Anyone here a management consultant? Please lmk!

[UpperMaster]

Hey guys, is anyone here a management consultant or used to be one? I am very curious and want to understand more about this line of work.

If so please let me know, I'd love to get in touch and ask questions. 

Cheers. 

[OmniNaut]

Yes, sort of. Former IT QA consultant / (Internal & External) auditor / Software tester / Project coordinator (small team) here, all together totalling 8 years. Worked for big and small (Dutch) companies for big (nation wide) and small projects, spanning from Transport, Retail, Floral, Food, Health Insurance and Banking. I'm a bachelor in Change management. Had my failures and successes. 

Not active in the field anymore for almost 10 years now, the field has changed a lot in the mean time.

Although no excessive direct experience in the role as management consultant. I worked close with them, so I still might have some valuable insights.

I'm open to questions you might have.
 

Edited December 24, 2024 by OmniNaut

[UpperMaster]

@OmniNaut Hey, thanks a lot for your response!

I’m currently pursuing an undergraduate in business and economic, and there’s a chance  I might have opportunities to work with companies like EY or PwC since they recruit heavily from my university. I’m really curious about many aspects of the job, especially given your diverse experience. Im interested in management consulting rather than auditing and accounting because numbers are not my strong suit ahaha. 

Some questions I have are:

1. Are management consultants usually specialized in one field? I started reading a book about McKinsey, and it gave the impression that management consultants work on projects across many different industries. However, when I look at EY’s or McKinsey’s websites, they highlight the specific industries they operate in. So, I’m wondering if consultants usually end up specializing in one industry, or do they move across various fields over their careers.
2. Do you think its better to learn skills and gain experience in a big company like EY or a smaller company?
3. What should someone like me focus on during their undergraduate studies to prepare for consulting? (e.g., technical skills, business knowledge, soft skills, how much math is required?)
4. From your interactions with management consultants, what are the most common mistakes new consultants make?
5. How compatible do you think is management consulting with this self development work?

 

I know this is a handful but I am very curious to what you think. If you have time I would love if we could speak on the verbally over a call, there's plenty l am curious about (no pressure). 

 

I wish you a merry Christmas, thanks for responding I really appreciate it. 

Edited December 24, 2024 by UpperMaster

[UpperMaster]

@OmniNaut forgot to tag

[OmniNaut]

I will answer to the best of my abilities. Remember my experience is personal, from a different country, in a different era. So don't take it as truth, just as pointers.

I will divide it in 2 parts, General consultancy and Being a consultant.

But if I can offer one tip, wear sunscreen.😉

General consultancy
- As a consultant you basically have two employers, the company where you collect the pay check from and the client where you are on assignment.
 That means you wear two hats all the time, You think about the client and your employer. That can create dilemma's especially if you have a pushy employer to generate as much money as possible for them.
- You usually (not always) work on a project basis. So that means you are at a client for a couple of months or even can be years. But generally speaking being a consultant is an excellent way of being exposed to a lot of different companies. 
- In the beginning of your career you start at a typical consultancy company, can be big or small. They hire you, you get a steady pay check, maybe with some bonus if you perform well. A good way of starting your career. They will offer secondary things like a lease car (or transportation benefits), health care insurance, full pension plan, etc. The company provide the assignments, if there are no assignments you will still have an income, so a safe bet. Although they will expect you to study or do inhouse assignments in if you're not on assignment. Especially getting certificates, that will pump up your CV. Think SCRUM Master, Product Owner, Lean Six Sigma, etc, etc. A more attractive CV means higher chance of being picked, it can be brutal out there with the application process. That is why a starting at a traditional consultancy company can be beneficial. They will do the client acquisition part for you.
- Later in your career you have a couple of options. You can specialize, go more in depth in a particular role or field and become an expert in that area, or you can go into management positions, managing bigger teams, bigger responsibilities, bigger budgets etc.
- Consultancy companies have a huge overhead on your hourly fee. Let's say in my time max. 25% of the hourly fee was for me, the rest for the company.
- So a lot of consultants will later in the career do a couple of things:
    - They found a client which they like, and the client want to have the consultant as an employee. Read the contract of your consultancy company, because of conflicting interests.
    - They go freelance for themselves, they have the experience and network to provide their own assignments. This mean a 100% of the hourly rate is yours. But with it comes, you are your own business and everything is your responsibility now. (Be careful with fixed price assignments, have clear targets, DoD (Definition of Done), DoR (Definition of Ready)
    - There is also a midway called Midland construction, it's a consultancy company, with the perks. No assignment, you get a base salary, on assignment you will get commission on top. They will provide the assignments, although you can get commission if you bring your own.
- Big vs. Small company:
    - I had this dilemma when I started, two job offers, one small company (40 employees) and one from a big one (6000+). I eventually chose for the big one, for a couple of reasons.
    - Bigger companies usually get bigger deals with clients, the high profile assignments, which also can pump up your CV.
    - Because they can attract the big projects, they can deploy a team of different people in different roles at the company, creating a sort safe haven for you to operate from.
    - They cover different sectors, which makes it easier sometimes to get from one to another sector.
    - They have offices around the globe, so easier to work in a more international oriented team, or be send out to another country, if you prefer.
    - The company offers a bigger pool of roles, which make it easier to switch, if for example, you find IT consultancy more interesting then Business management.
- But there is something to be said for smaller companies too:
    - More direct lines to upper management,
    - Not being treated as a number.
- It’s true that you can specialise in different sectors, different sectors require different approaches as a consultant, for example Healthcare/Medical, Aerospace, Finance and the Military rely heavily on following strict protocols. So here it can be difficult to act fast, because department 1 have to give their approval and the department 2, etc. Industry, Distribution, Transport are more “loose”. The culture can be hugely different between the sectors, formal vs. informal, casual wear vs. a suit. Hierarchal vs. flat organisation.
Also some sectors require some kind of background check, which when you have done one time will be easier the next time. Don’t forget specific jargon for different sectors, which makes your start up time when you first enter a new client much easier.

