Top 5 Management Consulting Internships
Many highly motivated graduates and professionals are attracted to the management consulting industry due to the appealing benefits it offers. These perks include high monthly salary, rich business experience, skills improvement, and wide professional networks.
Getting a consulting job, however, entails conscientious preparation because of the tough competition. For students, this means working hard to get a high GPA, being involved in extracurricular activities, joining case competitions, practicing case interviews, and participating in professional events where they get to meet recruiters and other people in the industry.
Why Take an Internship Program
Another smart move students take is applying for an internship program, a period in which students get real-world consulting responsibilities and work hand-in-hand with professional consultants. This opportunity allows them to be spotted by firms through their work output, communication skills, and dedication they put in their job. Some successful interns even get a full-time employment contract at the end of their internship program.
Where to Have Your Consulting Internship
Most major and boutique consulting firms offer an internship program to promising students, but for a satisfying experience, you may want to consider Vault.com’s internship survey results. The website summarized the responses they heard from 7,700 interns who gave feedback on more than a hundred internship programs. The respondents rated their experience on the following areas:
- Quality of life
- Compensation and benefits
- Interview process
- Career development
- Full-time employment opportunities
The top five consulting internships are the following:
#1: Bain & Company
Bain, one of the renowned Big Three consulting firms, has consistently ranked in the first place. Interns get various tasks but are generally assigned to gather and analyze data, conduct researches and interviews with clients, customers and suppliers, and summarize their findings for the project team. Interns learn about business issues as well as Bain’s tools and strategies.
#2: Bates White Economic Consulting
Founded in 1999, Bates White offers economic consulting services to Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and law firms. During its 10-week internship, participants are assigned to a specific assignment. They will work under the supervision of a senior staff, and they are expected to receive their share of both qualitative and quantitative challenges.
#3: Plante Moran
Plante Moran is a tax, audit and business-management firm that caters to private organizations, governmental entities, and financial institutions. Their internship program, which usually lasts for three to six months, provides interns in Midwest offices valuable experience and practical exposure to accounting profession.
#4: The Boston Consulting Group
BCG’s rank moved down from second to fourth. This reputable firm hires summer interns for 10 weeks and assigns them to a case similar to what professional consultants and associates work on. This entails business analysis as well as communicating with clients and BCG partners. BCG interns receive extensive training and structured coaching from the firm.
#5: PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)
PwC facilitates a training program for all its interns to develop their technical skills and prepare them for relevant assignments. Interns will work side-by-side with PwC professionals for performance coaching and project guidance. At the end of the program, interns will learn the various services of PwC.
Learn More
Download our ebook on how to break into the consulting industry. It elaborates strategies for resume writing, networking and acing interviews. The guidelines you’ll learn can also be applied to your internship application.