Book me to speak

Engineering undergrad wondering if she needs B-school to get into consulting

by | Mar 8, 2014 | Business, Business School, career, career path, consulting, management consulting, professional advice, strategy | 0 comments

The email below is from someone who found me after reading the interview that I did on Management Consulted a few years ago. I swear that that interview is the gift that keeps on giving in terms of bringing people to me with questions. 🙂

The person is an undergrad studying engineering who is wondering whether she needs to study at a business school to have a chance at a gig at a management consulting firm. Keep on reading below for my response to her question.

—–
AC wrote:

Hi Marquis! I’ve just read your interview in Management Consulted and it has been a really nice surprise to find out what you do for other people who are ‘lost’. I am in my last year of Aerospace engineering in Madrid and I’m trying to gather information for the near future about consulting.

Do you think it’s better to learn things about economy and management in some business school in first place or to apply for important consulting firms? Thank you for your time.

AC

—–
My response:

Hi Alba,

Thanks for checking out my ManagementConsulted.com interview and reaching out with your question. I’ll try my best to give you and answer that will bring you the kind of insight that you are seeking.

Interesting question about how to approach the management consulting industry from your current position. In your email, you stated the activities of learning about the economy and business management in business school and applying to consulting firms as an either-or set of options (in other words, as if you can only do one of these things). If you restrict your method of learning about the economy and management as something that you can only do in business school, then your assertion would be correct. I see things a little differently though.

I’d argue that one can learn about the nuts and bolts of business outside of the classrooms of a business school…or eat least enough about it to know what is needed for consulting interviews coming out of undergrad. Of course, it’s always best to have as much background knowledge as possible, but I would encourage you not to let the fact that you haven’t been to business school prevent you from pursuing an opportunity in consulting. The key to performing well in management consulting interviews is strong, structured problem solving and good intuition. I’ve seen plenty of undergraduates with backgrounds in engineering, math, and the social sciences perform well in interviews without having completed coursework in business. In those cases, the folks are given a concentrated “crash course” intro to business concepts once they start working and then develop the rest of their business acumen while working. This is an approach that you can pursue, as well. Plus, you can always pursue an MBA later after you’ve worked a couple of years if you determine what you’d benefit from it.

At the same time, I’d recommend that you put some time into researching the different firms and applying to the ones that interest you most. During your research, you should think about key topics, like the culture of each firm, focus of work, and the type of professionals that the firm usually seeks. Knowing these details will be crucial in preparing you for the interview process if you are invited to interview with one or more firms.

For more information related to pursuing a career in management consulting, you can check out my blog at https://marquisparker.com/blog. I’ve been asked many questions related to consulting over the years, and have posted my responses on my website. I have a feeling that you may find some helpful information from my advice and insights to others.

Take care and good luck with the remainder of your studies.

Marquis