Skills form part of management consulting competencies. Without them, it would be impossible to perform a job with excellence. Below is a list of 15 skills you need to develop to land a job in top tier management consulting firms like Booz, BCG, McKinsey and Monitor.

1. Critical Thinking

Most of the time, your duties will include breaking down of complex problems in an organized way. You will use management consulting frameworks and other tools for thorough analysis of business cases.

2. Problem-Solving

The management expects you to come up with recommendations to resolve a problem or a threat. If you lack this skill, you won’t be able to justify the main reason why consultants are hired.

3. Written Communication

Your clients will require regular written reports to monitor the progress of your project. You must have the ability to produce documents with concise and comprehensible information.

4. Verbal Communication

You must be able to speak clearly and confidently with clients during meetings and presentations, with employees during data gathering and with the other people involved in the project. Being tactful will prevent issues of miscommunication and confusion.

5. Numerical Reasoning

Numbers are inevitable in a management consulting position. You will go through financial reports, market studies and other documents with mathematical figures. Because of this, you must improve your numerical reasoning skills even before you submit your application.

6. Interpersonal Relations

The ability to establish rapport and build relationships with the people you meet in your consulting job will put you at an advantage. If you exhibit emotional intelligence consistently, you won’t only attract cooperation but also valuable friendship.

7. Collaboration

Completing a management consulting project is not a one-man show. Teaming up with other consultants leads to more efficient progress. Everyone can complement with each other’s competencies and such will yield better results.

8. Creativity

You won’t be required to paint, but you need creativity to be able to think outside the box. A management consultant needs this skill because resolutions don’t always have to be conventional in nature.

9. Decision Making

Based on your analysis, you will make everyday decisions that will lead you to your goal. You must know how to brainstorm possible options and draw possible consequences. You will also encounter unavoidable conflicts that can be effectively handled with this skill.

10. Research

All recommendations must have credible bases. Hence, management consultants always conduct research on market trends, best industry practices, competitor’s status and other topics relevant to the business problem.

11. Organization

According to management consulting job descriptions, a consultant usually works for more than 50 hours per week. Because of this busy schedule, you must be skilled in managing your time, distinguishing high priority tasks and planning of activities.

12. Stress Management

Having heavy and much workload can lead to stress and over fatigue. Thus, you must learn how to manage it for your health and happiness. Though your plate is always full, always find a way to achieve the balance of work and play.

13. Adaptability

Part of your responsibilities will be to travel to different cities and places. Thus, you will not enjoy your job if you’re not open to new cultures, offices, food, climate, etc. You must be ready to face any changes in the working environment.

14. Computer Proficiency

This is a basic requirement of most jobs nowadays. In management consulting, your computer is an important tool in making reports, making calculations and presenting recommendations to top management.

15. Persuasion

If you’ll be employed in hybrid consulting companies, you must learn the skill of introducing other products of your company to your clients.

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Management consulting culture is important because it determines the length of stay of consultants in the firm, their level of comfort at work and their extent of career fulfillment. Read this article and learn what constitutes organizational culture.

One of the areas to be considered when applying for a consulting job is the culture of the firm. It’s usually being underestimated by many, but the truth is it greatly determines the retention rate of employees. Those with personality congruent to the culture feel comfortable at the workplace, and they stay loyal to the firm. Those whose values are against corporate priorities tend to quit sooner.

This fact leads to the question, “How is a management consulting culture formed?” Below are some factors that contribute to the work ambience of consultants.

Management Goals

The culture springs from the vision and mission of the firm. How the management foresees the business ten years from now, significantly determines the consultant’s working environment. Does it aim to be on par with the Big Three (McKinsey, Bain and BCG)? If it does, then the recruiters will be very busy looking for applicants who can deliver high quality performance. Also, they must look for aspirants who are willing to work in a competitive, ambitious manner.

Training

Consultants from a certain firm have common strategies and techniques because of the training they get at the start of employment. During staff induction, they are oriented not only on what they’re expected to do but also on how they must behave professionally. They are taught how to communicate with colleagues, how decisions must be derived, how to deal with clients, etc. What  consultants can and can’t do in these procedures shape the firm’s culture.

Values

The management consulting culture is also determined by the values set by the firm. Some are focused on results, on being effective and on performing standards. These firms often offer a higher compensation scheme, but once consultants fall off their expectations they find themselves on the brink of unemployment. On the other hand, some firms prioritize efficiency and growth. They initiate many collaborative workshops and teambuilding activities to make sure their consultants are comfortable working with each other.

