Management consulting career path is an often-traversed path for most MBAs, and there is a reason why an MBA from a top Business School will enable candidates to take that path and transform themselves into successful consultants. The history of the Founders of two of the top Three Management Consulting Firms – McKinsey, BCG and Bain & Company, is evidence of the long association that the top Management consulting firms have with Business Schools.
James O. McKinsey, the Founder of McKinsey & Company, was the professor of accounting at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and Bruce Henderson, the Founder of the Boston Consulting Groups attended Harvard Business School. Bill Bain, the Founder of Bain & Company worked for BCG, and was considered the successor of Bruce Henderson but in 1973, Bill changed his career path, and started Bain & Company.
To understand how an MBA can contribute towards developing a career in Management Consulting, candidates should understand the seven Skills that Management Consultants must develop to be successful in the industry.
1) Listening
A consulting engagement requires the Consultant to understand the client’s need, clarify the requirement, and understand the actual needs behind each requirement. In order to understand the underlying message behind every communication, consultants must develop the skill of active listening – both verbal and non-verbal.
2) Analytical Skills
To make sense of the latest trends, and potential of a company, Consultants must be strong analytically and be able to convert data into trends, and translate strategies into Key Performance Indicators.
3) Industry Knowledge
Having a strong Analytical mind will only take the consulting engagement to the halfway mark. The real work happens when Consultants understand the Context of each problem, and develop solutions accordingly. This requires a deeper understanding of industry best practices, how the Business works in the Industry – its unique position, competitors and bottlenecks, and the dynamics of how each element in the Business eco-system interact with each other.
4) Effective Communication
Consultants must be an effective communicator and define clear client expectations. They should develop skills in probing, salesmanship, capturing 360-degree feedback, managing client expectations, and ensuring that the deliverables promised under the consulting engagement are fulfilled.
5) Leadership
The most important skill that a Management Consultant should possess is leadership. The consultant must take personal responsibility of the engagement, and should play a key role in overseeing the analysis, planning, and implementation of the project. She should review the quality of deliverables in various stages of the project. The consultant’s leadership skills are leveraged to develop the intellectual capital for the organization.
6) People Skills
Consulting engagement involve interacting with stakeholders across companies at various job roles. The consultant must be adept at training, talent spotting, and motivating team members at all levels.
7) Creative Skills
Although analytical thinking is a pre-requisite for Management Consulting career, solving complex problems happens when the consultant introduces creativity to the environment. Although creativity is an inherited trait, lot of the characteristics of creative thinking can be developed.
From the 7 Key Skills, MBA will provide the tools to develop skills in leadership, Listening, communication, and creativity. The industry knowledge can be acquired through an internship at top Management consulting firms. One defining factor that favors an MBA route for aspiring Management Consultants is the relationship that Business Schools have with top Consulting firms. According to Case Interview, there are HR representatives assigned to each school – one HR will be in charge of Harvard, another for Kellogg and so on. Traditionally, such opportunities do not open up with non-MBA career path, especially in the US.
About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
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