According to the latest edition of the annual TopMBA.com Recruitment and Salary Survey, demand for MBAs in the consultancy sector has risen by a massive 35%in the past twelve months. Together with investment banking, the sector is likely to account for as much as 50%of all hiring at many of the world's top schools in 2005. The apparent attractions of working in consultancy are numerous - international travel, the opportunity to influence the direction of major companies across a wide range of sectors, contact with senior level management.and let's not forget the financial rewards on offer. According to the Survey, top consultancies are predicting average base salaries for new MBA hires of US$ 94,000, while one North American firm has reported making offers of as much as US$ 117,500. But what is life for a fresh business school graduate really like as a consultant and is it the right choice for you?
Perhaps the most high profile area in today's consulting sector is the specialised field of information technology consulting. However, a quick browse through the names in the TopMBA.com Survey's list of the major recruiters of MBAs in 2005 - names such as Bain & Co, Booz Allen Hamilton and McKinsey & Co - shows that business schools are still largely equipping their graduates for what is termed 'classic' management or strategy consultancy. Fundamentally, this type of consultancy is about the generation of ideas and their application in the marketplace to make an organisation more effective than its competitors. The capital of firms operating in this field is not product but intellect. Consequently, they look for individuals who can demonstrate a definite set of skills - high intelligence, strategic thinking, problem solving capability, analytical capacity and last, but by no means least, the ability to work effectively with people at all levels, whether they are clients or fellow consultants. This does not necessarily mean, however, that consultants need to come from a particular background in terms of academic education, discipline or industry sector. Mindful of the perception in the 1970s and 80s that they were in danger of turning out 'clones', many firms now actively recruit with the concept of diversity well to the fore. As Sali Hallsworth, Director of Professional Development for AT Kearney in Europe puts it, "There is no such thing as an AT Kearney 'type'. We pride ourselves on recruiting and retaining a diverse and varied spectrum of people - I can remember working in a project team, for example, where the client commented that he couldn't believe we all came from the same firm!"
Because consultants can now come from such a wide range of backgrounds, the amount of time, effort and money that major firms invest in training and development has risen exponentially. Within the larger players, the first step is often to emphasise that, while individuality is encouraged, new hires need to see themselves as part of a team, which can literally span the globe. Back at AT Kearney, new recruits are put into the organisation's 'boot camp', New Consultant Orientation. This sixday immersion program takes the form of an intensive introduction to basic consultancy skills and individuals get to work for the first time with their peers from right across their continental region. At Bain & Co, entry level MBAs follow a similar path with a one week induction course at their local office followed by a week's training in an international group at the firm's facility in Miami in the USA.
Being part of this international team may, in the long run, prove to be a consultant's greatest reward, whether they stay within the sector or not. Well aware of the value of networking and the power of the alumni network that the key US business schools have demonstrated, many firms now foster their own alumni programs to the benefit of both themselves and the individual. As ex-consultants increasingly take up top roles across commerce, industry, finance and the public sector, the common bond of experience and alma mater can prove an invaluable asset in long-term career development.
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Adrian Barrett writes on business education for the World MBA Tour, the largest international programme of business education information fairs. The World MBA Tour offers the opportunity to meet admissions officers from more than 250 leading schools in over 50 locations around the world.
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