<p>I have heard a lot of people say they work at “consulting firms” or that they are hoping to be recruited by one. Yet, I don’t really understand what that means. Can any of you parents fill me in?</p>
<p>Well I’m not a parent but i can still answer your question…sorta.</p>
<p>Consulting, usually management consulting on CC, is the practice of helping organizations (corporate or government) improve their performance. Being a consultant is one of the most sought after jobs since job satisfaction is high. But much like ibanking, hours are tough and expect to work 60-100 hours a week. And unlike ibanking the salary is not as high.</p>
<p>You don’t need to major in anything specifically as ive seen people with their MD’s work in consulting. </p>
<p>Major companies are Bain Consulting, Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey, and Booz Allen Hamilton.</p>
<p>A consultant is supposed to be a “subject matter expert”. This is a person who has, through years of experience, training and education has the specific knowledge to address the specific task at hand. They are expected to Hit-The-Ground-Running" and accomplish the assigned task. </p>
<p>I am always amused by people on CC think that recent a college grad, by right of what school they went to, can immediately be a consultant. Silly.</p>
<p>toblin: Maybe you live in a different world, but the reality is that in many cases all that is needed to get at least an entry-level consulting job is a decent GPA from a top school.</p>
<p>While it does happen, I’m with you toblin–one should have real-world experience to be a successful consultant. Can you imagine the reaction of a seasoned business executive? What are the odds that he would honor the suggestions of an entry-level green kid with a business degree and no experience?! Reminds me of that old line: Those that can, do; those that can’t consult…</p>
<p>The entry level jobs in consulting involve a lot of analytic work, data gathering, being part of a team. They can develop a lot of subject matter expertise on the job, even on a given assignment. But the 21-year olds are not the ones who go in and advise the CEO how to proceed. That is for the “grey hairs.”</p>
<p>Well said JMMom. The tasks done by consulting firms are performed in teams which have a mix of skills and experience. Someone has to go dig up the data and it doesn’t necessarily make sense to pay premium $ to the gray beard to do that. The Subject Matter Expert helps make sense of the data and charts the way ahead.</p>
<p>Actually, few management consulting firms have much in the way of “subject matter expertise”. That is left to specialist individual consultants. </p>
<p>Rather, the management consulting firms are selling their approach to a problem, one that both sides of the transaction must believe will work for the firm hiring the consultants. Some of these firms do indeed build up a good degree of specialist expertise, usually at the expense of earlier clients. </p>
<p>I’ve known quite a few folks who went into mgt consulting. The ones with technical backgrounds were usually surprised at how little of their technical background they used. </p>
<p>Keep in mind too the politics of hiring mgt consultants. Yes, I can imagine the “reaction of a seasoned business executive”. Because that executive hired the firm, and the slides in the powerpoint presentation are gorgeous, (s)he loves it.</p>
<p>There are also specialty consulting firms, specializing in Human Resources, Benefits, Compensation, and other things. The value of these consultants is that they can provide comparisons to one firm about what other firms are doing, they can review what one firm is doing and critique it objectively. I’ve worked in benefits consulting; it’s fun. You get to solve problems. </p>
<p>Unfortunately the advice is not always followed . . .</p>
<p>Consulting is often also an entryway for those into the business world without getting an MBA. For someone who already has an advanced degree, a couple of years at a major firm will generally make them much more marketable career wise than if they had just gone and got a bog standard MBA. </p>
<p>Many firms hire those with advanced degrees (e.g. PhDs) and the “job” then essentially involves an intensive introduction into running a business. The pay is generally very good, job satisfaction is quite high and there is a lot of teamwork. Also, and this attracts a lot of people, the exit options are generally excellent. Many people will work for a firm for 3-4 years and then get headhunted into another company (often one of the clients of the firm). Firms also hire ‘analyst’ level positions for those straight out of undergrad and often these folks will work for a few years and then do an MBA (paid for by the company) or other advanced degree before returning to the firm. </p>
<p>The application process for most consulting jobs is highly competitive and in many cases it can be difficult to get your application taken seriously unless you’re from a few select top schools. Consulting attracts people from all different educational backgrounds and degrees although all successful applicants will generally have excellent presentation skills, excellent analytical skills and be comfortable with math and numbers. Knowledge of business, beyond a very basic understanding of a few simple concepts, is not expected of applicants (unless they are an MBA applicant). In general, first and foremost firms are looking for extremely bright and highly motivated people and work on the, generally correct, assumption that if you put enough of those in a room together good things will happen.</p>
