10 Essential Skills Needed to Make an Excellent Consultant
- Excellent Communicator.
- Team Player.
- Problem Solver.
- Fast Learner.
- Decision Maker.
- Creative Thinker.
- Solution Focused.
- Customer Oriented.
So I would say management consultants have higher IQ and more analytical skills than the average person. Now whether this is “smart” will depend Top management consulting firms tend to hire mainly from the top universities and MBA schools, and within those schools typically only the top tier students.
Alternate entries
| Experience level | Working years | Title |
|---|
| Undergraduate | 0 | Analyst / Associate |
| Graduate | 2-5 | Consultant |
| Industry (Early) | 5-10 | Consultant / Project Leader / Engagement Manager |
| Industry (Experienced) | 10+ | Principal / Partner |
First-year consultants with a Bachelor's degree at most major firms (often referred to as "associate consultants") can typically expect to earn between $60,000 and $90,000. For a select number of firms, the salary can approach $100,000. This figure includes base salary, signing bonus, and relocation expenses.
Consultant will make you a good living. Short term, it's not such a bad idea because you will get some broad exposure to various companies and people. Long term it's a great career.
In general, a McKinsey management consultant travels a lot, although you can influence it based on your preference. As Anonymous mentioned, you will not have that much time to go sightseeing during your business travels as a management consultant for a top firm like McKinsey, as the working hours are very tough.
A Consultant is usually a short term position. A manager on the other hand manages employees, a franchise, a department, a company, etc… he/she has no direct ownership of anything nor is getting paid for advice like a consultant would.
The Top 8 Undergrad Consulting Majors
- Economics. Let's face it – consulting work is heavily quant-focused.
- Engineering (Mechanical Engineering is the most operationally focused) With an Engineering degree, more than anything else, you are proving that you have a “math mind”.
- Finance.
- Psychology.
- Political Science.
- Computer Science.
- Physics.
- Chemistry.
Bring only what you need and wear everything you can.
Bring the bare minimum of those items. On a trip you should only need one jacket and two pairs of shoes: one business and one casual/workout. Wear the jacket and the bulkier pair of shoes to free up space in your luggage. Make your clothes overlap.When they hire you, consulting firms want to make sure you have thought about what you are getting into. Consulting provides exceptional opportunities to work with executives, progress quickly in your career, collaborate with talented people, and to travel to new places.
A particularly good answer will show your passion for consulting while tying it into your own story. Here are some good reasons to mention: You embrace responsibility and the chance to work with senior clients. You view it as an excellent learning opportunity.
There are many reasons why recent graduates choose to jump start their career at Deloitte – great benefits, ample opportunities for growth and development, international opportunities, the chance to work on incredible projects with the best and brightest people, and more.
Deloitte is harder to get into than Harvard University based on the number of applicants it hires. It may become even more exclusive under a secret five-point plan by new global chief executive Punit Renjen.
There are five broad categories of consultant jobs that are most in demand:
- Operations consulting.
- Financial consulting.
- Human resources consulting.
- Risk and compliance consulting.
- Strategy consulting.
Given that it's impossible to know what you'll want to do in 10 or 20 years, management consulting is a smart choice for a first job. And most important, earn a strong reputation at your consulting firm so that you can count on excellent references in the future.
Typically, both single and married consultants average 56.6 hour work weeks, but about a quarter of single consultants routinely put in between 60 and 70 hours per week. About six percent of the responding consultants say they average between 70 and 80 hours a week.
Tips to break into the consulting industry without an MBA or business strategy experience
- Step 1: Find out as much as you can about the industry, be it through reading or speaking to people.
- Step 2: Understand why you want it and why you're an appropriate candidate for the job.
- Step 3: Prepare.
How to get into consulting:
- Adjust your resume and cover letter.
- Get your foot in the door.
- Ace the quantitative tests (PST, Potential, etc.)
- Stand-out in behavioural interviews.
- Nail your case interviews.
- Ask your interviewer good questions.
- Bonus: top consulting firms.
My tips to get new consulting clients are:
- Teach everything you know via blog posts, videos, etc.
- Connect with industry friends and build a network.
- Try sites like GetCredo.com.
- Niche yourself down to get hyper-focused clients.
- Hustle to sign your first ones, then use them to get bigger clients.
