Breaking in to consulting?
I really want to work in consulting after I graduate, but the problem is I go to a not so hot school and my gpa is an abysmal 3.4. I did very poorly my first half of undergrad and have done very well after to make up for it. For e.cs: I've been a resident adviser and have been an r.a in a lab. Also have experience in creative e.cs like dance/drama, and a leader in some cultural groups. I have had an internship in marketing. I am fluent in two languages. Lots of tutoring and volunteering. Is all this enough or should I do more?
What can I do to get a consulting job? I know McKinsey is completely out of reach for me, and they definitely do not recruit at my school. I don't believe any firms recruit at my school anyway.
I was wondering should I pursue a masters degree from a top university to get a name brand on my resume? Would that add to my chance based upon what I have to offer now?
If not what should I do?
Check out the www.managementconsulted.com, there's a lot of info on there. BIWS may have some stuff geared towards consulting, too (not sure, haven't looked at it that closely). What year are you? Junior/Senior? Have you even tried applying to Consulting firms for internships? Have you looked past MBB to regional consulting firms? You might be able to get an unpaid internship while you're finishing up school and secure a job offer that way.
I'm a senior. Do you think I could find a consulting internship next semester, and work while I'm in school? I'll have to ask career services.
Otherwise I'm looking at the 1 year master in econ from nyu. Does anyone know anything about it? Could I use recruiting from stern, if I get in.
also, I'm a little hesitant about getting an mba later on in my career, because I've heard that mba's are only like the cherries on top of a resume, and they don't add much, at least for people who go to harvard/wharton/stanford mba. I've also heard that only the top 10 mba is worth it. Is this true?
NYU Econ as far as I am aware is not Stern. I would aim for Princeton, etc econ is possible. You might want to look out for NERA Economic Consulting if you do go to NYU. It's not MBB and pure strategy consulting. But you can do it for a few years and possibly MBA and see if you actually like consulting. You will get some exposure, I believe you can get a job coming from NYU Econ.
3.4 in econ and physc from non-Target is going to be tough. Being a senior, that is really going to be tough. Sorry to say, it's a little late to be considering consulting in the Dec. the year before you graduating. Many firms would already have given out offers or soon to. Masters might be better option.
Do an industry job for 2 years and transfer in. Or, attend a 1 or 2 year's master's program at a target school. You are still very young. Plenty of time ahead of you.
.
Pick up your gpa, work for 1-2 years somewhere, not in consulting obviously and goto a top 10 MBA Program. These programs are feeders to MBB, Booz, Monitor, etc, and it will be much easier to get in once you have top MBA on your resume.
Besides coming in to MBB as an Associate post MBA has a much higher learning curve than the Analyst, post college, who are mostly subjected to doing mindless number crunching and not being given any real responsibility or visibility into the client's challenge.
TRY TO BE MORE LIKE AN IVYSAUR THAN THE BULBASAUR YOU'RE TRAPPED AS. MAYBE A GRASS STONE WOULD HELP?
yeahhhh
.
Im not really sure what your options are. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're looking to get a consulting gig an econ masters may limit the consulting firms you're able to get a job with whereas, say, a masters in accounting would not only be well received by most consulting firms, but would ALSO allow you access to Stearns recruiting/career stuff.
Also, the MBA is worth it depending on what you do. Most people in Ibanking, PE, Consulting (and finance in general) get an MBA for a number of reasons, not least of which is it is a great networking opportunity and often to go from Analyst -> Associate you NEED an MBA. Top 10 MBAs aren't the only ones worth getting. If youre working in a regional office for a MM or boutique shop, a top regional school (maybe somewhere in the top 20-30 programs) will probably be fine.
DON'T GET YOUR MBA UNTIL AFTER YOU'VE WORKED AT LEAST 2 YEARS. The person/people interviewing you will see someone with degrees, but no work experience and no testing of your abilities. Also, work experience generally helps your acceptance into better MBA programs.
You can try and find a consulting internship, just go to every shop around you and tell them what youre looking for, that youre interested in consulting and want to learn more about it, and that you will work for FREE. That's the best chance of getting one.
Take this info with a grain of salt, I'm kind of extrapolating on what others have said on here previously and I may have some of this information wrong. Any consultants care to back me up or tear me down?
Uh... I would go with the Econ Masters over Accounting.. Econ will open more doors unless you want to Advisory at Big 4. All the MBA stuff, rehashed from previous posts.
I personally would advise against going out and asking/begging firms to be their intern for free. But I went to a school that my company targets, so never had to hustle, nor learn as much from the hustling as someone would. There's something to be said about actually hustling and learning from journey despite what others think, I feel . Not sure about the unpaid path. Maybe others had luck with this. This route smells of desperateness and you may get taken advantage of by smaller firms who just use your service for free without much upside. Most larger firms will not do this, because they value brand and don't want the bother of HR related activities for the unpaid intern, vs. the a few extra dollars saved from the unpaid intern.
mas:
I'm not sure how useful an MA in accounting would be in consulting.
I've definitely seen people w/out top 10 MBA get into top consulting firms, usually they're Top 20, and they go to the office closest to their school (ie UT-McCombs to a Texas office, Duke to a DC/Atlanta office, etc).
The need to get an MBA for promotion is very firm-dependent, and that's something you'd find out when you get there. There's no sense in speculating about that until you have a job and you want a promotion.
socola:
If you think an MBB analyst has no insight into the client's problem and is mindlessly crunching data without real responsibility, then why would they have such good exit opps? This leads me to believe that you are just talking out of your asshole. Associates definitely have more responsibility and larger portions of the case (as would be expected with the 2x pay), but fundamentally, it's not all that different from what an Analyst is asked to contribute.
.
3.4 GPa is abismal? I'm a Mechanical Engineering student at McGill University in Canada (Best Canadian University) 3.4 is actually EXCELLENT! wtf..
3.4gpa is pretty good.. the average gpa of entering students at Top 10 MBA's is around 3.4-3.5.
Masters in accounting may not be the best idea unless you're genuinely interested in it. From my experience, consulting firms look mostly at functional majors (i.e. a major in biochemistry for the healthcare team) or people with 'interesting' majors; anything from drama, music, languages, art, etc. You would be surprised at how many people in MBB's (especially McK) come from unconventional backgrounds.
3.4 GPA is abysmal if its in history or poly sci, other wise that GPA is very impressive in hardcore technical majors.
i agree, 3.4 for non science/engineering/mathematics/statistics/economics majors is poor...unless its due to like gen ed classes, if your curriculum gpa is high and your other classes are low, i wouldnt care as much
.
Et voluptatem praesentium ut delectus assumenda mollitia aut cumque. Eveniet nulla nisi consequatur voluptas tenetur. Qui cumque deserunt saepe ipsa ullam. Sit sequi tempora velit ex exercitationem suscipit.
Deleniti omnis quibusdam adipisci. Id unde dolor nulla qui nisi pariatur. Amet doloremque omnis non sed et dolor. Voluptatem illum in incidunt quos et blanditiis omnis. Qui quibusdam recusandae autem excepturi. Delectus et ipsam consequatur autem similique earum alias. Similique quod modi rerum aut sed.
Omnis atque exercitationem inventore odio. Reprehenderit tempore eligendi ut ut et. Iure fugit ullam enim provident inventore voluptatem a. Enim voluptatem delectus nam porro quasi sapiente ut. Quo reiciendis neque consequatur qui pariatur quae. Ut aspernatur autem delectus dolor eum harum.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...