Relationship

Some firms facilitate rest and recreation activities to promote the spirit of camaraderie and to improve social interaction skills of consultants. For instance, consultants of BCG London sometimes surf or go mountain biking together, go on leisure trips abroad, attend Christmas parties and drink at pubs. These opportunities for getting to know each other better also contribute to the management consulting culture of a firm.

Physical Resources

The required business attire, the office and the technology being used are also influential elements. Most consulting firms ask their consultants to dress up appropriately, especially when working with clients,  to maintain their professional image. Similarly, having an office in a business district has a greater impact to clients and applicants. The technology being utilized is also vital because it is a determinant of employees’ efficiency.

When scouting for the right management consulting firm, make sure that they possess a positive, healthy culture. It must at least appreciate the idea of diversity,  treat employees with equality and encourage enthusiasm at work. It must also value each one’s contribution and maximum potential.

In order for you to understand the process of selecting and hiring consultants, download our guide on How to Land a Job in Management Consulting. Don’t forget to browse other articles on this site, too. You’ll certainly learn more information and tips that will walk you through.

If there is no correct answer to any management consulting estimation question, why is it being used during case interviews by large consulting firms like Bain, Monitor and Booz? Read this post and understand the value of this type of question.

When an interviewer asks you the questions below, you will probably be surprised.

1. How many laptop computers are bought at a mall in a year?
2. How many hamburgers were ordered in the USA last month?
3. How long will it take you to move your house to another city?

That surprised initial reaction is normal. The sentences above sound so silly you’d wonder if they are serious case interview questions. Unexpectedly, they are. These estimation questions measure how logical you can be, how you break complex ideas into simple ones and how good you are at calculation. To elaborate this rationale, let’s try to answer the first question.

Be Logical

Come up with a method that will let you arrive at an acceptable answer. You just can’t tell the interviewer you need to go to all computer shops at a mall, look at their sales report for the last year and add the total number of purchased laptops. Of course, that is the most logical thing to do to get an accurate answer, but in a management consulting interview, the answer must be a specific number. This answer can only be generated once you have a sensible approach.

Draw a Structure

Since you’re already familiar with the method, it’s time to get into specifics. The details will give you the equation on how to get the satisfactory answer. In the interview, you must verbalize the steps in your mind so the interviewer will be able to gauge how analytic and creative you are.

To guesstimate the number of laptop computers bought at a mall last year, you can use the steps below. The steps were created with an assumption that each computer shop sells different brands of computers.

Step A

Estimate the number of ABC laptops bought in a day. If you say five, support your answer with a seemingly valid reason. You can mention the price, quality and other criteria customers use when they purchase a laptop, etc.

Step B

Multiply A with the possible number of brands a computer shop sells. If you say 10, mention the brand names you know – like Apple, Lenovo, Sony etc.

Step C

Multiply Step B’s product with the number of computer shops in a mall. (Name all the computer shops at a mall in your city. Let’s assume, six.)

Step D

Multiply Step C’s product with 365 days. (Or you can multiply it with the number of days in a week X number of weeks in a month X number of months in a year.)

Step E

Provide the answer. Based on our assumptions, the estimated answer is 109,500.

Use Mental Math

From the word estimation, it implies you will be using your mental math skills in answering this type of question. The interviewer might allow you to use paper and pen for calculation, but she or he would be more impressed if you can compute numbers mentally. So before the case interview, master the fundamentals of mental math.

Because you already understand the nature of estimation questions, try to read our explanation for brainteasers as another type of interview question. If you need more information on how to land a management consulting position, download our helpful consulting career guide here. It contains facts on the complete recruitment process most consulting firms follow.

Management consulting remains one of the most popular career paths for people at business school. But is an MBA essential if you want to move into this industry? Read more in this article.

INSEAD, which is very strong in this sector, reports that 39% of its full-time MBAs went into consulting after graduating in 2011.

MBA programs endow you with a practical, working understanding (rather than complete mastery) of the gamut of business functions: finance, marketing, operations, organisational behaviour. It’s the big-picture mindset that a management consultant needs and an MBA is a rubber stamp that you have the requisite toolkit.

Nicky Winch, head of recruiting for CapGemini UK says: “The MBA helps to demonstrate an intellectual and analytical capability and along with relevant experience, can help make a candidate stand out against others.”

