How to set myself up for consulting...
Okay, so I found a post pretty similar to what I am attempting to demystify but it was a couple years old and I just figured I would start a new one.
So to start, I did 2 years of Molecular and Microbiology and decided against being an Orthodontist so I switched to Finance and ended up killing it in my Financial Acg class and just switched to Accounting (and I'm staying here - im good at it so why not). I preface with this for the sake of not having any experience with the business world prior to this past year so I didn't have a ton of time to figure out the best plan to do what I want since I am still trying to be on track to graduate in the spring.
When I was thinking about what I wanted to do, some type of consulting (never really could decide on an industry/type) fit the bill in pretty much all aspects of the kind of job/work I wanted.
My current situation:
I am going into my Senior year and have attended Summer Leadership Conferences for KPMG, PwC, and Deloitte and am pretty much sure of internship offers from at least PwC and Deloitte (and in all honesty, KPMG as well, but their communication/organization is dismal compared to the other firms). Deloitte would be in their Advisory practice (not to be confused with Consulting) and mostly likely in either Risk Assurance or something similar. PwC would be in Risk Assurance as well (a partner is supposed to be calling me in the next few days to talk to me about that).
So my question to you all is how should I go about the best way to set myself up to *hopefully* make the jump to the true consulting practices of the firms (Deloitte probably being my top choice right now)?
-engagements I should ask for
-department within Advisory
-people to network with
-anything I can do to gain experience in something you can consult on
-pretty much any advice at all, since I realize now this path might not have been the best one to go into what I would like to do (but I will have a job regardless so I suppose thats a positive)
Sorry this is so long...
If you're targetting Big 4 consulting, definitely shoot for Deloitte & PwC. KPMG and EY don't compare, and Deloitte is definitely the best of the bunch. That said, Deloitte's "risk assurance/advisory" practice is housed within their audit subsidiary (Audit & Enterprise Risk Services, aka AERS) and has nothing to do with their consulting practice (as you mentioned). If you are serious about consulting, I would try and network ASAP so that you can land an internship offer for their consulting S&O practice. I know a girl who went to the Deloitte Leadership Conference and was able to get a S&O summer internship through that (still had to interview, but the conference got her foot in the door). As for PwC, their management consulting division is housed within their advisory subsidiary, but their risk assurance practice is part of their audit subsidiary. Like the above advice for Deloitte, I would recommend networking ASAP and trying to land an internship/interview for the advisory management consulting practice instead of risk assurance. Transferring from risk/enterprise assurance to consulting will be difficult whether it is at Deloitte or PwC. I know one guy who did it, but he had to go through the entire interview process as an "experienced hire" after two years in risk assurance and was not given any preferential treatment for already being an employee of the company.
I've heard from friends that making the jump into the consulting division within the Big 4 is difficult. I would try to go straight for their consulting practices.
Thanks for the responses.
Yea it has been my experience that Consulting is never represented at any of the events I have ever been to and Advisory is hardly there either. It has also been my experience that they don't really ever hire/offer on the consulting side except as experienced hires and that this is the best way to get there. I've only ever met one person at Deloitte on the consulting side and that was like a random act of god however he works as a SalesForce.c0m consultant.
My issue with attempting to start on the consulting side (other than what I said above) is how am I supposed to do that? Or moreso what is the best way to attack that as I'm an accounting major (with obviously the ability and will to learn other areas) entering my senior year with obviously no "experience" so how would I land anything on the consulting side right now?
Are you kidding me? Some of the Big 4 consulting groups are hiring so aggressively right now it's stupid. PM me to discuss more, used to work for one of them.
Would love to send you a private message but I don't have enough of banana points. I am not sure if I am missing on any resources. What would be the best way to reach out to the recruiters? I've emailed them in the past which didn't really go anywhere. There are not that many networking events currently so I am just waiting on a few national conferences coming up soon...
As above poster pointed out, this information is entirely incorrect. All of the Big 4 consulting/advisory practices recruit a ton of undergrads/MBAs straight out of school. Also, even though the consulting/advisory sides aren't really represented at the leadership conferences, you can still networking your way into an internship within those divisions. The girl I mentioned earlier just told HR that she was interested in Consulting, and HR put her in touch with Consulting folks and from there she networked her way into an interview/internship.
Also interested to hear.
Network at the conferences themselves. When you meet with managers/senior practicioners, tell them you are interested in management consulting. If you come off well and it's clear you're interested, they should be willing to put you in touch with the appropriate people. From there, it's up to you to network and land the interview. You have a huge leg up for consulting internships b/c normal on-campus recruiting isn't until January - March, whereas you could get the chance to interview as early as October/November (as is what happened with that girl I know).
Thanks so much! I just find it difficult at times to "come off well". This could entail millions of things. I am not too sure how to approach and impress these people. This also leads to a few other questions I have for anyone that's willing to share his/ her insights: what exactly do I need to know about management consulting (industry overview, main players? what else) in order to impress the other person? I guess it all comes down to "trust" and interest; which means that the manager I am talking to should really see potentials in me (how to deliver that in a conversation, past experiences? and what else) and also find me interesting to talk to (be conversational, be friendly and cultured?) I just feel like the overview of the industry is too generic and might not set me apart from other candidates. So how to make a good impression and make the partner pass my resume along after the conversation? I would love to hear more from you all since I am still working on my networking...Thanks so much!
Care to expand on this reply? Curious about this..
