What’s good, everyone. The message below is from a reader who will soon be starting an M.Eng program at Cornell and would like to eventually follow it up with an MBA. When I got this email, I had to chuckle a bit because it was the third message I’d received from an ingoing Cornell M.Eng student in a two week period. I guess Cornell is doing a good job of recruiting people with aspirations of moving into business in the future 
I hope this reader found my input valuable because I don’t know much about his program, but I’ve tried to give him some decent answers to his questions.
———–
CL wrote:
“Hi Marquis
My name is [CL] and I just happened to come across your blog last week and found it amazing and extremely informative. I really appreciate you in wanting to help people out by providing information from your experiences…..its really awsome, hats off to you!!!
I had a query of my own on which I was wondering if you could provide your thoughts. I have finished my undergraduate engineering degree from the Middle East and have accepted an offer to study at Cornell for their M.Eng program. The M.Eng program is something of a substitute for the traditional MS Degree. It is a one year course and is specifically for people who want to work after getting a graduate degree. In place of a thesis, there is a design project which has to be done at the end of the year. My initial plan was to leverage this degree from Cornell, use it to work for a year or two and then get in to a good business school and then opt for a career in management consulting…….something similar to your story!!!Hence, the reason why Im asking you my question, because I feel that you would understand me the most easily.
The flexibilty offered with the M.eng Degree is that I can opt for courses from Business School like Financial Accounting, Management and organization, Strategy,Management of Tech and Innovation, Analysis of Competitive Decision Making, etc……there is long list.
Can I opt for a few of these courses and try to get in to consulting rightaway? Then maybe after working in Consulting for a while, I can take an MBA from a reputed school and then try to advance my position in the consulting industry…..does that sound like a good idea to you??Does it seem sound?
I am sorry if its a really silly question to ask…I just felt like you are a really good resource to whom I could relate to.
Thanks
CL”
———–
My response:
CL,
Thanks for checking out my blog and thinking of me as a resource for your question. I’ve been getting a lot of questions from readers who will be joining you in Cornell’s M.Eng program this coming school year, so you will likely have several peers that you can talk to about business school and consulting before long. As you know, I’ve never done your M.Eng program myself and I’ve never been a recruiter at a consulting firm, but I’ll do my best to give you a good answer to your questions.
To get to the point quickly, I like your plan to take courses at the business school while completing your M.Eng degree and then making a run at consulting right away. After spending a couple of years in consulting, you could then move on to pursue an MBA and leverage the business skills gained in those years in your B-school courses. I know people at several consulting firms who entered the industry after completing a Master’s degree prior to B-school, so I know that it is a possibility. When considering whether this is the right move, you might want to consider two issues:
1. Level upon entry into a consulting firm: A major issue that may surprise non-MBA Master’s degree holders is that they could be brought into a consulting firm at the Analyst level (i.e. post-undergrad position). Often, the determination of level is based on the amount of work experience prior to entering the recruiting process. So, if one goes from undergrad straight into a Master’s program, there’s a chance that he/she would enter as an Analyst due to lack of professional experience. This should not be considered as a negative reflection of the person’s qualifications. Rather, I’d guess that companies do this to ensure the person gets the amount of professional development and training needed to start a career.
2. Plan B in case consulting doesn’t work out immediately: While navigating the recruiting process, put some thought into what other jobs you’d want after your M.Eng degree if you don’t get a consulting position. As you can imagine, there will be many people competing for these positions and you’ll be coming in from a somewhat non-traditional angle, so be ready. Think about some traditional engineering-based jobs and prepare for those interviews too. You can still get into a top business school and move into consulting after that without having begun your career in consulting immediately following the M.Eng program.
Since your M.Eng program is only a year long, you’ll want to start preparing for the consulting interviews as soon as possible so that you don’t end up having to cram during the Fall recruiting cycle. You might want to check out Amazon.com to find a good consulting case prep guide. Also, you might be able to get some case prep materials if you reach out to the Career Services office at Cornell’s Business School. Remember, practice makes perfect when it comes to the consulting interviews.
