Hey there, everyone. Today’s entry is in response to an email from a PhD in Biotechnology who is interested in a career change to Consulting. He wants to know how to direct his career to position himself as an APD candidate for a consulting firm and, while I’ve never been a recruiter, I’ve tried to give him some good general tips to follow.
——————–
TR wrote:
“Hi Marquis:
I’ve been reading your blog for around 6 months now & I must confess that your blog is what got me interested in consulting in the first place. I think you are doing a great job here!!
You have a few posts about APD recruitment, but would you mind talking a bit about experienced hires trying to break into the consulting industry in general & McKinsey in particular. I have a PhD in Biotechnology & a certificate in Business Administration and have been working in a technical role in a big pharma for the last 3 years. My job is mainly working with different business units on engineering solutions.
I have basically 2 questions:
(1) How do you think I should plan my career if I want to break into the management/strategy consulting industry in the next 1 year?
(2) Is the interview process same as for new hires (viz, case studies, market sizing etc)?
Thanks for the advice & keep up the good work,
Cheers,
TR.”
——————–
My response:
TR,
Thanks for checking out my blog. As I’ve mentioned in a couple of earlier entries, I’ve never been a recruiter before, so I’m going to try to give you some general advice that would help you move into Consulting. Also, the general nature of the tips will extend to the company that you apply to…in other words, I won’t give you any tips specific to my employer.
Now, let’s tackle your questions in order:
—–
(1) How do you think I should plan my career if I want to break into the management/strategy consulting industry in the next 1 year?
You’re not really giving yourself much time to make career shifts if you’re trying to break into the management/strategy consulting industry in the next year. There aren’t too many drastic changes that you can make in such a short time, especially if you’re in a technical role (as you stated in your email). Trust me…I spent years trying to transition away from a technical role and was only able to do so by going to business school. For what it’s worth, you probably don’t need to make any major changes to turn yourself into a strong consulting candidate, but I’ll dive into that point further below.
If you’ve got a one-year runway until moving to consulting, you should start transitioning from your highly technical role to one where you can build some understanding of business. This could be some sort of management or supervisory position in your lab or a complete switch over to a business/strategy analyst position, but you should focus on developing a “business” mindset. You’ve got a certificate in Business Administration, so that could provide the foundation to enable you to do this new role, but the first step is requesting that change. Be strategic about positioning yourself for change because, once you’re good at something that requires a special skillset, an employer may have a vested interest in keeping you there…be mindful of that and prepare to deal with it.
The bigger question for you to answer is whether you even need to wait for a year to make the leap into consulting. Your background sounds like it would shine on a resume and I’d bet you could get some firms to take a look at you now if you were to apply. If you’re happy with what you’re currently doing, then waiting could be a good option. But, if you’re ready for a chance, you should consider moving up your timeline for a transition…provided that you can get ready for the interviews in time.
—–
(2) Is the interview process same as for new hires (viz, case studies, market sizing etc)?
I may be wrong, but I believe that most companies give the same sort of cases to APD candidates as they do to MBA candidates for Associate positions, so I would recommend getting a good case prep book and reading through it to learn how to do them. I may have mentioned in one of my other entries that what matters most is problem solving skills and yours would be proven with a strong performance on your cases. Your Biotech expertise would serve you well too, but, without a strong set of case interviews, your chances of getting an offer would be slim.
Also, some firms may have an additional review round for APDs, which would come in the form of a phone screen or written test, but you would have to check with recruiters at the firms you’re targeting to find out the details of that. I never had to go through this type of extra round, so I can’t give you many details about it, but I’ve talked to people at several firms who’ve told me stories about it.
—–
Take care and good luck at getting yourself pointed in the direction of a consulting career.
-Marquis
——————–
TR wrote:
“Hi Marquis:
I’ve been reading your blog for around 6 months now & I must confess that your blog is what got me interested in consulting in the first place. I think you are doing a great job here!!
You have a few posts about APD recruitment, but would you mind talking a bit about experienced hires trying to break into the consulting industry in general & McKinsey in particular. I have a PhD in Biotechnology & a certificate in Business Administration and have been working in a technical role in a big pharma for the last 3 years. My job is mainly working with different business units on engineering solutions.
I have basically 2 questions:
(1) How do you think I should plan my career if I want to break into the management/strategy consulting industry in the next 1 year?
(2) Is the interview process same as for new hires (viz, case studies, market sizing etc)?
Thanks for the advice & keep up the good work,
Cheers,
TR.”
——————–
My response:
TR,
Thanks for checking out my blog. As I’ve mentioned in a couple of earlier entries, I’ve never been a recruiter before, so I’m going to try to give you some general advice that would help you move into Consulting. Also, the general nature of the tips will extend to the company that you apply to…in other words, I won’t give you any tips specific to my employer.
Now, let’s tackle your questions in order:
—–
(1) How do you think I should plan my career if I want to break into the management/strategy consulting industry in the next 1 year?
You’re not really giving yourself much time to make career shifts if you’re trying to break into the management/strategy consulting industry in the next year. There aren’t too many drastic changes that you can make in such a short time, especially if you’re in a technical role (as you stated in your email). Trust me…I spent years trying to transition away from a technical role and was only able to do so by going to business school. For what it’s worth, you probably don’t need to make any major changes to turn yourself into a strong consulting candidate, but I’ll dive into that point further below.
If you’ve got a one-year runway until moving to consulting, you should start transitioning from your highly technical role to one where you can build some understanding of business. This could be some sort of management or supervisory position in your lab or a complete switch over to a business/strategy analyst position, but you should focus on developing a “business” mindset. You’ve got a certificate in Business Administration, so that could provide the foundation to enable you to do this new role, but the first step is requesting that change. Be strategic about positioning yourself for change because, once you’re good at something that requires a special skillset, an employer may have a vested interest in keeping you there…be mindful of that and prepare to deal with it.
The bigger question for you to answer is whether you even need to wait for a year to make the leap into consulting. Your background sounds like it would shine on a resume and I’d bet you could get some firms to take a look at you now if you were to apply. If you’re happy with what you’re currently doing, then waiting could be a good option. But, if you’re ready for a chance, you should consider moving up your timeline for a transition…provided that you can get ready for the interviews in time.
—–
(2) Is the interview process same as for new hires (viz, case studies, market sizing etc)?
I may be wrong, but I believe that most companies give the same sort of cases to APD candidates as they do to MBA candidates for Associate positions, so I would recommend getting a good case prep book and reading through it to learn how to do them. I may have mentioned in one of my other entries that what matters most is problem solving skills and yours would be proven with a strong performance on your cases. Your Biotech expertise would serve you well too, but, without a strong set of case interviews, your chances of getting an offer would be slim.
Also, some firms may have an additional review round for APDs, which would come in the form of a phone screen or written test, but you would have to check with recruiters at the firms you’re targeting to find out the details of that. I never had to go through this type of extra round, so I can’t give you many details about it, but I’ve talked to people at several firms who’ve told me stories about it.
—–
Take care and good luck at getting yourself pointed in the direction of a consulting career.
-Marquis
