If I Don't Get Into Management Consulting/Strat Work...
Hi guys,
So as corny as this sounds (believe me, I know it's lame), I was feeling a little lost during the school year in terms of exactly what I want from my career. I took a personality test and found out that I'm a "INTJ" who loves strategy work. This was very true as I've always said that my first love was learning how businesses work and how to grow them. Therefore, consulting was a natural pick for me, but somehow, I looked more into M&A than consulting (perhaps a function of me being from a non-target and a respectable consulting firm being a pipedream for me initially).
Fast forward to today, I didn't get into MBB or a BB firm and instead am working at a very small, non-banking firm doing M&A analysis and learning about DCFs, comps, etc. This work really is not as appealing as I thought it would be in terms of fit for my personality, and my supervisors haven't really given me much work, which means that I'm basically screwed in terms of my resume. This is especially bad because I am a rising senior and am now royally fucked in terms of having any shot at consulting, save one contact at MBB firm.
Therefore, because my chances of working in strat consulting are close to nil and I may never break into this field if I don't get a good job (since good job => good MBA), I am beginning to contemplate other careers that still involve similar work to consulting (strategy, big picture, forward-thinking, growing the business, eliminating operating deficiencies, analytical, etc.) but aren't as hard to get for morons like me. Someone suggested brand/product management, but I think my lack of math/engineering background will hurt me on that one. Any suggestions, or am I probably gonna have to bite the bullet and take a boring FP&A job and pray I get into a top MBA?
Bro, never give up. You need to learn the value of networking and believing in yourself. Speak to your one contact at the MBB, cold-email people at MBBs, cold-email your alums, just try and get in touch with as many people as possible to score one measly interview. Meanwhile, practice case interviews like a demon, and if all goes well and you try hard enough you can yet score an MBB. The key here is to not have an inferiority complex like "oh I'm not from a target, my GPA sucks, my ECAs suck"...think of what is great about you and market that in your cold emails/calls/interviews...and who knows man. Who knows.
Yeah, sorry to sound like a debbie downer, it's just a bit stressful, especially since my firm this summer hasn't been as good of an experience as I hoped for. As for my contact, I actually know a couple of people, one said that he will make sure my resume gets read and another is an alum from MBB who said that he knows people there and that if he talks with some people, there's a good chance I'll get an interview at least. The problem is, the guy who I know will help will only make sure my resume gets read (and honestly, my resume is not good enough for MBB, period) so it won't really help, and the other guy seems like all talk, so I'm not really expecting much from him. I've tried looking for alums from my school, but there honestly aren't that many and the few that I asked for advice weren't very helpful at all, which really blows.
That's why I really need a backup plan. I can keep trying and will keep trying, but I can't sit on my ass and hope that some people I barely know will help me get a job. In case I don't get hired next year FT. I need to consider other options as well, which was the main purpose of this thread.
OK, your first plan must be to push hard for that interview. You've said that you've got a good chance at one - that is half the battle won. However, you've got to DESTROY the interview given your relatively week resume. So you need to get cracking on prepping for case interviews like NOW. Right now. Just get started, get pumped, get used to destroying them. It's not difficult but does take hard work.
Next up, to answer the original question of this thread - you do sound like a guy who would enjoy consulting. That's a massive field - it is much much bigger than MBB, though MBB is of course right at the top. Look into boutique consulting firms. Or, economic research/consulting firms. You still get to think 'business', the hours aren't terrible, and while they're not easy to get in to (you don't WANT to work for a firm that's not selective...ultimately you want to work with smart people I'm sure), they're not as tough to break into like say a McKinsey. So definitely look around the New England area for boutique consulting firms...the place is full of them.
I know I worked for a boutique consulting firm before making my way into a top tier consulting firm. It's all doable, just believe in yourself and most importantly work hard.
A fellow INTJ...well if you're like me (and most INTJ's) problem solving comes naturally to you. So while you need to spend some time on frameworks and cases, I would suggest lots of work on your emotional intelligence and communicaiton skills.
In university, my case study was the top in the class. Yet, it was a friend of mine from that class to made it to MBB.
Interviewing for Accenture I was told I was the top case study of the recruiting class, but they didn't think I'd be a good fit.
After that, I began to work far more on the soft skills of consulting, applied to PwC and was accepted. Still, I need to significantly improve those skills if I want to keep moving up.
Anyway, keep your head up. I was where you were once about worrying if my work experience was good enough. While it wasn't good enough for McKinsey (I was rejected), I was still happy I applied, and managed to get into consulting. Post-MBA I may try for MBB again, depending on how work here is going.
Consider doing a boutique consulting firm with a specialization that you like. Its more interesting and will give you options to transfer into industry and consulting if that is your objective.
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