Being a consultant
- The first thing I was taught, is be aware of assumptions, they are everywhere. We need them for survival and making decisions, but if they are unaware and unaddressed can create a lot of preventable problems.
A common poster that was hanging in the offices to illustrate the dangers of assumptions.

- Being a consultant alone dropped at a client can be daunting. Make sure you get good in absorbing and organizing the correct information. The faster you can make your self at home and understand the core business of your client the more valuable you can be. Don’t rely on documentation only, this can be incomplete and outdated, get your information from every level of the organisation, from executive business to the floor workers. Compare the information and spot the gaps and contradictions, this in itself can be really useful information about the organisation maturity and blind spots of the client.
- While picking your future employer, try to ask for a senior mentor (especially one that is also a consultant on assignment at the client you are send to). They can really help you navigate the first assignments and give you direct insights. (Thank you, Charles and Gerard)
- Cover your ass, be aware as a consultant you’re an easy target. If shit hits the fan, it’s easy to blame the external party. Document, document, document everything. Especially if it will come to trial, better safe than sorry. Also be aware that you can be used for political games within the client company, they will sacrifice you without hesitation.
- Your job is one way or another is to create or safe money for your clients, that can be opening new market segments, offer new services or new products. But that can also be optimizing business processes and being more efficient. (Look into Lean Six Sigma for this, don’t know if it’s still relevant though). Optimizing usually means that the job can be done with fewer people (downsizing). Have respect for that. Employees usually know when something is going to change within the company. If you’re brought in as an outsider, to “optimize” they can see you as the enemy. Therefor develop empathy for the common worker.
- Because you will work B2B, you basic work for the client of the client. Get to know the customer of your client.
- Act responsible, you’re the face of your employer, everything you will do will reflect back on the image of your employer.
- Communicate precise and clear, verbally and written, in your mother tongue and English.
- Almost all of the time it’s forbidden to copy client sensitive data. But you will create documents that work for you that will come back every assignment. Report, Project plans, meeting notes, just create some templates that you can easily deploy at new clients without having to create a new one every time. Even client specific approaches, document for yourself, just remove the sensitive information. You will never know when it come back at a new assignment at a different client.
- Learn how to do a proper risk assessment, the better known risks and their consequences the better upfront decisions you can make.
- Math required, some standard budgeting skills can be required. About Math, difficult to say, depends on your sector, Finance can be high in math.
- Using your experience for self-development, Yes, especially questioning assumptions is a skill in combination with self-inquiry I used to get deep insights about myself and the outside world. The people who taught me don’t know how powerful it can be.

[UpperMaster]

@OmniNaut Thank you very much for this thorough and extensive advice. I read it, and will likely read it several more times + research to truly get the value from this post. 

I am so happy for this response. Thanks man. I will consider all your advice.