All of the Big 4 are pumping huge amounts of money into their consulting practices right now. Fees in audit/assurance (Big 4's traditional cash cow) are drying up as audits become more commoditized and companies slowly become fully compliant with SOX requirements. As such, the firms are building out their consulting practices as fast as possible. Both Deloitte and PwC have done a bunch of acquisitions (Diamond, Monitor, BearingPoint, etc.) in the last few years, and every year they hire more and more analysts/consultants. Most of these hires come from on-campus recruiting. If you have a 3.7+, decent internship experience, and can carry yourself confidently, you should be able to land a consulting gig at one of the Big 4 (Deloitte Consulting is quite a bit harder to get into than the rest, but still doable).
You don't need to know everything about the industry or come up with an ingenious question to get noticed. Just be a generally cool person to talk to and you should leave them with a good impression of you. Of course you need to know SOMETHING, but you really don't have to be "that guy" who tries to show that they know everything about the industry. Be yourself, and you should be fine.
zzari hit the nail on the head. That's exactly what's happening. Even more so if you're a "diversity hire" since they're also actively promoting Big 4 lifestyle.
In my experience, management consulting interviewers are looking for three primary characteristics: - Presentability/confidence (this ties in to how well you carry yourself): you're going to be interfacing with clients all the time, and you need to come across as knowing your shit, even if you don't. - Problem solving acumen (this is where the case interview comes in): how perceptive you are, how quickly you notice trends/patterns, your critical thinking skills, etc. - Intelligence/achievements: this is essentially your resume/pedigree
You can improve on all three of the above, and there are plenty of resources on WSO and the rest of the internet to help you do so. As far as "knowing things," I would recommend you do as much research as possible on the company(ies) you interview with. It's not going to be feasible for you to know everything about the industries they work in, their client list, etc. Just know what the firm is about, what their branding/competitive advantage(s) is, and what their strategic outlook/culture is like. Also, definitely have a strong answer to the "Why consulting?" question.
Well I go to University of Central Florida (so far from anything target) and I just got off the phone with the recruiter I have been in contact with for Deloitte. I mentioned everything on here and she was basically just saying that blah blah blah everyone was really impressed with you and the partner (or director) definitely recognizes your goal to end up in consulting and is fine with letting Advisory be the stepping stone to there (as opposed to declining me because I'm not trying to stay in that practice). Essentially she said what I was saying earlier about starting in Consulting not being traditional and they are looking for 5-7 years of experience and that the Advisory practice would be a good way to gain that experience while providing value to them for 5-7 years.
Not sure where to go from there...
I mean in the end she officially "unofficially" gave me an offer for the Miami office Advisory practice so realistically that's not too shabby.
edit: ^ internship
The advisory recruiter might not be the best person to talk to since Consulting/AERS&Tax/FAS use separate recruiters and most of them don't know about the hiring practices of the other subsidiaries (i.e. the recruiter for AERS/Tax at my school doesn't know anything about consulting at all). I would reach out to the directors/partners you talked to and see if they can put you in touch with anyone in consulting.
Okay...so just a quick update. I had lunch with a director in advisory (actual consulting - not the risk stuff) at KPMG the other day. Was a great guy and honestly the people I've met there have been great too. I know Deloitte might have the better reputation as far as consulting goes but I believe that I would get an offer to actually start in KPMGs consulting compared to PwC and Deloitte giving me offers for the Risk Assurance (to start, at least) and I'm trying to figure out what I should do as the time to accept an offer will be coming within the next month or two. Any thoughts?
True. I do know what their Advisory's are and they are like Risk Assurance but from what I could gather from talking to people from both PwC and Deloitte your work can vary and might not always necessarily be standard run of the mill risk assurance but for the most part it probably would. I don't think I would mind it but I would definitely prefer the more consulting type work especially since I don't even necessarily think I see my self doing anything like risk assurance for a while nor consulting on it, at least in the sense of what they define it as (process risk and such).
I'm just wondering if I should go with Deloitte who has the more reputable consulting practice with the chance to transfer to there - especially since they have been really trying hard to recruit me.
Or, to go with KPMG which is much smaller and not a great of consulting practice (at least from the things I read) but then potentially be on track for what I'd eventually like to end up doing (still trying to figure that out) sooner than I would be had I started in Risk Assurance.
Are there any specific areas/industries/markets that would be beneficial to look into that you see having good job opportunities for the consulting side of these firms now and in the future? The area within consulting that I would like to pursue is what I'm trying to figure out right now.
Another thing to keep in mind is that all of the Big 4 love to steal associates from the other firms and will cross-recruit from similar groups. It will be a lot easier to move between companies in the same vertical than it will be to move cross-vertical.
As an illustrative example, one of the associates I started with had worked a KPMG in their consulting arm for about 6 months, and then was recruited (via headhunter) for PwC's consulting arm. On the other hand, I know a girl who started PwC in Tax and it took her 4.5 years (plus a round of grueling internal interviews) to get into PwC Advisory... as a Senior Associate (which is usually granted to you after 2-3 years if you're excelling in your work). I asked my manager about her, and his words were, "Yes, it's rare to get cross-transfers, but we gave her an exception because she was such a strong candidate."
A strong candidate took twice as long to transfer internally. That should say something. In terms of areas, depends on the firm. I know PwC was actively building out their healthcare expertise earlier this year, which fits nicely with your background.
Agree with most of the above advice. If it comes down to Deloitte Advisory/AERS vs. KPMG Consulting, take the consulting offer. When/if you try to transfer internally to Deloitte Consulting from Advisory/AERS, you don't get any "bonus points" during the interview for being an employee of another Deloitte subsidiary - you're basically just treated as an outside experienced hire and it will all come down to how you do in the interview.
That said, if you can swing Deloitte or PwC management consulting right off the bat, they are both miles better than KPMG.
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