Get Mentored – Answers to your queries – Volume 7

Name: Saurav Srivastava
Message: Hello, I am an MBA student at AIT, Bangkok and I want to get into management consulting. My question is regarding what do companies look out for when they want to hire any candidate as management consultant.

To be very specific I would like to know the exact job being performed by a management consultant. Is it a mixture of several tasks put together or very specific niche role.(I feel he wants to know whether consulting requires him to only have domain knowledge of one field or is he required to do multiple tasks like marketing, networking etc) What do I need to emphasize in my CV to be seen as a prospective candidate for a management consulting company.

Thanks
Saurav

Sulbha – Dear Saurav,
Companies are looking for different things for different roles but by and large few of the prerequisites of the many that consulting firms look out for in their new hires are that they have good domain knowledge, have understanding of the industry and various environments (socio, economic and political as well), have the ability to do multiple tasks at any given time. Good teaming skills and ability to adjust to new environment and people is also very important.
During an interview apart from displaying excellent communication skills and confidence, you it is important that you can think should be able to think on your feet. When a situation is given, you should be able to understand the problem given you should be able to think of couple of options that can be used to address it.
To have greater better idea about consulting industry and insights about it please follow the link

http://www.consultingnetwork.co.in/consulting-india/432/

In case you have any other specific question, please do let us know.

Name: Jackie
Message: I am a college senior graduating in the next couple months with a degree in Biology. I recently decided that professional school was not the right path/career for me and I have done some extensive research on different careers. Management consulting seemed like a perfect fit for me. However, it seems that most of the big consulting firms only hire at the top business schools. How do I get my foot in the door for this industry?

With a biology degree, I have extensive education background in analytical and technical courses. Are there any other courses I could take online to increase my chances of being hired by one of these firms? Do you have any recommendations on what organizations I can join to increase my network?

I appreciate any advice you can give me. Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sulbha – Dear Jackie,
Now a day there are many consulting firms that hire people with biology background. These firms hire people with specialization in fields like biotechnology, bioinformatics, agricultural biotechnology, molecular biotechnology etc. I am not sure about your specialization but in case it is any of the above mentioned, there are lot of opportunities.
In my view any online course can only give you guidance but not the practical experience. Organizations value on-job experience the most, and that can be gained only through on the job training. They will be more useful. As far as organizations are concerned you can look out for good pharma consultants, life science consulting firms etc. There is long list of consulting firms in your domain available. You can check out this link as well – > http://www.google.com/Top/Business/Biotechnology_and_Pharmaceuticals/Consulting/

Name: Paul McGovern
Message: Hi, I was recently accepted into a top 10 MBA program for the class of 2012 and want to do consulting for several years immediately after graduation. Do you know if any consulting firms offer pre-MBA internships? I’d really like to get a head start

Also, I’ll be 31 years old when I graduate. Will some firms consider me “too old” for an associate role?

Thanks,
Paul

Sulbha – Dear Paul,
Some firm do provide pre-MBA internship but that depends on the role they have on their requirements. You have not mentioned about your current employment status that would have helped in answering your question.
In case you are already employed but you are not in relevant field then you may try seeking employment for couple of years in any of the consulting firms. You may start from fresher level and can use this experience to know insights and work culture of these firms.
To answer your second question, yes some firms may consider you to be old for an associate level but if you can explain them the rationale behind the late start and are able to convince them then I don’t perceive this to be of any disadvantage to you.
All the best.

Name: Vivek Kumar
Message: Hi Sulbha, I’m an MBA with 8 yrs exp presently working in middle level position with a private
equity firm in India. I’m interested in entering into management consultancy industry.
I am more keen on a mid-market / boutique consultancy firm.

There are three challenges i’m facing :

• – my experience is largely in financial analysis which may not be very relevant to the management consultancy industry ( as I gather most seek consultancy experience for mid-level entries)
• I have limited contacts in the industry and finding it difficult to reach the relevant people
• how to assess the quality of work being done by the consulting firm and its standing in the industry.

Could you advice me.
Thanks & Regards
Vivek

Sulbha - Dear Vivek, One of the ways to understand quality of work of consulting firms is that you visit their websites and look for specific service offerings where you can add value. You will then be able to gather idea on the different types of consulting these firms provide and would be able to assess your experience as well. Evaluate these services and ask yourself “How can my experience help the client or add value to the existing service offering?”.
To enter on boutique firm at middle management in consulting firms requires relevant exp otherwiseexperience otherwise you would need to discount your experience and might gettry and enter entry aat a level below that your current one.
You should also use professional networking sites like Linkedin etc and try connecting with experienced professional in the target firms as they will be able to give you first hand information on their work and will be better able to assess your experience.

Regards,
Sulbha

Name: Manisha Jha
Message: Hi, Im a senior consultant in Financial services industry. I am aspiring to get into
Business consultancy job. have 9 years of experience. What is a salary range in India for
this band.

Sulbha – Dear Manish,
Compensation in consultancy varies from firm to firm. HR looks at education qualification, years of relevant experience, last compensation and peer group analysis while working on fitment. If a person is from a premier B school and has relevant exp, after 9 year he/she should be at Manager (higher band) or Senior Manager level. Though I would not like to mention any comp figure on this public portal but Senior Manager comps in Big 4s and premier consulting firms are very handsome in India.

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