Management Consulting

[liquid1010]

Is anyone on here a Management Consultant? I'm just wondering about that career path, and any help would be appreciated.

[Thomas Gabriel]

Project Management? If it's IT start as a business analyst, engg start as an engineer. Generally 10 years experience. Need PMP cert for sure.

If you mean some kind of high level OB/strategy consultant, 20 years experience, graduate degree.

[BananaFob]

I just quit my job as a management consultant not too long ago. Hours were crazy, work was stressful and the pay was not great.

I came into it straight out of my B.Comm because of the work experience that I had but my boss was looking for someone with an MBA or other graduate degree. Had to go through 5 rounds of interviews :nut:

[Ajay]

Management Consultants generally have a MBA from a pretty recognized institution.

A good friend of mine finished his MBA not long ago and is working at a top Management Consulting firm in Calgary. He works pretty long hours but the pay more than makes up for it.

It's an interesting career path and I myself am intrigued by it. Either you get into it by doing your MBA and getting on with a firm after before or after you graduate via career fairs or you know someone that can get you in.

[liquid1010]

I'm doing my MBA right now - so i'm think that this might be a path I'm looking for.

Do you know what firm your friend works for?

[cressida_pimpin]

I know McKinsey pays its associates (MBA level position) a starting salary of $100k. However, if you break it down to an hourly wage after considering a typical week is 55 to 60 hours, the pay is not that great. Also consider that the higher tax bracket means less will end up in your pocket. This becomes an important consideration when comparing the hourly wage of someone earning $75,000/yr for a 40 hour week to someone at McKinsey.

At an info session I was at, McKinsey representatives said that over 90% of people leave after two years to "explore other opportunities". In other words, after two years people are so burned out, they need to leave. At McKinsey, you move up (to greater levels of responsibility) or you move out.

One consultant mentioned he did 18 hour days for three weeks in a row which often happens when it's crunch time for projects.

I'm also working on my MBA and I looked into consulting as a career option. I have since dismissed it since it doesn't fit my with lifestyle.

[liquid1010]

So if you don't mind me asking - what direction are you going in?

My first thoughts out of undergrad were I-banking, but the hours turned me off. By the sounds of it, Mgmt consulting would be very similar.

I'm trying to see what would keep me with sane hours (45ish), but a decent salary. Most everything out there is investment sales or mid-level financial accounting - neither of which I have a desire to do.

[cressida_pimpin]

Originally posted by liquid1010
So if you don't mind me asking - what direction are you going in?

My first thoughts out of undergrad were I-banking, but the hours turned me off. By the sounds of it, Mgmt consulting would be very similar.

I'm trying to see what would keep me with sane hours (45ish), but a decent salary. Most everything out there is investment sales or mid-level financial accounting - neither of which I have a desire to do.

I'm going in the direction or marketing, communications or market research. Consulting is definitely less than the 80 hour weeks of i-banking, but still way too much. I'm not doing my MBA for a position of power or for the money. I want a job that I really enjoy and that pays a good salary. In the future I'm hoping my MBA may be the ticket to landing a job that requires 10 hours per week less but pays the same salary as my former job. Figure out what you enjoy doing, and what type of job you would look forward to everyday.

[TomcoPDR]

Originally posted by BananaFob
I just quit my job as a management consultant not too long ago. Hours were crazy, work was stressful and the pay was not great.

I came into it straight out of my B.Comm because of the work experience that I had but my boss was looking for someone with an MBA or other graduate degree. Had to go through 5 rounds of interviews :nut:


What sort of task does this job entail to Aaron?

[Mckenzie]

The other thing to consider with management consulting is that you are typically on the road doing projects in other cities most of the time. A friend with BCG spent like 3 months in Italy.

I interviewed with the deloitte mgmt consultants when i was finishing up undergrad and they said you typically fly out sunday night, come back thursday night and work friday from the office, then do it all over again. The pay is decent, but not extraordinary. However the work is interesting for sure. Like banking, it is super competitive and lifestyle wise, it is tough.

[Ebon]

I would prob. say that management consulting at a top firm (Mckinsey, BCG, Bain) is harder to get into than Ibanking. Mostly cause of entry level class sizes. You don't need an army of analysts in consulting like in banking.

You can definitely get in with just a BCOMM. Assuming your GPA is high and you interview well (rock your case studies)

This may be different because of the recession.

Your days will prob be around 12-16 hours with little downtime depending on your office. You could see less in Latin America or you could see banking hours in Asia. Still less than banking though.

It's VERY team based. You live and breath your project but it's a good chance to build professional relationships.

You become a master at powerpoint and giving presentations. You do use excel but not to the extent of bankers.

Basically, your gonna spend most of your time on: team and client meetings, data gathering/analysis, slide creation, and conference calls

Management consultants try to fix inefficiencies. Eg. Increase revenue, cut costs, hire/fire employees etc.

[BananaFob]

Originally posted by TomcoPDR



What sort of task does this job entail to Aaron?

Mostly working as a spreadsheet monkey. Lots of research, lots of client interaction in terms of identifying problems and trying to build buy in amongst our client's teams in order to accept our reccomendations.

[Celica TVS3]

Originally posted by liquid1010
I'm trying to see what would keep me with sane hours (45ish), but a decent salary. Most everything out there is investment sales or mid-level financial accounting - neither of which I have a desire to do.

These are some of the jobs that are currently posted on the Calgary CFA Society job board. I think most would have about a 45 hour week, pay farily reasonably, and provide you with some upward mobility or skills that you could take elsewhere.

What about Investor Relations for an oil and gas company?

http://www.calgarycfasociety.com/Jobline/FY%202009-2010%20Postings/September%202009/Vermillion_Investor%20Relations%20Specialist_September%202009.pdf

Assist a Portfolio Manager? (not sure how this would pay)

http://www.calgarycfasociety.com/Jobline/FY%202009-2010%20Postings/October%202009/Mawer_Portfolio%20Management%20Analyst_October%202009.pdf

IB/Research work but on the Private Equity Side? (this is a small shop, hours are probablay reasonable).

http://www.calgarycfasociety.com/Jobline/FY%202009-2010%20Postings/October%202009/JOG%20Capital_Private%20Equity%20Associate_October%202009.pdf

I've worked in Equity Research (associate) for the past 2.5 years. If you have any questions about that path, feel free to shoot me a PM.