The NUS MBA Consulting Club

First Step in getting a management consulting job?
Find the jobs that are out there!

The way I see it, there are basically 3 steps in getting a management consulting job.

1. Finding the jobs that are out there
2. Applying for the jobs you like and getting interview calls for those
3. Converting the interviews into offers

In this blog entry, I’ll discuss the first step, finding the jobs that are out there. Many people, when they think of management consulting, think it’s just McKinsey, BCG and Bain. However, there are many other firms as well. And in this economic climate, it’s important to cast your net wide. Below are three good references you can use to find other management consulting firms.

1. Wetfeet and Vault Guides to the Consulting Industry
This is a great start. Your university’s career management center will normally have hard copies or access to the soft copies of these. Theses guides usually have a list of top 50 consulting firms ranked in terms of reputation, functional area expertise, quality of work/life balance, etc.

http://www.vault.com/nr/consulting_rankings/consulting_rankings.jsp?consulting2009=2&ch_id=252

http://shop.wetfeet.com/Browse/Consulting-Careers/25-Top-Consulting-Firms.aspx

2. LinkedIn
Vault and Wetfeet will only get you information on the top 50 consulting firms. But what about the rest? The smaller boutique firms? There are thousands out there! LinkedIn is a great source for this. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account yet, get one now! It’s an essential tool for all MBAs!



If you browse “Management Consulting”, you will find thousands of results for management consulting firms across the world. Just click on the names to learn more and find if you are connected to any of the firms’ employees.




3. Google
And let’s not forget good ol’ trusty google. If you have a background in a particular industry, just google for consulting firms in those industries. It can be quite powerful, but you’d need to filter out the noise. Just searching “Management Consulting – Telecom”, lead me to the following firms:

a) Consequi Group:
http://www.consequi.com/pages/1/index.htm




I suggest you create an excel file to store the information you collect about the companies. Be sure to capture, their names, their industry focus, their website address, recruiter contact, application process, and very importantly, the resume/application deadlines. This will allow you to plan your application process in order to give yourself enough time to prepare the applications and also to ensure you don’t miss any deadlines.

Sendhuran Govindan
MBA Class of 2009
UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School
NUS Business School (exchange)