Career Profile (Salary, Job Titles, Grad School Data)
Consulting is a fairly broad term that can have a variety of meanings depending on the industry it refers to. For example, you can work as a marketing consultant helping companies create and optimize their marketing campaigns or as a software consultant, designing software systems for an organization. However, although the term has many applications, it's generally used to refer to management or strategy consulting, the practice of helping companies increase their efficiency and profits by addressing the major operational or strategic challenges they're facing.
CPD has provided free access to Vault resources for Gies students. Vault has extensive resources on the consulting industry, including rankings, application prep and "day in the life" guides. Access the resources here. In addition, we provide access to Management Consulted.
What do consultants do?
Consulting roles can vary greatly depending on the type of consulting firm you work for and the companies you work with. For example, if you work for one of the large management consulting companies (such as McKinsey, Bain or Boston Consulting Group) you'll be following a fairly structured career path, starting off as a junior consultant and moving up to a senior consultant role within two to three years. Working at one of the larger consulting firms also means that you're more likely to be a generalist in your early years since you typically only become specialized in a particular vertical, industry or type of work after working in consulting for several years. At smaller consultancies or boutique firms, you'll generally focus on a particular industry from the beginning (such as healthcare or technology) and work exclusively within that industry.
What are the challenges of working in consulting?
Being a consultant is an exciting career path but it does have its share of challenges. One of the main ones is traveling. Although many other careers require travel (e.g. sales), few are as travel-intensive as consulting. In fact, it's not uncommon to hear of consultants who travel four out of five days of each work week, meaning that your non-travel time will usually be limited to weekends. Additional challenges include long hours (12-hour days are standard) and working closely with a new team every few months. Although these factors might take a little getting used to, most consultants adapt to them fairly quickly and are able to thrive in their roles.
What are some of the benefits of working in consulting?
One of the main benefits of being a consultant is having the opportunity to learn about multiple industries and business models. Diverse project work is one of the biggest perks in consulting as you get to try out different roles and industries all the while at the same job. In fact, this knowledge will serve you well throughout your consulting career (and beyond), allowing you to quickly spot operational and managerial problems and come up with creative solutions to solve them. And although travel can be a challenging part of the job, it can also be an exciting one, giving you the opportunity to see new parts of the country (and helping you build up some frequent flyer miles in the process!). Consulting will also improve your presentation skills, teaching you how to build impressive presentation decks and communicate your point effectively to any type of audience. Plus, the pay is good!
What skills are needed to thrive in consulting?
As consultants, Excel, Python and PowerPoint are admittedly the go to tools on a day-to-day basis to help synthesize multifaceted ideas to clients in a digestible, actionable manner. Consultants need strong analytical and problem-solving skills. Soft skills are highly important to communicate your ideas and manage client expectations, both of which are equally important when working in consulting. Strong writing and verbal communication skills are essential as is the ability to present findings and proposals to groups. Consultants tend to travel frequently and work long hours during crunch periods with projects, so evidence of adaptability and a high energy level are valued.
Top Consulting Firms
The top 3 strategy consulting firms are in a league of their own, and they are commonly referred to as MBB. The members of this elite group are as follows: McKinsey, BCG and Bain. Beyond the MBB firms, there are several other reputable strategy consultancies. Below we've highlighted additional firms that are notable. You may notice that a few of these firms are the strategy branches of Big 4 accounting firms: Accenture, Booz Allen Hamilton, EY-Parthenon, Oliver Wyman, PwC, AT Kearney, Roland Berger, and Deloitte. Here is a list of 200+ firms.
Typical Consulting Career Path
Consulting offers a faster career growth trajectory than most industries. Most consultancies hold an "up or out" employee promotion policy, meaning you're either promoted "up" to the next level, or you're phased "out." These promotions typically happen every 2-3 years. If you're a top performer, there'll always be opportunities to advance up the firm's career ladder. Below is a typical career progression:
- Business Analyst: Their work involves researching, interviewing experts, gathering and analyzing data on spreadsheets, and building PowerPoint presentations.
- Associate/Consultant: Associates have similar job functions to analysts but manage larger workstreams and have more autonomy.
- Manager/Project Leader: They define a client's problems and lead a team of analysts and consultants who figure out the best solutions.
- Principal/Director: Directors strengthen and develop new client relationships, provide input on high-level projects, nurture team members.
- Partner/Shareholder: Their key roles include identifying new business opportunities, winning projects, managing client relationships, and providing leadership.
Confused about analyst roles vs. consultants? Learn about the similarities and differences here.
