Hard skills that an entry level consultant needs
Hi everyone,
I'm wondering what hard skills does an entry level consultant need in their job? Is it mad Excel data analysis or the ability to understand income statement +balance sheet? Of course, this is in addition to understanding the basic like revenue, sale, margin, and cost structure.
I'm thinking of taking one of the offers that I have from a strategy-heavy consultancy. I'm a nerd and ambitious so I want to spend the next 1.5 months before starting work to beef up on my hard skills. I would appreciate some insights from anyone.
Thank you.
I'm not sure what skills you can learn in 1.5 months. If you take the job, just ask your manager if he/she recommends any reading or training modules before starting.
Hi, Thank you for replying. I did ask. They were being a bit generic, so I just wanted to see what the people of WSO think. Actually It wouldn't be 1.5 months. I found out later that I won't start for another 4.5 months. So plenty of time to learn something.
Besides the usual Excel/Powerpoint skills I would also suggest knowing rapidly how to calculate basic financial ratios in order to see if issues arise at the cost or revenue level and, as you mentioned, how the cost structure is.
EDIT: If your firm has you start as a generalist it's a good idea to have an initial basic understanding of an industry even some more obscure ones e.g. where are the rents generated in cement? how capex heavy is it (% of total assets of the average firm)? market structure (what market share do the top 3 players have and what geographies do they operate in)? how tied to legislation or governments is the industry?
Thank you. I actually won't start for another 4.5 months (i just found out) so plenty of time to learn something. The job will pretty much be a generalist, mostly research, powerpoint, some P&L apparently - but I couldn't dig out for more information. I was just wondering if I should try to learn heavy data analysis on Excel.
Based on my experience, learn Pivot tables and functions like that prior to starting. Anything more complex they'll probably teach
I'm planning on taking an Excel / VBA and a PP course online sometime late May too quickly prep for a consulting internship. Anything more will most likely be taught during training/throughout.
Take my advice with a grain of salt. IMO you can probably master either #2 or #3 in 3 months given you went to a competitive school, weren't an liberal arts major, and if you have no social life
Industry - Key Strategic Factors & case studies by major industries your office covers, or any industry you're specifically interested in. Don't do this unless you're sound in #2 and #3 because you'll study cases everyday when you start a strategy career.
Financials - Linking & relationship of 3 major statements, sound understanding on major financial ratios (EBITDA, EBIT, PER, PBR, etc), sound understanding of accounting terms, and DCF modelling.
Quantitative skills - Excel and Statistical skills. Excel should be straightforward. Much of it is formatting, creating a logical framework, and pivot tables. Any decent firm trains this upon inducting a new class. Statistical skills that I believe are important are the ability to use yuge time series numbers to create implications. Ideally mastering Vector Autoregression is good, but if you don't have a strong maths/stat background this will take time.
I'd put my two cents in mastering 2 then 3. Surprised many consultants dont have an idea about finance. Another thing i'd do is just to fuck it, work out, chill and have fun for a possibly best 4 months of your life
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