Unique Situation in China
Greetings all!
I'm new to WSO and want to first excuse my general 'green-ness' here. Looking for your gracious advice regarding my transition into consulting.
I'm currently leaving the Public Relations industry in China and trying to get into Consulting. I'm originally from New York and right after graduating with a BS in Business Admin, went straight to China. I chose PR because I thought it would be an excellent 'foot-in-the-door' industry to understanding the Chinese market and consumer/media dynamics. After 2 years of working in PR in China, I've developed professionally and my Chinese has vastly improved.
My first worry is my totally non-target background for consulting:
- Non-Ivy league university. I went to a State University in New York (Although I was School President and Commencement Speaker of my graduating class)
- Summer Analyst at arguably the most famous luxury brand
- Junior Analyst at Fortune 20 bank (full-time position during my senior year of university)
- Finally, my position in PR in China
So, my questions to the WSO community are:
1. In your brutally honest opinion, will I even be considered for an analyst/associate role at any of the consulting firms?
2. When applying, how can I tout my current experiences and apply it consulting?
3. Does anyone have any experiences working in consulting in China? I've heard of vast differences between working cultures in EMEA/America and Asia.
4. What can I do to improve my chances (if any) to be considered for a 1st round interview?
5. How should I go about considering the 'tiers' of firms other than MBB?
I've been researching case studies, reading forums, and have talked to several acquaintances who work at MBB. I did not dare to ask for referrals yet.
Any constructive advice/criticism to my situation is warmly welcome!
Thank you!
MBB or any old consulting firm, local or international in China?
For MBB, brutally honest, no. Politically correct, nothing is impossible.
I don't think you should spend much time trying to consider the tiers because given your situation, you should try to spread the net as wide as possible and hopefully land something.
Hi YoungOne2012,
Thank you for writing and for your honest opinion-- you sort of, sadly, confirmed my thinking.
Well, I haven't gave any local consulting firms thought at all. My plan is to eventually get an MBA back home in the States so ideally, an international firm would give me better flexibility. Albeit, I should consider local firms.
In terms of 'casting my net', I'm wondering if firms would look highly upon 2-3 years of international non-traditional experience for an entry-level consultant? I guess nowadays international experience is a commodity but there surely must be some merit to it?
How good is your Mandarin?
My Mandarin is more than proficient for business and everyday working, and because of working in PR, more in-depth when talking about media/consumers. However, topics like physics or geology are not exactly my forte, haha.
Thanks for asking-- do you have consulting experience in China? I'm assuming Mandarin is definitely a must but have also seen a case where a consultant came to BJ/SH with little to no Mandarin at all. Have you seen otherwise?
MBB pretty much impossible. Top firms just want native fluency nowadays. Also students at top targets just do part time internships during the year at top firms and their resumes look phenomenal. I do know of one white guy who got a position at LEK. He was exceptional though, ivy grad, did princeton in beijing, tsinghua IUP, at LEK did everything in chinese. This was a couple of years ago though and the talent pool has gotten tougher.
Best bet is to look for boutiques and directly contact the expat higher-ups via linkedin or something. Ask them out to coffee or something. You may very well have to work unpaid for 1-3 months. Not sure what you mean by "local firms". If they're 100% chinese firms, then I'd say forget about it. Look for boutiques run by foreigners and that hire foreigners. A lot of consulting firms are unprofitable though and a lot of chinese companies don't see the value in hiring them. 51job.com is ok for a website. Also check hopkins nanjing alumni career services section they have job listings as well and they're more directed towards foreigners.
I just got a job at a boutique consulting firm. But it isn't a typical strategy consulting firm that implements frameworks and shit it's mostly just procurement/supply chain and market research/market entry. Some capital raising. Found it just by googling boutique consulting firms. PM me for details. Not sure where you are but I'm located in shanghai.
Hi Highhater,
Thanks for writing-- really useful details. Yeah, regarding MBB, let's just say I've learned my place. After looking at linkedin profiles of kids my age, a lot of them just blow me out of the water.
Your start at the boutique firm seems really interesting. PMing you now.
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