MBA programs also provide you with practical experience. Most require their students to complete at least one, if not several consulting projects for corporate, start-up and non-profit clients.

Here are a few examples from BusinessBecause.com of people who have successfully used an MBA to break into management consulting.

Tom Park studied law at McGill and public policy at Harvard. Between 2004 and 2007 he worked in the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the OSCE Mission in Pristina, Kosovo and the UN Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Cambodia. Previously he was an associate at McCarthy Tetrault, Canada’s largest law firm. A two-year MBA at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth enabled him to land an internship, and then a permanent role at McKinsey in Montreal. He is currently based in Dakar, Senegal working on a global health project.

Italian Fabio Gastaldi holds an MSc in Electronics and Computer Engineering. He worked for Ericsson as a Solutions Integrator for four years, before joining the MBA program at Spain’s IE Business School in order to revive his stalling career. Fabio says he got a job at Bain & Co. through the network he gained on the IE MBA, which helped him identify roles suitable for his combined Engineering and MBA qualifications, a sought-after combination in the industry.  “It was an Italian I met during the MBA that linked me up with Bain’s HR manager in Italy. I got invited to the interview then that’s it”, he says.

INSEAD grad Ioan Carpus had a varied career before he embarked on an MBA. He qualified as a lawyer in Romania, and then worked as a web developer and in an e-learning business. At INSEAD he worked with Professor W. Chan Kim in the famous professor’s Blue Ocean study group.

If you haven’t heard of it, blue ocean strategy is a business theory coined by two star INSEAD professors, aimed at making competition irrelevant. Since graduating in 2007, Ioan has set up his own strategy consulting firm focused on blue ocean methods, in partnership with several other INSEAD grads – a career move he would have struggled to make before his MBA.

If you want to get into management consulting, business school can certainly help you make the switch. You’ll meet recruiters on campus, the growing numbers of MBA Clubs dedicated to consulting provide great networking opportunities, and you can fill out your resume wit projects to prove that you have the right leadership skills.

However, business school comes with a price tag – around US$45k in tuition for a decent full-time, one-year program in Europe, double that in the US! And opportunities won’t be handed to you on a plate – you’ll have to work for them!

Of course an MBA is not the only way to break into consulting, and plenty of people get in and move up the ranks without one. Industry experience is sometimes enough to move into a boutique consulting firm or the relevant practise area of a large firm. The best way to figure out if you can make the switch without an MBA is to apply directly to firms and see how you do! Speak to as many partners and hiring managers as possible at your target firms beforehand, to figure out what your chances are and how to present yourself

Maria Ahmed is Editor of BusinessBecause.com, a professional network for the business school world. On BusinessBecause you’ll find useful information about MBA jobs, MBA Rankings and fresh daily editorial including the Why MBA series.

Recruiters don’t only make recruitment decisions based on your application documents, test results and performance during interviews. In fact, they prefer to bank on candidates who are highly recommended by key people. This means that you should continuously widen your network through our suggestions in this post.

The old phrase, “It’s who you know that matters more” is true to the current recruitment setup of management consulting firms. Though some applicants find it a deprivation of equal opportunity, recruiters find it a more reliable strategy. They would rather have confidence in those who apply with an impressive recommendation than in candidates who only have a resume and a cover letter as their marketing tools.

What does this imply to you? If you’re pursuing a career in a huge firm like BCG, you might as well learn the nitty-gritty of management consulting networking. If you think you’re not capable of this, you are misguided. Look around you and recognize the people you interact with. They are already part of your network that might lead you to your dream job.

However, you should not stop with who you currently know. Aspiring consultants like you must find a way to expand and nurture your network to fully maximize its benefits. It may take a significant amount of time. You might be required to attend regular meetings and to establish quality relationships with others but just imagine the scenario like this: the person you mingle with has more than ten professional buddies who can perhaps help you land a consulting job.

Below are three management consulting networking tips on how to meet people personally or virtually.

Attend School Events

University students are encouraged to attend consulting activities initiated by management consulting clubs, conducted as part of career programs or facilitated by consulting firms themselves. In these activities, you can usually interact with current or former consultants, alumni who previously worked for consulting firms and other successful professionals who can refer you to recruiters. Make sure that you apply techniques on how to engage them in a good conversation so they can easily remember you.

