<p>Ok, I’m about to show my tremendous ignorance on this subject, but what exactly is “Consulting” as a career? It seems that a lot of college grads “go into consulting”, and I’m curious as to what that entails. What kinds of majors prepare one for such jobs? </p>
<p>Would someone with a degree in physics qualify as a consultant?</p>
<p>Consulting is sort of what it sounds like. A consulting company is hired by another company to consult on and hopefully help to solve some sort of problem. There are general consulting companies and there are consulting companies that specialize in a particular area (i.e. compensation, executive search, technology, management). If a company has falling profits, wants to expand into a new field or in a new direction, has problems with employee satisfaction, thinks they’re wasting money, is thinking about selling, or whatever else, they may turn to a consulting company to get some (very costly) advice. </p>
<p>It’s a popular field right now in part because it’s very well-paid but usually easier to get into than i-banking, which is the other hot career of the moment. It also gives new graduates a lot of breadth of experience and sets them up for entering another field or going to business school. Very few people are career consultants; most people only stay for a few years or so. The field is also popular because you’ll likely be working alongside a lot of other recent graduates. It’s a pretty open field in general. Unlike banking, which really requires a lot of finance knowledge, consulting really requires the abilities to think critically, reason, get along with people, and do some quantitative work. Of course, if you’re going into a technology consulting company, you’re going to need more specific knowledge. In general, though, major isn’t as important. Having said that, I think physics is an unusual major for an aspiring consultant. If someone has the skills and can self themselves well, though, major doesn’t matter very much, IMO. </p>
<p>One of the largest companies is [McKinsey</a> & Company](<a href=“http://www.mckinsey.com/]McKinsey”>http://www.mckinsey.com/) where you can probably learn more. All of the major consulting companies are very big on recruiting, so if your son is interested (you have a son, right?) he should go to a recruiting event to find out more. It’s fine to go to these events, get a free meal, and ask questions. No commitment required.</p>
<p>You are a consultant if you are providing advice or a service and you are not an employee. You can be a consultant in any field. Usually you have to have some expertise. </p>
<p>When you see graduates going into consulting, they usually mean management or financial consulting and they are heading to the big consulting firms. The majors are usually business, economics, or finance. As a junior associate they are like a junior lawyer, assigned to a senior consulting partner and doing the grunt work. If you hang in there and can survive the initial years, you can do well making partner. Like attorneys. </p>
<p>I don’t know anything about consulting in physics, but every field has their consultants. </p>
<p>[Consulting</a> Firm Rankings: Vault Top 50 Management & Strategy Consulting Firms](<a href=“http://www.vault.com/nr/consulting_rankings/consulting_rankings.jsp?consulting2008=1&ch_id=252]Consulting”>http://www.vault.com/nr/consulting_rankings/consulting_rankings.jsp?consulting2008=1&ch_id=252)</p>
<p>(cross posted :))</p>
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<p>Nope. Daughter. Graduated from Bryn Mawr May 18th with BA in Physics.</p>
<p>BTW, thanks for the overview. It sounds somewhat amorphous and “fluid”. Sounds almost as if it’s more about selling yourself, than selling an idea or plan.</p>
<p>Oh, shoot, I totally knew that. Sorry. :)</p>
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<p>“Physics consulting” might not be that common but, but a lot of general strategy firms would certainly be interested in hiring someone with a physics background. </p>
<p>Most of these firms hire people for their brains figuring that smart people are generally good problem solvers regardless of what problems you throw at them. As such, they’re often looking for top candidates from just about any background.</p>
<p>I think consultancy in general is a popular choice for recent graduates for a variety of reasons:</p>
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<li>Very good pay</li>
<li>You learn a ton on the job</li>
<li>Often a lot of opportunities for travel (something younger folks really like and older folks often don’t)</li>
<li>It really opens up a lot of doors… a few years in the field is often enough to get headhunted into positions that one would never have been considered for otherwise. Some people stick with consultancy while others spend a few years doing it and then move onto something else (and that’s considered perfectly OK by the firms they work for). For example, someone with science background (e.g. PhD) might spend some time at a consultancy firm and then get scooped up to be a VP at some science company.</li>
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<p>I’ve spent about a quarter of my working life as a consultant, and I can tell you that I agree with the old saw that a consultant is someone you pay to come into your business, read your watch, and tell you what time it is. In a lot of ways, the worst consultants of all are the 20-something seagull consultants fresh out of B-school. (Seagull consultants fly in from the coast, drop a report on you, and then fly back.)</p>
<p>There are a fair number of consultants who are grizzled veterans in an area, and they are largely worth the money. I personally wouldn’t hire someone with less than five years experience. I used to **be **that young punk consultant and in retrospect I’m surprised that anyone paid my employer what they did for my services, and that anyone took me seriously.</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good career choice. It’s what I did right after earning my MBA and it was an exciting and educational four years. It’s just that knowing what I know now I would never have hired the 27-year-old me as a consultant. (That makes sense, right?)</p>
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<p>Yikes! I suppose then, that the 21-yr.-old-fresh-out-of-undergraduate-school kid would be less than worthless to you.;)</p>
<p>By the way, can anyone give me an average salary range for neophyte consultants, just out of school?</p>
<p>My impression (& have never worked in field) is that several brances: the IT sort, the marketing sort, and the analytic sort. The latter group would include the physics, math types, and the CS can fall into analytic or the quants. I also believe that projects done by groups. Some firms offer domestic travel, others international. Pay 65 or more. Specialty areas within firms, and some smaller firms are boutique.</p>