Career insights by GGI is a new series by GGI sharing hacks and tips around management consulting, MBA, product management and public policy.
In this GGI career insight, we will be sharing insights into: why management consulting could be the right career path for you.
Is management consulting the right career path for you? This question requires a lot of introspection on your part if you are contemplating becoming a management consultant.
Thus, we would be unfolding the answers to this question together.
This question is particularly interesting for me since I have been a management consultant not once, but twice.
At the age of 21, I joined a boutique management consulting firm run by former McKinsey consultants. Later, after my ISB MBA, I joined BCG. I had 2 major reasons to get into this industry, which I would be sharing during the course of this career insight.
1. Brand and Exit Opportunities
1.1 Prestige
My decision-making factors included prestige and honour. As shallow as it may sound, this is my most candid response.
Management consulting jobs come with a lot of recognition and glamour. For the same reason, I am a big fan of management consulting firms, for they have built such a prestigious brand around themselves, that a youngster wants to work for them.
So much so that consulting aspirants spent months preparing for the interviews.
1.2 Exit Opportunities
So, after living the flamboyant life of a management consultant, exit opportunities become a pertinent question. Exits, even after working at a boutique management consulting firm, are promising.
In my case, I got to work at a fast-rising E-commerce, Groupon (now- Nearbuy), in a strategy role, as I moved out of my first consulting role.
These were largely the points that drove me towards a consulting job as a fresh graduate. Some might find them short-sighted or naive, but it offered me great opportunities to kick-start my career. Even though I was unable to crack McKinsey at this stage, it laid down the path for my journey with MBB in the future. Now, after years of professional experience and my ISB MBA, I had some more mature reasons to go after consulting.
2. Network and Intellectual curiosity
2.1 Network
Since I had worked with the former chairman of McKinsey before, I had gotten exposure to a lot of partners there already. This further made me want to become part of another alumni network.
The BCG alumni group is said to be a tight-knit network fostering collaboration and growth. I can speak from experience, this web of connections holds true to its reputation. The meaningful relationships I forged during my time at BCG continue to be of the best value today.
The best example is that BCG partners support my education venture, even today.
2.2 Intellectual Stimulation
Being a part of the creamy layer known as BCG employees and alumni is an encouraging experience in itself. This brings us to my second point on intellectual stimulation. In my opinion, the MBB are not just organisations but fantastic educational institutions in themselves. The skills they teach you, become a part of your thinking process after a while. My learnings while working as a consultant in BCG are largely applicable to my entrepreneurial journey today. You may leave consulting, but consulting does not leave you.
At Global Governance Initiative, you learn how to put your thinking caps on, to help you get into the MBB firms. In addition to that, you become part of a large and global alumni network, which helps you get the support and connections required in your journey ahead.
Author: Shatakshi Sharma, Co-CEO Global Governance Initiative, Ex-BCG Management Consultant, Former Policy Advisor, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
If you need more help to get into consulting, feel free to check out GGI's MBA Scholar program, here.
There are a few ways to locate a phone number on google map. The first way is to simply type the phone number into the Google Maps search bar. The second way is to click on the "Locate" link next to the phone number in the Google search results. The third way is to open Google Maps and drag and drop the phone number onto the map.