UIUC). It's a short trip to Chicago and it's a fun town to live in. If you get rich, Wilmette right next door is a great place to raise a family, too.
Interesting. This company's website looks pretty cool. If I could get a PhD in marketing from Northwestern, I'm guessing that consulting opportunities wouldn't be sparse.
I feel like I should add this as well...
I guess my interesting in marketing isn't just limited to 'advertising'...it's more of an all-inclusive strategic planning angle...
what do the people really want...how do we give it to them...how do we let them know we're giving it to them...etc...
so maybe thats more general management phd-areas. i'm not quite sure what to even call it, which makes it hard to find information on, lol
If you want to be a prof at Northwestern, you probably want to get your PhD elsewhere. At least the way it works in Engineering at Illinois is that our PhD students go on to teach at MIT and Cornell; the Cornell, MIT, and Ga. Tech PhD grads come and teach here.
Double-check this, but I'm pretty sure that Northwestern has the same philosophy in their marketing department. You rarely see someone teach at the same school they got their PhD at.
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