Does the consulting door close after you graduate business school?

Question

I went to Harvard undergrad and Booth MBA. I got a 730 on the Gmat.

I've been out of Booth for 3-4 years. I did not do any management consulting recruiting at Booth.

My industry is getting hit *very* hard by Corona (think aviation, travel, etc.). I do not work for a prestigious firm.

My question is this:

Is it still possible for me to get hired by a top management consulting firm, or did that door close when I didn't recruit at Booth? I would be fine with entering "as" an MBA (i.e. I would not require a higher salary or need some type of special status). From my brief research, there appears to be an 'experienced hire' pipeline, though I would not fit that. Logically, I would not think I am less able now to do anything than I was 3 years ago, but maybe the firms think differently.

Only trying to ascertain if this is a possibility. Thanks for any and all help.

souvik101990 · Answer

I would say it depends.

Most people who get into consulting do it through the school they are in. There are two ways of getting into consulting after business school:

1. You get in as an experience hire a couple of years down the line - most likely as a subject matter expert
2. You hustle and you get in after a few months of doing whatever you got in after business school.

ENGRTOMBA2018 did #2

bb · Answer

My guess is that everyone probably has frozen they’re hiring for the time being. There’s too much uncertainty even for management consulting firms though I’m sure they will be the last ones to go down

Sorry about your company getting hit. I work in the travel industry and the ownership companies have seen 75 or 80% of the stock value evaporate within two weeks. It’s pretty insane. Posted from my mobile device

stan4321 · Answer

souvik101990

2. You hustle and you get in after a few months of doing whatever you got in after business school.

Can you explain #2 a bit more more? Does this mean if someone graduated in, say, May 2019, that they could do some job for a few months, say til Aug or Sept of '19, and still apply for consulting, but after approx. fall of '19 they would not be able to apply?

Does this also mean that me, as someone likely not a "subject matter expert" (#1) and also 3-4 years out of MBA (#2), that there is no reasonable avenue into consulting?

Thanks

bb · Answer

I think this is also a fantastic opportunity for you to reach out to your booth classmates who did recruit at MC and MBB. Hopefully you have a good enough relationship that you can just ask for their input and get their perspective, and possibly some of them can refer you or save you time?

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

ENGRTOMBA2018 · Answer

Sorry to hear about your travails! I come from NA aviation industry prior to Kellogg and now work as a management consultant. So I can fully understand your plight!

As for your question, I don’t think there is ever a barrier in life that you can’t conquer if you really want it and know how to leverage your network! As Souvik mentioned above, I worked at a FAANG company for 5 months post Kellogg and then switched to Management consulting. I’ve also been invited to interviews at MBB (all 3) due to my network but will push those interviews out to later this year or early next year given that every company has put a hiring freeze.

At the end of the day, nothing is difficult per se but recruiting after graduating definitely needs a lot of commitment. But unfortunately, you need to wait until this COVID-19 storm subsides. That being said, be proactive and start reaching out to your MBB and other consulting firm friends around May-July timeframe so that they start recommending you for experienced hire roles. Do note that you will be coming in as a generalist for MBB and thus you should also be open to working across industries/function!

I hope this answers your question.

Happy to chat more. Feel free to DM!

Posted from my mobile device

mmperez100 · Answer

What were you doing at the FAANG company before consulting interviews?

Does the consulting door close after you graduate business school?

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