Is it too late to enter consulting business?
I am a scientist (Ph.D) at a biotech company with pretty satisfactory salary, about 140k a year.
However, I am kind of tired of the current situations and want to get into consulting business. As I checked several profiles of some higher rank leaders in our or other biotech companies; they seem to have experiences in consulting, such as in McKinsey ....
As far as I know, I may apply for a position as "experiences professionals". I am wondering if the consulting firms will have the similar pay range as I have now and what field should I apply for, healthcare consulting? or something else?. (Besides my life science background, I am proficient in statics and programming.)
another concern for me is I am 40 now. Is it too late to get into this business?
you advice will be greatly appreciated!
Q.
The answer is: it depends. The salary you have now is quite high. You might be able to match it in consulting but you'll (most likely) need to bill quite a bit and rely on your bonus. Staying billable usually means a lot of travel but that may (or may not!) be different for you depending on which field you get into. So, in that sense, you can make the same salary but you'll earn it, know what I mean?
As for age, I think consulting suits two people (1) the young, fresh grads and (2) midlife "crisis" folks. Like people looking for a huge career change, or people newly divorced and itching to get back on the road. It's very hard to lead a traveling consultant lifestyle and still maintain some normalcy with a wife, kids, weekend BBQs, time for golf, etc. So if that fits your current situation, then go for it.
get your exec mba and then xfer, it will make you more marketable. Alternatively, look at smaller/LS focused shops (IMS, campbell alliance, inventiv health) to name a few and try to break in there, build some consulting experience and then jump to a larger shop if you want to. What will also help you is where in the value chain/product life cycle you want to focus. Many LS consulting firms focus on pre-launch/clinical phase activities, where you could easily enter. The McKinsey's of the world mostly focus on post launch issues (pricing, contracting, marketing, etc). I'd first narrow your focus more especially if you have so much experience, and pursuit of your exec mba will only make you more marketable to consulting firm shops, giving you more leverage in both negotiating salary and choices of firms to join.
Good luck. Ex Life Sciences consultant
Global consulting firms such as Bain or Monitor have clients, and often dedicated practices, in biotech/medical fields. A few strong boutique firms include: IMS Health, Milliman, and Putnam Associates. A lot of MD's actually come to dislike the prospect of working for beans for the period of their residency and go in consulting - I met a guy a couple of months ago who did just that. So I would focus on boutiques that focus on the healthcare industry. That information is readily available some place probably. Unsure of whether age is an issue, though I would tend to doubt it if you do focus on boutiques.
I'm not sure exactly, however the best way to learn about an industry is to Network, Network, Network. Since you are an accomplished 40 year old person, you might have a harder time but think about friends, old college acquaintances, linkedin connections, etc and start hitting the phones.
At MBB, you would start at a salary higher than your current salary. All-in comp (base, bonus, retirement) for a first year Associate/Consultant is about 165K on average. Depending on your experience you could be considered for Engagement Manager/Project Leader level, but HR would decided where you'd fall. A colleague of mine is PhD with 5 years industry experience post PhD and started at the Associate/Consultant level.
MBB don't bill on hours, utilisation does not impact performance discussions, and compensation has nothing to do with pipeline (unless you're a partner of course).
But you absolutely earn your salary.
Guys, thank you very much for your prompt responses. I really appreciate all your suggestions and advice. I'll think it over how to start this...
I am living proof of the $165K (incl annual bonus) first year out of phd program...same starting level as MBAs for MBB.
It has nothing to do with billable hours in your first year as an Associate/Consultant. In fact, the first project for non-MBAs does not even get billed to the client.
MBB pays rates are different than IBM pay rates.
MBB's higher billing rates than IBM allow it to pay more.
40 seems a bit high. McK has an "expert partner" track, right? Your best bet may be to become a guru than an all-around consultant.
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