What IS consulting

When I applied for small consulting internships/jobs, too often I've been hit with questions like "In your mind, what does a consultant do?" "Describe what being a consultant means" etc.

Even after doing research and watching discussions evolve on this site, this question has been hard for me to answer. It's because I do FEEL like I know what consultants are, what they do, what the lifestyle is like - but the fact that I haven't been a consultant means it's hard for me to articulate what consultants are to answer that question.

So I'm wondering how many of you who are in mgmt consulting jobs would answer those questions on what consulting means, is, and is about. Short and long answers are equally appreciated. Also maybe if you could walk me through your day in detail (i.e explain what a "client meeting" entails, what "work" consists of doing, etc) I would really appreicate that!

Thanks, UG aiming for MBB.

 

In general, consultants use fact-based and hypotheses-driven objective reasoning while acting as an external entity to provide consultative (strategy consulting) and delivery/implementation (mgmt consulting) services to clients who either don't have the bandwidth or knowledge to deliver the solution or are too biased and compromised as an 'insider' to see the big picture. Check out 'The McKinsey Way' and Vault guides for a decent overview of the steps involved and the average day for a consultant, respectively.

 

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