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Careers in consulting - an introduction
Consultancy is now one of the most popular career options for MBAs and one of the fastest growing sectors in the business world.
Although the boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred, it is still possible to divide the consultancy sector into three: Strategy Consulting, General Management Consulting and IT Consulting. Let’s look briefly at each of them.
Strategy Consulting
Historically, strategy consultancy has meant the provision of advice to senior management in large organisations on the future direction of their business. This may involve analysing growth opportunities, cost reduction exercises or benchmarking products, services or structure against competitors. However, as recommendations increasingly lead to the refocusing, re-engineering or re-launching of a client’s business, many strategy consultancies have moved from their traditional role as pure advisors to also providing support in the implementation phase of major projects.
Management Consulting
The general management consulting field covers a wide variety of services from the consultancy arms of the major accounting firms, concentrating on operational and organisational issues, through to corporate identity specialists and executive search companies. Put very simply, while advice and recommendation play a large part in the work, the emphasis in general management consultancy is on ‘doing’ - implementing a system, reorganising a department, improving a process - and will consequently appeal to those with a more practical, ‘hands-on’ approach.
IT Consulting
With information technology permeating all aspects of our lives, both in the workplace and at home, IT consultancy has mushroomed over the last decade and is now, not just a functional specialism, but an industry in itself. IT consultancy ranges across all areas of strategy and general management consultancy, from advising clients on how to take best advantage of new technologies, to change management, to systems implementation and new product development. on developing basic skills and competencies.
Choices
How quickly you adapt to working in consultancy will depend largely on your choice of employer and matching their internal culture to your personality and aspirations. The internal workings of individual practices can vary dramatically. Some, particularly large US owned consultancies, adopt a strictly uniform approach in which consultants are expected to act, work and even dress to reflect a clearly defined corporate image and set of consulting methodologies. Others, believing that their capacity for lateral thinking and less obvious solutions should be reflected in the individuality of their people, encourage a degree of flamboyance more usually associated with advertising and design agencies. Some adopt a completely relaxed approach to image, relying on the quality of their people to win and retain business. At the offices of one highlysuccessful niche consultancy, for example, jeans and t-shirts are more common than business suits and ties.
Size matters
The size of firm you join is also an important consideration. The bigger the firm, the more likely it is to have a broad client base covering most major industries, while smaller firms often have a niche approach, offering in-depth experience of a particular sector. The training on offer with large firms such as Accenture, Bain, Boston Consulting Group or IBM is among the best on offer to new graduates, but large organisations are not for everyone. For those preferring a more intimate environment the market offers an increasing number of practices employing between ten and fifty consultants.
Lifestyle
For the successful, consultancy can offer a fast-track career and unrivalled experience, but they come with a price tag. Hours are long, levels of travel can be high and consultants are continually pushed to their physical and intellectual limits to provide an optimum service to clients. One of the major attractions (and challenges!) of consultancy is the speed at which graduate recruits are expected to develop.
After an initial orientation period. you can expect to find yourself quickly working as a junior member of a client team, doing much of the 'leg-work' on a project, but all the time gaining valuable consultancy skills and learning from more experienced colleagues. To sum up, consultancy is no option for the faint-hearted, but, in return for your ambition, hard work and commitment, it can offer a portfolio of skills and a range of contacts that will prove invaluable in your future career progression.
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