I get a lot of similar questions on feasibility in F1GMAT’s Career Planning Service. One of the common questions I get from applicants in core engineering roles in industries like Oil & Gas, Electronics, Automobile, and Infrastructure is whether it’s feasible to switch to Management Consulting.
Although feasibility depends on each applicant’s experience and career path, there are 3 factors to consider:
1) Age
If you are in your late 20s or early 30s, the feasibility of switching to Management Consulting with an MBA is high. This is true for specialist applicants with a Master’s degree as an MBA enhances the experience, and employers post-MBA value the deep expertise. The trend now in consulting is that clients expect specialized knowledge and skillsets from Management Consultants. Only the top 5% to 10% of management consultants truly offer strategy-level solutions. The rest of them offer some form of technical strategy or guideline on building technical solutions.
For applicants in their mid-30s, the challenge is that you have established a strong reputation as a specialist. A Consulting company will only look at you as a niche expert. It is very tough to come out of that branding and establish yourself as a generalist who can thrive in offering solutions in adjacent industries.
2) Exposure
One factor that has the most influence on your potential to switch functions is your exposure. The first exposure should be to international markets and clients. This is the #1 roadblock when you switch to Management Consulting. If you are a specialist in a region, you are likely to continue in that region. It is fine for most applicants. But, many want to switch to Management Consulting because they want to get exposure to either emerging markets or the US.
I recently had a conversation with a former client who was working in the Oil & Gas industry. Now post-MBA he is working as a Consultant with a renewable energy startup. Most of the experience in his previous role around planning and setting up the infrastructure is transferable for the industry. You must be aware of how your skills are transferable to an adjacent industry. That determines most of the opportunities. If you are in a very niche role, the potential to switch into Consulting drops considerably.
Another factor that influences your career switch is exposure to different organizational hierarchies. Some consulting companies look for specialized consultants with experience in the government, non-profit, or even a certain kind of culture with strong politics. Depending on the diversity of your experience and exposure to managing multiple stakeholders in the organization, your feasibility improves drastically to switch to Consulting.
3) Myth Around Extraversion
A lot of clients ask if getting into Consulting is all about Extraversion. I disagree. Apart from candidates from Sales, I have yet to see a person who can talk openly about any topic. You are either an extrovert when it is about a topic that interests you or likely to listen and learn if the subject matter is new to you. This is an extremely important trait for a Consulting career.
Stakeholders have nuanced points that you need to listen to and understand. Defining the problem is more important in reaching a feasible solution than any other factor. And here, listening skills are extremely important.
