How Analysis Of Strategy Consulting Can Get You A Business Consulting Job
The most highly rated job is a business consulting market job today. It is an extremely competitive market to break into — but the rewards are a work experience and learning curve that is unsurpassable by any other industry. The amount of experience you can acquire in a short term is phenomenal because you are exposed to top tier thinkers of industry.
It’s a dream job for many. But how do you get a job in this industry when it is so much in demand?
Do you know what you are signing up for — Do you know what they are looking for. Next step is to ensure that your experience and educational backgrounds mirrors that.
Here are some tips on how to go about this.
1. Research and understand the consulting: Your management consulting market research will pay off by giving you excellent insights into what makes the industry tick. Your goals are:
- A) Learn what a consultant does typically from day to day. Understand the nature of the job. Best approach is to go and interview some consultants in the firms you are interested in.B) Learn how consulting firms make money. Money and finance is at the heart of the consulting industry just like other businesses. Find out how they make money and what drives their revenue. What drives their costs. You will already be ahead of 90% of your competition if you truly understand these things.
C) Find out what the latest competitive and client trends are in the industry. Looking into a crystal ball won’t help — But what does the next decade of the consulting market seem to be? What sort of issues are partners of consulting firms considering today? What issues they are currently dealing with night and day? If you understand and have investigated these issues, it will be easy to impress and connect with your interviewer (a partner who has to manage his consulting firm)
2. Identify the future growth areas of the industry: Consulting firms are a portfolio of skills and capabilities all wrapped up in their talent — the individuals that make up their firm. The clients are the key to the business consulting company’s stomach or recruitment in your case — just acquire the relevant skills to fit those needs and you are in. Examine and explore the talent needs for the management consulting industry by looking at exactly what type of work they need doing on client projects. Just seek out through your network of contacts consulting personnel and interview them. This month’s news in consultant news will tell you what they are focusing on? Areas of demand growth for consulting market firms are always followed by a flurry of press release and research publications by the firms themselves. It’s really not hard to find these.
3. Mirror the needs of the consulting firms: Now that you have identified some growth areas how can you mirror the skills in talent that they are looking for. What electives can you pursue that are relevant? The subject can be explored by getting involved in school extra curriculars? Investing all your time into these topics is the end goal. Your curriculum vitae will give a business consulting industry partner’s eyes everything it needs to know to want to meet and interview you. If you are unable to get a job in consulting when you graduate from school you should get a job in a relevant skill area. Then later it will be easy to jump into consulting with a CV that fits exactly the consulting firms’ needs.
4. Final touch — academic scores: Unfortunately the reality is that competition is tough out of undergraduate so make sure you get the best possible grades. Graduate top of your class if you can. Focus. Work hard. A rewarding career awaits you if you just put the time into this and put off some of your other activities for a while.
If you do these things you are well ahead of everyone out there and will have the best chance of securing a good consulting position in firms like McKinsey, BCG or IBM. The first step is to be taken now. If you are knowledgeable in criticism management consulting you will have secured your position.