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Some Q&A about Management Consulting Firm

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Some Q&A about Management Consulting Firm

文章Opeman » 2007-04-09 15:16

1. Which MBA courses will be helpful for consulting interview?

On the basis of my own interview experience, the following courses are very useful regarding cracking the case interview.

Microeconomics
Marketing Strategy (3C & 4P )
Operation/ Supply chain
Competitive Strategy (5 forces analysis)
Managerial Accounting (Cost analysis)
Corporate Finance (Basic valuation )

Unfortunately, you won't be able to complete all of them by most of the internship interview schedule (around mid Jan to Feb).

2. Preparation for consulting interview:

Once you get the interview invitation from consulting firms, the only way to prove yourself qualified for this job is to crack the case. No matter how good you are in the "fit" interview, if you bomb the case you won't be able to get offer even you are the Top 5 MBA student.

1. The best thing you can do for summer internship interview is 1. To read as many case books as possible- an efficient way to accumulate your business knowledge as well as sharpen your common sense. 2. Practice with your partner.

2. It's true that having no consulting experience in summer won't decrease your chances of getting into consulting firms for full time.


3. What kind of skills in general are consulting firms looking for?
Lastly, consulting firms in general are looking for candidates who can:

A. Solve the problem with clear structure and great analytical skill
B. Presentable in front of clients
C. Good Team player


4. I have a feeling that to successfully crack a case, besides all the preparations and practices, there is a "it" that makes a person better than another to crack the case, whatever that "it" is (does it sound like those E-bay commercial? probably shouldn't watch too much TV...). Anyone wants to comment on this?


I don't think there is a magic answer to that "it". The thing is, not many candidates can smoothly approach the case and eventually crack the case. The failure may result from many factors:

Confidence level
Presentation ability
Deduction ability
Business knowledge
.........

As Mark said, consulting firm is not always asking for a specific answer (although for some cases there is a certain answer). Instead, they are examining whether u can approach a problem systematically with enough confidence level and then make a clear, reasonable conclusion based on the information you dig out from the interview process

5. Are you going to say that if i want to get in finance/consulting company, top 15 to top 20 may not be a good platform? The chance for students from top 15 to top 20 to get in is extremely hard? I do not understand the nature of finance/consulting, but shouldn't past working experience and industry specific take into consideration?

Answer by MarkHsu
Before I answer this, let me explain the consulting we are talking about. Consulting is of course a broad term. Among MBAs, consulting usually refers to Management/Strategy Consulting, which takes a "big picture" view of business, such as offering advice to "C-level" managers. The big global firms are McKinsey, BCG, Bain, AT Kearney, etc. But, there are also very respectable boutique firms that no one in Taiwan has heard about and who have a thriving practice. Even within this industry, there is an heirarchy.

The difference between these strategy firms vs. Big-4 firms (DTT, EY, KPMG, PwC) is that the big-4 firms offer more business process advice, how to streamline/improve operations. Some people from the big-4 firms may disagree, but for the most part that's how the industry is viewed.

There is also IT consulting. Some names that come to mind: IBM, EDS, JD Power, SAP, Oracle, etc., but for the most part they are very technical consulting and don't involve big-picture strategy.

So having this understanding in mind, let's address the initial questions.

Why is it difficult for graduates from non-top MBAs to enter strategy consulting?

1) The business is about people. Clients pay a lot of money to get advice from these top firms. Most projects start at a minimum US$500,000, which will buy you at most just a few months worth of advice only.

2) When the clients pay that kind of people, they want to see top people. One way to gauge "quality" is school. For the consulting firms, it is safe to hire HBS/MIT/Stanford/Wharton grads. After all if they **** up, what can you say? They are afterall the best the world has to offer. (I am not saying this is right or fair, but that's how corporates think.)

3) From the corporate view, I am paying ~US$150,000/year in salary alone. If I add in taxes, overhead, travel, the cost can easily double or more likely triple. So each newly graduated assoicate is costing me ~400,000-500,000. For that I better get the "best."

4) Even though it may seem like there are a lot of consultants running around, the fact is that the openings are limited. For Asian students, the market is even tougher because consulting has had a limited history in Asia. So as a Taiwanese/international student, you realistically have few options. It wouldn't make any sense to have a Taiwanese student even if he/she went to Harvard to work out of the Boston or LA office. As a Taiwanese, your comparative advantage is Greater China.

I can give you some stats. In Taiwan, only McKinsey has a real presence. McK has hired between 6 to 8 new assoicates a year. I'd say roughly half of the hires are ABCs and half of the hires are native Taiwanese. So basically, that's about 3 to 4 spaces who for people who did their undergrads in Taiwan. By my estimates, there are about 60-75 Taiwan who attend a "top 15" MBA program per class. So from just a statistical point of view, it just gets harder and harder as you move away from the top 15.

5) This is not saying that somewhat attending Georgetown or any other school is not as smart as someone who attends a so-called top school. But the MBA offers a "signaling" effect. Perhaps McK will automatically invite someone who attends Stanford to a Rd 1 interview, whereas it may take a lot of effort from someone who is not at a core recruiting school to get McK's attention and secure even an invitation.

Re: Past working experience for consulting

This is not that important for consulting. Sure it's important to have professional experience, but it's not a critical factor. What is more important is pure brain power for consulting. Again, it's a people business.

1) Summer internships for Consulting is very rare. Spaces are very limited.

2) You can be from almost any background to enter consulting, so long as you can crack the case interview.

3) Previous professional experience can be helpful only if there is a specific need for it. If you have say an energy background, you might prove particularly helpful in Singapore/Middle East where there is a large energy industry. Same with tech manufacturing for Taiwan/China
最後由 Opeman 於 2007-07-03 18:24 編輯,總共編輯了 2 次。
Sean Lin
______________________________________________________
The Boston Consulting Group
The University Of Chicago, MBA Class of 2007
美洲留學版/管理顧問業討論專版/Formosa同學會-Chicago Booth 版主
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文章訪客 » 2007-04-09 23:10

Opeman, 真是辛苦你了
非常棒的整理
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文章lpwpete » 2007-07-20 22:52

Thank you for the excellent-organized!
I appreciated sincerely!
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Re: Some Q&A about Management Consulting Firm

文章I-Ting Chang » 2008-09-16 22:53

我本來的計畫是唸完MBA就去做consultant但是被我老闆勸說了一番...
他說如果只有三年industry experience就直接去做consultant可能要從junior的做起然後熬個七八年才有associate職位...

真的是這樣嗎???

懇請答覆~~~
I-Ting Chang
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Re: Some Q&A about Management Consulting Firm

文章Opeman » 2008-09-16 23:46

It's not true at all.
As long as you earn a top 15 MBA degree and then join management consulting firm, you will surely start as a consultant BCG/ Bain or associate at Mckinsey with global pay.

7-8 years? You can become a Partner/Principal with that experience in consuting industry.
Sean Lin
______________________________________________________
The Boston Consulting Group
The University Of Chicago, MBA Class of 2007
美洲留學版/管理顧問業討論專版/Formosa同學會-Chicago Booth 版主
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Opeman
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文章: 486
註冊時間: 2004-11-19 01:24
來自: 香港 Times Square


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