Management consulting is one of the more popular career paths in most business schools, particularly as one considers the growth of internal consulting positions within firms. While management consulting firms hire many graduates, of increasing importance are corporate positions in strategic business development, general strategy, and internal consulting. Many MBAs find that consulting skills prepare them for analyst or general management positions. Most firms generally emphasize some combination of consulting in three areas – strategy, operations/supply chain, and information systems.
Strategy Consulting: Strategic consulting focuses on matching the company’s external environment with internal strengths to decide which paths the company should follow when faced with a wide array of opportunities.
Operations/Supply Chain Consulting: Business processes occur in almost any functional area of the firm from accounting, to customer service, to manufacturing. Business process improvement can often yield significant results in cycle times, cost, quality, and customer satisfaction. Supply chain consulting takes the operations process view outside of the firm to focus on the movement of inventory and information across the entire supply chain in order to improve quality, service, inventory, labor, overhead, and transaction costs to the profitability of the entire supply chain. Operations/supply chain consulting requires involves strategic thinking and a good understanding of information systems.
IT Systems and Implementation Consulting: IT consultants play a role in designing, developing, and/or implementing information technology systems for financial reporting, inventory control, human resources, customer relationship management, e-commerce, etc. This type of consulting often requires a thorough understanding of the information technologies, the business processes and the strategic context in which the information system is deployed.
Skills Desired:
The consultant’s job is generally to define the problem facing the client and propose or implement the appropriate solutions. Candidates should be able to quickly take advantage of prior experience, hypothesize solutions, analyze them, find a course of action, and effectively communicate their recommendations. Firms seeking internal or external consultants expect candidates to have a well-developed ability to work in teams, strong communication and presentation skills, financial analysis skills, leadership skills, and strong problem definition and critical thinking skills.
Resources:
Part-Time MBA Program Portfolio Information Sessions Graduate Business Career Center: Panels on MBA Career Options
Recruiting: In recent years, from 10 to 20% of the jobs filled through the Graduate Business Career Center (GBCC) were described as consulting positions by the students who took them. The areas of expertise of the successful job seekers were varied, combining functional strengths in finance and marketing with coursework in information technology, operations management, supply chain management and strategy.
Students wishing to pursue career opportunities in internal or external consulting will need to understand and be skilled in case interviewing. This form of interview is used by almost all consulting firms and an increasing number of firms in general, enabling them to evaluate a student’s ability to approach and solve complex business problems. The technique is best mastered through individualized coaching followed by continual practice. Resources on case interviewing are available through the Graduate Business Career Center and the MBA Consulting Club.
Vault.com – Consulting Industry Home Offers company and industry overviews. Message boards organized by company. Good forum for seeing insiders discussing their concerns.
Print:
The Fast Track: The Insider's Guide to Winning Jobs in Management Consulting, Investment Banking, and Securities Trading , by Mariam Naficy, Paperback - 320 pages 1 Ed (October 1, 1997), Broadway Books; ISBN: 0767900405, List Price: $16.95.
Harvard Business School Guide to Management Consulting Firms An annually updated guide to a career in consulting with profiles of the top consulting firms.
Consulting Magazine The leading magazine covering the consulting industry. The primary companies covered are strategy firms (McKinsey, BCG, etc) and former "Big 5" firms (Accenture, Cape Gemini Ernst & Young).
Carlson Affiliations:
Carlson Consulting Club (student organization): Educational events, networking engagements, and case interviewing practice.
Carlson Toastmasters Club (student and staff organization): Members have the opportunity to practice public speaking and communication skills, and receive evaluations for improvement during weekly meetings.
Carlson Volunteer Consultants (student organization): Carlson Volunteer Consultants (CVC) is an organization comprised of University of Minnesota Carlson School MBA & MA-HRIR students who are dedicated to providing free-of-charge business consulting services to non-profit organizations in the Twin Cities. For students, the CVC experience offers the opportunity to contribute to the Twin Cities community, and to apply business skills and concepts in a "real world" setting.
Professional Affiliations:
Institute of Management Consultants Minneapolis/St. Paul Chapter 612-891-1994 A professional association made up of management consultants who have been in practice for a minimum of 10 years. The organization exists to promote professionalism and competence in the consulting community.
Case Interview Resources:
The Harvard College Guide to Consulting Case Questions by Marc P. Cosentino
"The Case Interview", a binder of information and sample cases collected by former students, is also available for reference in the GBCC library.
The courses in the Highly Recommended and Suggested sections below are valuable for the three types of consulting discussed in the Career Paths section. Beyond these initial recommendations, students should choose their coursework based on their desired specialization.
Highly Recommended Courses
MGMT 6031 Industry Analysis and Competitive Strategy (4 cr) ACCT 6100 Financial Statement Analysis (4 cr) OMS 6056 Managing Supply Chain Operations (4 cr) OMS 6041 Project Management (2 cr) IDSC 6490 Special Topics: Business Process Excellence (2 cr)
Suggested Courses
Strategic Management
MGMT 6032 Strategic Alliances (2 cr) MGMT 6033 Managing the Strategy Process (2 cr) MGMT 6034 Strategic Leadership (2 cr)
MIS
IDSc 6423 Enterprise Systems Technology (2 cr)
Finance
FINA 6242 Advanced Corporate Finance Analysis and Decisions (4 cr)
Accounting
ACCT 6320 Current Topics in Accounting: Advanced Managerial Accounting (2 cr)
Operations
OMS 6059 Quality Management and Six Sigma (4 cr) OMS 6081 Operations Strategy (2 cr)
The choice of additional coursework will depend on the individual’s specific area of interest. Clearly, each type of consulting (strategy, operations/supply chain, and IT) requires some depth in the appropriate area. Fortunately, the Carlson School has great depth in all three of these areas.
For strategy consulting, consider:
MGMT 6050 Management of Innovation and Change (2 cr) MGMT 6040 Globalization, Technology and International Management (2 credits) MGMT 6070 Strategies for e-Business (2 cr) FINA 6622 Financial Risk Management (2 cr) ACCT 6160 Accounting for Mergers, Acquisitions & Derivatives (2 cr)
Remember: Employers want more than functional skills. To differentiate yourself, consult the document Building Your Portfolio . There you will find suggestions for additional classes that can add international exposure, provide a strategic framework and build entrepreneurial skills, among others.
