The message below is from an auto industry professional who is interested in transitioning to Management Consulting. He has a solid 10 years of auto experience and an MBA, but, during his previous attempts at applying, he hasn’t received any interview invitations. He’s asking for my read on his situation and for guidance on whether he has holes in his profile. I have a feeling that his earlier lack of success might have been tied to timing and the economic downturn, but I can’t be 100% sure of that. I gave him a quick read on his profile in my response video and hope it’ll be the starting point for him to revamp his positioning and make another run at Consulting sometime in 2011.

—–
HL wrote:

Hello Marquis,

I enjoyed reading your article on managementconsulted.com. The reaon I am reaching out to you is to understand how people with my background may have a chance to make it to MC. I have already applied twice to BCG and once to McK without any interviews.

In a nutshell, my background is in automotive industry, as a mechanical engineer, I have working as a product engineer and recently project manager with 10 years experience dealing with OEM client, product development from concept to production, structured problem solving, team leadership etc. I am also 6sigma (DFSS) and PMP certified and have had my MBA in finance and strategy since 2006.

What ‘missing elements’ are you seeing in my background? From what I have researched, I believe I have many of the qualities that MC companies look for in an individual.

Thank you for your opinion and feedback.

Regards,

HL

—–
My video response:

Transitioning to Management Consulting as an experienced hire from the Auto industry from Marquis Parker on Vimeo.

Key points:

• The timing of his previous application attempts to BCG and McKinsey could have been a factor because of the economic downturn and the resulting ramping down of recruiting efforts at Consulting firms in the past couple of years
• My read on his background:
  • Work experience: Good experience, but it is in the auto industry, which has been struggling for the past couple of years; Experience could be overly technical for the needs of generalist Consulting firms
  • Education: He has an MBA in finance and strategy, but I’m wondering whether it is from a strong program; Has he applied his finance and strategy learnings in his primary career yet?
  • Areas of expertise: Expertise sounds good, but may not be a good fit for the issues handled by the large generalist Consulting firms
• Recommendations
  • Wait for the economy to recover a little more and let Management Consulting firms ramp up hiring
  • Position himself as an Operations expert and apply to firms’ Operations practices
  • Apply to more firms, especially the ones that do more work relevant to his industry and functional background