Best chances of landing a strategy consulting role
Hi everyone,
Hope you're well!
I just created my account yesterday and am very excited to be part of such a great community!
So let me just give you a brief background about myself; I completed my undergraduate degree in Computer Science from King's College London, but unfortunately only received a 2:2. I then completed an MSc in Software Engineering from Queen Mary, University of London, getting a Pass grade in this degree.
After this I worked for approximately five years in a software testing role, firstly in a small company specialising in GIS software, and then in a slightly bigger company specialising in IT monitoring software.
I realised however that a career in IT is not for me in the long term, and so decided last year to leave my role and embark on a full-time MSc in Management Consulting at the University of Leeds; many of you may wonder, why didn't I do an MBA instead? Two primary reasons, (1) the cost of MBA was rather prohibitive for me, and (2) I simply wasn't getting the time to prepare for the GMAT due to working full-time and often working on weekends as well.
So I really just wanted to ask you all, taking into account all the information I've provided above, what would you say are my best chances/ the best steps I should take in order to secure a strategy consulting role after I complete my current MSc in September 2019, that is if you think I have a chance at all!! I appreciate that the big three MBB firms are a long shot (even if I were to get a distinction on my current MSC) so I would probably have to go for less established/ well known firms as a starting point, but I do appreciate that even getting a role with them may prove to be difficult.
I also realise that my profile is possibly most suited towards role in IT consulting, so I could possibly look for roles with Deloitte, Accenture and IBM, however I'm not keen to go back into IT. I had a quick look and it seems like Digital McKinsey may have some roles that are quite suitable for me, but then I guess getting into McKinsey is a different ball game in itself...
Finally, in terms of salary, I was on £30k in my last job. If I were to successfully land a role in strategy consulting role at a somewhat prestigious firm, what could I hope to earn starting out in an analyst role or the appropriate role that someone in my position would start with at such a company? I sincerely hope that I don't come across as money hungry in asking this question, just trying to get a somewhat realistic gauge of what I could hope to earn.
Apologies for the incredibly long post!
And thank you so much for reading and for your help in advance!
Suyash
Why are you keen on IT consulting at McKinsey (i.e. Digital McKinsey) but not keen on IT consulting at Deloitte, Accenture, etc.? It's similar work. McKinsey has been working hard to take a bite out of Deloitte, Accenture, etc's markets in that domain.
Hi.
Thanks a lot for your response :)
I guess I am keen on McKinsey (and please excuse me if this is flawed thinking) because I thought that if I could gain experience working within Digital McKinsey, there may be an option to transfer to a pure strategy role after a few years, as opposed to trying for such a role straight after my MSc?
Also, and apologies for what is quite likely a trivial question, but having come across a Junior Associate- Digital McKinsey role recently which seems to fit the bill, would you have any idea about whether or nor something like that is for an immediate start or for later in the year, i.e. in autumn, for students with an advanced professional degree? I'm guessing it's the latter but can't determine that from the role description as it doesn't mention anything about the start date.
Thanks a lot once again,
Suyash
Someone correct me here, but pure strategy consulting has been pretty much dead for about 30 years or so. McKinsey is the last thylacene walking around in its cage. That's why even they are branching out. Their brand premium is a cash cow, but also a wasting asset.
Unfortunately, your aspiration is not in line with the market. As others have commented, your stated skills and experience align much better with [anything else] consulting. Almost all consulting is ultimately IT consulting to some degree. Why waste a good thing?
Hey, thank you so much for your reply :)
Well, I certainly wasn't aware that there's no longer much scope in pure strategy consulting; I guess the trend towards IT consulting isn't surprising at all. It's not that I want to waste my IT background, I definitely plan to hone my technical skillset in tandem with my new found business knowledge in order to prep for interviews/ future roles; it's just that I'm not interested in IT as much as I am in the business side of things.
May I please just ask you, in terms of M&A consulting, what companies do you think are the best to work for? And in terms of actually applying, what would you advise for someone like me, i.e. should I wait till I complete my degree in September or is it worth scouting potential roles now also? As far as I know the graduate role/ cycle for the September 2019 intake for most consulting firms has now ended, but I'm not even sure if these roles apply to me as I already have a Masters degree and 5 years of work experience?
Finally, thank you for introducing me to the thylacene! I'm sure it will come handy in a pub quiz someday! :D
Suyash
I wouldn't say strategy consulting has been dead for 30 yrs. That's a pretty broad sweeping position to take.
More so that strategy consulting has suffered from globalization and information symmetry. As a result, companies have started to build out in-house strategy teams, use consulting for more transformative projects and keep some firms on retainer for thought leadership in C-suite.
In that process, firms like Deloitte have found it to be very profitable to have a full-service shop to take companies from the ride end-to-end (strategy to implementation).
MBB wants to cash in on that if possible without giving the market impressions that their profits are waning or their core strategy consulting is taking a hit etc. Their brand is still the asset that allows them to charge 3x Deloitte's rate and have companies keep them on retainer etc.
But OP's aspirations do need to adjust to market realites.
I suppose. Perhaps it would be less sweeping to say that the size of the demand for strategy consulting is such that, for practical purposes, very few people are doing it.
In size, it's a rounding error, albeit a profitable one for MBB, compared to the total market for the "implementation" kind of consulting. Maybe it's a definition thing, too. I don't think there will be the old kind of strategy consulting in existence by the time I get gray hairs. Companies will still pay consultants to tell them what to do at the highest level (literally strategy consulting), but it will be from the expertise in one or more technical specialties.
"Tell me how to make my supply chain better."
"Ok, you'll have to implement the following software and process changes to do that in these 5 parts of your business, and we can do that implementation and hand it off to you."
Most or all of the team working on such a project would be technical experts or management generalists.
Re: M&A consulting, I'm afraid I don't have any advice because that's not my field.
Hi,
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply :)
That is really useful information and I'll be sure to keep it in mind when applying for consulting roles!
EDIT= Apologies Sasha, this reply was actually in response to remeiko's post!
Suyash
Your profile has Accenture technology consulting written all over it, so I'd make sure to give them a look incase your background does end up precluding you from more pure strategy oriented roles.
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