Last week, I posted my response to a reader who was interested in pursuing a career in Consulting but didn’t know whether the lifestyle sacrifices would be too much. After my response, he sent me another email with a couple of follow-up questions. The continuation of my exchange with him is below.

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DL wrote:

Marquis,

Thank you for your thorough response to my questions. It came exactly when I needed and were a great help in making my decision. Over the last several weeks I have given a lot of thought to what you said and wondered if I might ask you two “follow up” questions where your advice would be of great help again. If you are too busy, I understand and your previous response to my questions was more than enough.

(1) What is going to be my best preparation for a career in consulting? I plan to get an MBA in the next year or two. I would like to do consulting on my own as a career long term. I know this is highly subjective, but from your experience would you advise working for a MBB, working in the corporate world, or doing a start-up to gain experience?

(2) What is the best GMAT prep? I would like to get into Stanford as long as I can justify the expense. Would you recommend only doing the GMAT pill?

Thank you again for your help,

DL

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My response:

DL,

I’m glad that you found my advice to be useful. Your follow-up questions are really good ones, so I don’t mind answering them. Just remember that this is only one man’s opinion, but I’d recommend that you try to find someone else with consulting experience and ask them the same questions.

1. If you can swing it, I think you’d be very well served by starting your consulting career at an MBB or other large consulting firm. This way, you’d benefit from both the brand of the firm, the intensive training programs, and the variety of work that you’d see. I’m not saying that going the corporate or start-up route would be bad, but, if you ultimately want to do consulting on your own one day, you’ll be best off by getting a foundation in a well-reputed firm and you’ll always be able to say that you’re a former “M/B/B or other big firm” consultant, which will help you in getting jobs and in convincing your independent consulting clients that you’re worth hiring.

2. GMAT prep is a tough game and I’d say that it depends on the study style that works best for you. While I do have a relationship with GMAT Pill and think that their offering is great, but I know that they’re not the right solution for everyone.

   If you think that you could stay focused enough to do well with self-study, then I’d recommend that route since it’s free and you can control the pace with which you progress through your studying. I did self-study using a Kaplan study guide that I bought on Amazon.com and it served me pretty well. This is a great way to do it if you truly believe that you can keep your eyes on the prize and not let anything distract you from the prep process.

   The opposite end of the spectrum would be to spend the money to sign up for an MBA prep course, like Kaplan, Manhattan GMAT, or Princeton Review. If you REALLY need someone to provide you with structure, a timeline, study techniques, and discipline, then taking an MBA prep course is a perfect approach. But, just remember that it can be a really expensive prospect to take a course and it can also put a strain on your schedule because your studies have to happen at certain times. I’m not saying that this isn’t a good avenue for you, but I encourage you to think about it before you drop the cash to sign on.

   Finally, there are lots of options that are between these extremes, including GMAT Pill. These options are usually self-directed to an extent, but provide just enough coaching and structure to take your prep to the next level. Depending on the service that you choose, this can be a very cost-effective way to get some help without having to spend $500+ to make it happen.

   So, what’s my recommendation? Well, instead of basing the decision on money, I’d recommend asking yourself how much help you truly need to tackle the GMAT. If you really need intensive help, then go with a structured classroom-based course and don’t sweat the cost because it’ll seem like a tiny amount if you get into the school of your dreams. What you could do is try self-study for a couple of months and then start taking practice tests. If you do well on those practice tests, then you might do well on the real thing and you will have done it all on your own without having to spend much cash.
   

I hope these answers were the kind of thing that you were looking for. Take care and good luck with your desired transition into consulting.

Marquis