Recent Graduate Looking To Get Into Consulting
I graduated as an Econ major this past December with a 3.03 GPA. I have spent my time post-graduation at a position at a recruiting firm. My goal is to get into MC at as large a firm as is reasonably possible given my current background at this point. What path should I take from here on out to achieve this? I am currently considering applying for financial analyst positions at lower level firms to gain a years+ experience before trying to move to a name brand firm. Is this a good strategy for my goal or would another route be more ideal?
Do you have any internship experience?
Just a summer internship in retail for a commercial bank that primarily involved basic to intermediate Excel usage as well as debiting and crediting customer accounts.
Your econ degree won't be a disadvantage in MC. Racking up banking internships makes it harder to sell your desire to go into MC so from now on I would aim for consulting firms. Given your low(ish) GPA (no offence) your best bet is to gain experience starting small and building your way up. SA positions at boutiques and each year aim to apply for the big boys. If it doesn't work, also apply to bigger name boutiques and you can slowly work your way to MBB. Also, do you speak other languages besides English?
I do not speak another language. What specific advantage would that offer me exactly? What skills/experience should I be looking to get out of these SA positions that would best translate into MC?
Had you spoken another language, you could have leveraged that plus the brand name of your school to apply for markets with less traffic (e.g. if you spoke Portuguese you could have applied for MBBs in Portugal or Brazil). It would also allow you to be an more valuable asset when doing pan-continental projects e.g. doing an EU5 project knowing German helps. Anyway, that isn't a concern. Generic skills would be things like data analysis, good numerical skills (quick mental maths), solid research skills (the ability to get any sort of info in any way) and an understanding of strategy and business problems. More specific to consulting would be things such as being able to estimate market sizes, coming up with strategies specific to your client or industry (not just applying frameworks blindly) and business development. For this last one if you can get leads for people to bring into your firms during your internship (even if they burn out) it shows mad initiative and that you can take on responsibility.
As for the language thing, i'm sure you'll be swamped with work but, try to start learning one (even if you get to business proficient level). It's short-term pain for long-term gain as it'll add tremendous experience and help both with your career and personal life.
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