Consultant vs finance personality
I went in for a final round interview with a MBB today. The partner remarked I don’t have a consultant’s personality and he thinks that I am more along the pe and Banker type. I didn’t think it was appropriate to ask him to elaborate on this. For context, I came across confident, articulate and easy-going in my interview which is how I am in life and there was no question Regarding either my motivation or aspirations that I may have fucked. So after all this I was curious as to what soft skills make a consultant distinct from a finance (pe or Banker) guy.
For context - I am 29, graduated from m7, have pe, bb ibd, and tech start up experience.
My guess is, based on your background, you come across as a hard closer. There's a difference in attitude / aptitude of hard sell vs. soft sell. Neither is good or bad, just different style. Think of the word consultative (as in consultative selling) .Think of the role of a counselor. Is that you or are you more of a driver? The consulting world is more about building relationships and counseling than the transactional world of banking. I realize bankers have relationships but the role is more about getting transactions done and getting on to the next. A consultant wants to stay engaged with a client for a long time and keep billing. Find new things to do. More billing. In banking, I would say that Corporate Bankers are more like consultants in their relationship approach.
Just evaluate who you really are and see if the question answers itself.
That's a great way to put it. I've been wondering how to describe the attitude difference since a friend of mine asked how bankers are different from consultants if they're all trying to convince the corporate CEOs to do deals but wasn't sure until now.
You raise an intriguing point. Can I not argue though that banking is as relationship driven as consulting? You’re working with the ceo over his tenure so you’re going to be not only advising him on transactions but also be stAying in touch with him and showing him potential targets (pitches!!). Management is likely to pick the banker - when they’re ready - with whom they have a close the relationship.
Yes you could make that argument. However the counter would be that although the banker needs to have a relationship with the C-Suite in order to get a deal done, it's about getting a deal done (transaction) , and there lies the motivation.
In consulting, the relationship is more about big picture thinking and long term strategy / implementation of X (bringing new products to market, expanding to a new country, eliminating product lines - think Ford deciding to eliminate manufacturing sedans in the US). These are LONG term, complicated issues that have company survival / performance implications.
Yes banking does too as accessing capital allows this stuff to happen, but consulting is about the actual making it happen / doing the work of the company. Think operating a company vs. financing the operations.
Fair point
"You're more of a pe / banker than a consultant" - mate I see this as a compliment. My guess is you were probably a little more rigid / scientific in your case study / brainteasers and didn't come up with some creative / less conventional thinking - this would be the main difference between bankers / consultants I've worked with. The first are strong technical guys, the latter have little technical skills but conceptualize things fast and often throw out a wide range of ideas - these ideas ultimately get filtered out toward the end of a project, but gives the client / consulting partner comfort that you've covered all bases.
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