If you are in your final year at university or you have recently finished your degree, there is a chance you are looking at jobs in management consulting. It is an incredibly interesting and challenging profession, which offers a great starting salary and many job opportunities going forward. Moreover, it is a convenient way to get to know different industries and business functions for those who are still unsure about which career path to follow in the long run.
Before applying directly for graduate jobs though, you should consider taking a different route: apply for internships and secure a full-time job offer afterwards.
Based on my own experience, having completed two internships at top tier strategy consulting firms and having received job offers after both, I would argue it is the best way into consulting. It allows you to make sure that consulting in general – and your chosen firm in particular – is right for you, it gives you more flexibility in terms of career planning, and you can benefit from a shorter application process.
Consulting is not for everyone
No matter how set you are on a consulting career, it is still possible you won’t actually like the job. There are lots of drawbacks to this kind of work that many people initially tend to ignore or brush off as “not that bad.” Working 80+ hours during stressful weeks, not being home (or having any notable social life) between Monday and Thursday, frequent travel, and a high-pressure work environment can really take a toll on some people. Of course, most firms are taking serious steps to reduce working hours and work-related stress, but I have met plenty of people who decided that this lifestyle is not right for them after they had experienced it first hand. It is a fair choice and it is a decision you can easily make at the end of an eight-week internship. Once you have already started a full-time job though, it may be much more difficult to quit in case you realise that you do not enjoy the job or the lifestyle that comes with it.
Get to know firms and their differences
If you want to figure out what reallydifferentiates firms, company websites and recruitment events may not be enough. There are a lot of subtle differences between consultancies, which you will only discover if you have spent some time working at different places. For instance, the way employees interact with each other and the importance of seniority can differ substantially between firms. Some companies have overtime policies or compensate for long hours by granting you additional days off, others do not. Some mainly staff you in regional projects, others have global staffing models, offering you a broader choice of projects while also making you travel more. Other differences include the diversity of projects, the quality of flights and hotels, and the scope of support functions such as research and presentation design.
Stay flexible
Although this needn’t be relevant for everyone, doing an internship before starting the full-time job can give you a great deal of flexibility in terms of career planning. Once you have received a job offer, you are usually relatively free in terms of when to start. Thinking of doing some travelling, another degree, or trying out another job before you are fully committed and restricted by your yearly holiday allowance? This is your chance. And you can do all of it with the assurance of a fantastic job waiting for you afterwards.
Shorter application process
I know several people who could have become great management consultants, but were stopped by the application process. While online tests, case studies, and tricky personal fit interviews can surely determine the competence of a candidate to some degree, they don’t reflect every day work with all of its nuances. If you are applying for an internship, you usually face a shorter (and perhaps easier) recruitment process, which gives you fewer opportunities to mess up in artificial situations. Instead, you can prove whether you are a good fit in the actual work context, which is beneficial to you as well as the employer.
Of course, one could argue that there is the additional barrier of getting a job offer in the end: doing well in 2 additional hours of case interviews might be easier than doing well over an eight-week period of time. However, you need to consider that your relationship with the firm is very much a two way street, so your evaluation at the end of the internship will rarely come as a surprise. If you are enjoying the internship, it is likely you will get a job offer – if not, then you probably don’t want a full-time job anyway.
Ultimately, there is not much to lose and a lot to gain from this approach.
Max Kulaga holds a degree in Economics and Management from the University of Oxford and was President of one of Oxford’s largest business societies. The German-born has also completed internships at two top tier strategy consultancies and is keen on sharing his experiences and knowledge about the industry.
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