Take care and good luck in your program at Cornell. It’s great that you’re looking to apply to consulting firms, but make you to stay focused on the books and do well in your M.Eng program…and then, hopefully, everything else will fall into place for you.
-Marquis
I hope this reader found my input valuable because I don’t know much about his program, but I’ve tried to give him some decent answers to his questions.———–
CL wrote:
“Hi Marquis
My name is [CL] and I just happened to come across your blog last week and found it amazing and extremely informative. I really appreciate you in wanting to help people out by providing information from your experiences…..its really awsome, hats off to you!!!
I had a query of my own on which I was wondering if you could provide your thoughts. I have finished my undergraduate engineering degree from the Middle East and have accepted an offer to study at Cornell for their M.Eng program. The M.Eng program is something of a substitute for the traditional MS Degree. It is a one year course and is specifically for people who want to work after getting a graduate degree. In place of a thesis, there is a design project which has to be done at the end of the year. My initial plan was to leverage this degree from Cornell, use it to work for a year or two and then get in to a good business school and then opt for a career in management consulting…….something similar to your story!!!Hence, the reason why Im asking you my question, because I feel that you would understand me the most easily.
The flexibilty offered with the M.eng Degree is that I can opt for courses from Business School like Financial Accounting, Management and organization, Strategy,Management of Tech and Innovation, Analysis of Competitive Decision Making, etc……there is long list.
Can I opt for a few of these courses and try to get in to consulting rightaway? Then maybe after working in Consulting for a while, I can take an MBA from a reputed school and then try to advance my position in the consulting industry…..does that sound like a good idea to you??Does it seem sound?
I am sorry if its a really silly question to ask…I just felt like you are a really good resource to whom I could relate to.
Thanks
CL”
———–
My response:
CL,
Thanks for checking out my blog and thinking of me as a resource for your question. I’ve been getting a lot of questions from readers who will be joining you in Cornell’s M.Eng program this coming school year, so you will likely have several peers that you can talk to about business school and consulting before long. As you know, I’ve never done your M.Eng program myself and I’ve never been a recruiter at a consulting firm, but I’ll do my best to give you a good answer to your questions.
To get to the point quickly, I like your plan to take courses at the business school while completing your M.Eng degree and then making a run at consulting right away. After spending a couple of years in consulting, you could then move on to pursue an MBA and leverage the business skills gained in those years in your B-school courses. I know people at several consulting firms who entered the industry after completing a Master’s degree prior to B-school, so I know that it is a possibility. When considering whether this is the right move, you might want to consider two issues:
1. Level upon entry into a consulting firm: A major issue that may surprise non-MBA Master’s degree holders is that they could be brought into a consulting firm at the Analyst level (i.e. post-undergrad position). Often, the determination of level is based on the amount of work experience prior to entering the recruiting process. So, if one goes from undergrad straight into a Master’s program, there’s a chance that he/she would enter as an Analyst due to lack of professional experience. This should not be considered as a negative reflection of the person’s qualifications. Rather, I’d guess that companies do this to ensure the person gets the amount of professional development and training needed to start a career.
2. Plan B in case consulting doesn’t work out immediately: While navigating the recruiting process, put some thought into what other jobs you’d want after your M.Eng degree if you don’t get a consulting position. As you can imagine, there will be many people competing for these positions and you’ll be coming in from a somewhat non-traditional angle, so be ready. Think about some traditional engineering-based jobs and prepare for those interviews too. You can still get into a top business school and move into consulting after that without having begun your career in consulting immediately following the M.Eng program.
Since your M.Eng program is only a year long, you’ll want to start preparing for the consulting interviews as soon as possible so that you don’t end up having to cram during the Fall recruiting cycle. You might want to check out Amazon.com to find a good consulting case prep guide. Also, you might be able to get some case prep materials if you reach out to the Career Services office at Cornell’s Business School. Remember, practice makes perfect when it comes to the consulting interviews.
Take care and good luck in your program at Cornell. It’s great that you’re looking to apply to consulting firms, but make you to stay focused on the books and do well in your M.Eng program…and then, hopefully, everything else will fall into place for you.
-Marquis
