Master of Public Policy for Consulting?
Hi, I'm in a teaching fellowship program (think Teach for America with waaaay less prestige/name recognition). I've been looking through alumni profiles and noticed that a lot of people in consulting got a Master of Public Policy (MPP). Does anyone know, is this a viable option? How much does your undergrad school matter at that point (I went to a semi-target/strong regional target)?
I will also obviously ask the alumni contacts I find, but I think their opinions might be a little biased (clearly it worked for them), so I'm hoping to get your opinions....
I have never heard of MPP being big in consulting. I always thought if it as more of a government thing. I think an MBA may be a better route, depending on exactly what type of consulting we are talking about.
depends on where you're getting you're MPP, because if you're at Ball State, forget it. If you're Ivy League, you might have a shot at an interview, but it will be hard because it is associated with political/government jobs. If by "semi-target/strong regional target" you mean BC, Georgetown, Notre Dame, then your alumni directory/Linkedin search by school will be your best friend.
Another thing: years ago, decades ago, you could do finance like you could law: have a background/major/degree unrelated. Thing is its gotten so competitive that its hard to do that anymore. I'd suggest getting a MS in finance if you're having trouble getting into consulting, or think consulting like Eze Castle, which does trading systems consulting, and pretty much just takes people who went to top 30 ugrad schools.
It was a West Coast school, but those are some of the other schools I was accepted to and went to the West Coast because of scholarships, thanks for the heads up on Eze Castle, I appreciate it and will certainly look into it.
I had some success with landing an interview at Accenture, does anyone know of firms with similiar hiring cycles/practices as them? It seems like they take in entry level people year round even if you're not currently in undergrad.
Some programs like HKS, Goldman (Berkeley) and Duke may lead to opportunities. Really depends on the program and how you utilise it. Programs at top-tier schools often allow cross-registration so networking opps are there.
I know a friend who went to Chicago Harris, a quite quant heavy program and landed a job with a big name economic consulting firm. The only issue with these program is that not many students are pursuing the option so its pretty much down the the individual.
The only chance you have for MPP to Consulting is for public sector consulting IMO. And, even then, you'd be best suited for an MBA. Most of the public sector consulting revolves around finance (budgeting - shocking government can't budget themselves, I know, financial planning, etc.) or IT (archaic systems in the public side).
Management Consulting with MA in Public Policy (Originally Posted: 03/15/2013)
Hi. I graduated UG with poli sci and is now starting one of the top Master in Public Policy programs in the upcoming fall. My concentration will probably be in business or public finance.
I'm a completely noob when it comes to consulting firms, but as I was searching for career options with the MPP degree and someone I know suggested that I take into account Management Consulting opportunities. The work experience I have is a few years of military but nothing else significantly related to business consulting. I chose the degree in hopes of landing a job in UN-related organization, but most of them require significant work experience in the related field even for entry-level professional positions. Plus, it would always be great to have different options to pay-off the outrageous tuition the school will be charging me. Any ideas if there are some cases where MPP grads join consulting firms (not necessarily in the field of public sector consulting)? I would also like to know if there are discrimination in terms of compensation between different fields of consulting (i.e. management, public sector, strategy, finance, etc)
thanks for the help!
Hola,
I am certainly not an expert in Public Policy or Management Consulting, however, I did some search and here are my observations:
I would like to see some more comments form an expert but as of now, this should give you some kind of direction.
Good Luck,
Cheers,
Thanks man! like you said, HKS does publish info about their recent graduates' employment info (including the list of management consulting employers and their salaries), but I feel like the data is somewhat inaccurate due to the number of JD/MBA-MPP dual degree candidates. Also, when firms say work experience prior to joining the firm do they mean business/consulting related WE? does my three years of WE at a foreign government mean anything? Thanks for the insight!
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