I am a recent graduate who wants to break into management consulting.
I have been unable to get a job in consulting, and even in financial services. I have been actively looking since January, and have not gained any traction despite being told that I have a "strong" resume.
My current options are:
- I can stay at home with my parents and continue to apply for jobs.
- I can take an offer to work at Kroger (grocery store) in their management development program, which would basically mean I would work as a store manager for 1-2 years before being able to progress to their corporate office. (est. salary: 42k) I would live at home with my parents and be able to save a lot of money.
- I could attend the UT Austin MSF program, which will run me 50-55k of student loans and debt.
I'm wondering if it is worth it to take the loans now and go through the program, or to work in the job, and then use the savings to reduce the amount of debt that it would take to attend UT, if I were apply and attend next year.
Or, I could continue to just plug away at my cold calls and hope for a "better" job that leads to management consulting to come along.
You're going to have to give more background on what you define as a strong resume, but if you do indeed have a strong resume, taking the Kruger job would be insane. There's light years between that job and a management consulting job. People applying to a Kroger development program and people applying to management consulting jobs are two completely different applicant pools, so I'm really wondering more on your background.
I am an economics major from a small public university with weak recruiting. I have two academic publications in Ivy League journals, and two internships in Washington DC - one with the government, and one with a thinktank. I am familiar with case studies and "how to think" like a consultant.
My weaknesses (IMO) are that I technically don't have the finance skills (I have only basic level knowledge of financial modeling, etc.) and I don't come from a "brand name" undergraduate program.
You don't need a finance background for consulting, at all.
What's your GPA?
GPA: 3.75 GRE: 165/166/5.0 (90+ percentile)
I think getting a MSF at UT Austin is your best option, if they have MC recruiting.
You're not getting any younger. Wall Street isn't like law and medicine, which are more friendly to hiring older guys. Go to UT-MSF. Even after you get a job, if your salary gets garnished to pay your loans, you'll STILL be making more than you would at the grocery store + "saving" money. And you won't be 30 wondering what you've been working for.
You're a smart kid: you got an internship with a think-tank. Those are almost harder than IB internships or even jobs, have you seen the numbers on LinkedIn for those think-tanks? Look at, AEI or CATO for example, and see how few people ever get hired, or even have it as a "past company." And those that do, look at the schools they came from. Think-tanks are def harder than Wall Street to get into, and for a reason: you are paid to "think," to research topics you probably read books about on the side too.
What about the option of staying at home and continuing to apply to MC places now? Do you think its more of a matter of time and that I can wait out my unemployment, or do I need the brand name and recruiting that UT offers?
do a quick search on linkedin to see if UT has decent representation in any of the fields you are interested in. If yes, then go for it. Look at the long-term, sure paying off that debt will be a pain in the ass, but the financial, and personal rewards of getting into management consulting or finance will more than offset this. Best of luck!
I'd do the UT program. You'll get a job paying 60-70 base if you get into a decent Consulting firm. So figure, 100k in total cost (opportunity and loans). Assuming at least a 20k salary increase you'd have a decent break even period.
What about Duke's MMS program? I heard at least a third of their grads get into consultingl
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