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<p>It depends on the firm, but this isn’t always true. A lot of times the team will work through the project from start to finish… including sitting in the boardroom with the CEO. Granted the person who just started likely isn’t leading the presentation, but that’s not to say they wouldn’t be there and involved in the process. I suppose that’s a good question to ask during the application process ;-).</p>
<p>yes, for management consulting, rocketman08 summarizes well.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that in addition to the top tier generalist management consulting firms such as McKinsey, BCG, Booz Allen etc., there are specialist firms with functional practices, such as Mercer with its HR practice (not to be confused with the “other” Mercer, Mercer MC, now known as Oliver Wyman and both owned by MMarsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.), the managment consulting divisions, some now spun out and independent, of the major accounting companies, and a host of private individuals and small operations. To make things even more complex, some of the top firms such as Booz Allen have divisions that focus on, and compete with, the rather more day to day activities of the consulting firms. </p>
<p>In general, though, the part of the consulting business that attracts the most attention among college students is the top tier generalist management consulting firms. As RM08 points out, that’s where the prestige and the money are. The others are much more “just a job”.</p>
<p>The management consulting world is certainly not for everyone, especially at the top tier. The time and travel demands are high, so the effective hourly pay rate may not be quite so great. The field attracts a certain kind of personality that may not be to everyone’s taste. (maybe others can elaborate on this?)</p>
<p>I agree with all you say, rocketman. I was just doing such a “short and sweet” blurb in my original post. But part of what you say is what I meant when I said they can develop a lot of expertise on the job… and I should not have limited it to “subject matter expertise.” Very often, the more entry level consultants participate in client presentations and, equally valuable, client meetings where they are not presenting but hearing of the client organization’s issues, concerns, how their business works…</p>
<p>In this way, a consultant without any “real world experience” can gain quite a large body of real world knowledge. </p>
<p>I also agree with Very Happy that often the advice is not followed or, in some cases, the consultants don’t know whether it ever was. That is one of the frustrations of the consulting business and a number of consultants yearn for direct responsibility and make a move to a client company or a line or staff position with some other company.</p>
<p>As S has just been hired by one such firm, I cannot thank you enough for such a great explanation. It helps me to understand what they were looking for and what is expected of him.</p>
<p>Yes, generally when someone says “consulting” they are usually referring to management / strategy consulting. There are other types of consulting (e.g. HR, IT) but generally someone will specifically say the specialty if that’s what they mean.</p>
<p>I agree that these jobs are difficult for the new graduate. Companies seem to want a perfect fit, and are willing to fly students all over the country for a few hours of interview.</p>
<p>My S’s future job will involve travel, but as part of a team. He likes that aspect of the job.</p>
<p>One of the down side of working for a consulting firm is the amount of traveling. It is very exciting in the beginning, but it can be tiring after a while. I think it takes a special personality to be a consultant. Unlike other jobs, you get moved from one project to another. There is not as much continuity. I have a few friends that were burned out after a few years.</p>
<p>My old job (investment banking) used feasibility consultants and marketing consultants on most projects. The consultants were always available. A call at 9:00 pm on a Saturday night for example was expected to be answered (and would be). If some “emergency” meant the need for the team to pull an all nighter or work all week-end, the consultant would do it (and bill accordingly). Whatever the consultants said was their needed turnaround (4 weeks or 4 months), it often got shortened and the workload doubled by the end of the project (and the bill went up). In other words, they got paid well but were definitely on call and expected to deliver. There is a ton of travel, with lots of the work done on laptops in airports and hotel rooms. A person who wants a job they can walk away from and week-ends to call their own should not pursue this line of work.</p>
<p>There was usually a team that included relatively young college grads to input data, do spreadsheet work, etc. and more experienced people to do or at least check the analysis and perform most of the client interface (although the younger person might be on the phone or in the meeting; the more experienced one would do most of the talking). The ability to stay cool under pressure and handle difficult personalities is a plus. Most of the feasibility consultants we used had CPAs.</p>
<p>Any idea how the consulting industry as a whole is faring during the current recession?</p>
<p>^^^
My sense is that consulting is down overall. Perhaps specialties like efficiency consulting or outsourcing are still strong. I am most familiar with HR consulting, which has taken a real hit. Towers and Mercer are joining forces…and I read business was down 25% this year.</p>
<p>Toneranger – it’s Towers and Watson Wyatt joining forces.</p>