Join Professional Organizations

Look for management consulting professional organizations and be an active member in it. They usually initiate forums, seminars, training and programs that build up your career. They keep you updated with the quick changes affecting consultancy. They also allow exchange of questions, ideas and opinions among members and invited guests to understand industry developments in a deeper and better way. In these organizations, you will most likely meet a lot of professionals so you have to take full advantage of these connections to be considered job opening.

Be Active on LinkedIn

Maintaining an updated account on LinkedIn brings a few advantages. For one, many recruiters look for management consulting candidates who can fill their unadvertised vacancies. They go through different profiles and contact those who are qualified. Another benefit you get from this site is professional virtual networking. You can join consulting groups where you get to interrelate with knowledgeable, well-experienced experts. You can also check how many of your friends are connected with consultants or recruiters employed by your target consulting firms. Once you have the information, you can then find a way to contact them for further assistance.

When you communicate with your contacts, do not just bluntly ask them to refer you to any recruiter. Some might consider it too straightforward or offensive. Just mention that you’ve already sent your application to this or that firm or you’re heading to this direction in the future. If they’re willing to help you, they will reach out to you proactively. If not, don’t get frustrated. Move on and be on constant lookout for other opportunities.

Companies carefully choose management consulting firms that can ultimately help them resolve their business dilemma. To assess the firms, they take into consideration their structure, the kind of service they offer and the sector where their previous clients belong. Read on and get more details about this.

For most companies, choosing consultants is like hiring employees. Before they make the final decision, they first identify their needs, list key performance standards and assess the capabilities of management consulting firms. If they need the services on an ongoing basis, they prefer to hire full-time employees. If their concern can be resolved by simply taking on project-based employees, outsourcing critical-minded consultants becomes an option.

All consulting firms aim for business improvement but of course, companies don’t limit their understanding with such vague definition. They dig more details on the actual responsibilities of consultants. They research on the numerous kinds of consulting services in the market. Should they hire consultants from recognized firms like PWC, Monitor and Bain or must they consider their budget constraints and hire a local consultant instead? In a nutshell, companies must figure out which firm is the most capable and credible to help them find the best solution.

One way of coming to a decision is to assess management consulting firms based on the category where it belongs. Oxford University Press says that firms can be viewed in three different ways.

Business Model

This establishes the consultant’s type of job, compensation and nature of organization. Pure consultancies like McKinsey and BCG concentrate on consulting work but hybrid firms like Accenture and IBM have just added up consultancy to their services. Generalist firms work on diverse projects while niche groups are more specialized. Small groups, according to statistics, employ about 78% of the consultants but large management consulting firms bring in more income because they dominate the industry.

Some firms deploy technical contractors to clients to work on their daily operations. An example given was Indian IT consultancies providing skilled manpower to the United States sometime in 2000-2001. Some companies prefer to maintain their own internal consultancy team for cheaper pay but unfortunately, keeping those with high caliber is a concern. Consultants prefer to work for renowned external consulting firms because of their varied projects and promising opportunities.

Service

Consulting firms can be categorized based on their area of concentration. The most popular ones are strategy, information technology, outsourcing and generalist consulting.

Strategy consulting firms include coming up with a plan for the client to reach a certain business goal or market position. They conduct studies and provide direction on whether or not the company should expand their business, launch a new product or merge two companies. IT consulting firms concentrate on how to utilize technology for an organization to get to their vision. It has become popular these years because the application of new IT systems has increased company profit through efficiency savings and quality improvements.

Outsourcing implies subcontracting business activities to third parties. The last category, generalist consulting, dwells on matters related to business process re-engineering, operations, change management, human resources, and program management.

Sector

This category refers to the clients’ nature of business. Large management consulting firms send a group of consultants to a specific sector so they can gain expertise within a period of time.

The biggest source of income for consulting firms are financial institutions. In the past years, their projects focused on online-banking, electronic payment and other IT projects. Telecom and entertainment companies require consultants nowadays to help them maximize their digital assets. Other popular sectors that need consultancy services are the government, consumer businesses and environmental groups. Check this article to know the sectors where the top ten management consulting firms work for.

For candidates who are attached to family and friends, landing a job in consulting can be a struggle. Because of the demands of the projects you work on, you’ll find yourself spending less time with your loved ones. Find out how you can overcome this challenge in this article.

“Is the glass half-empty or half-full?”

Many would see the disadvantages of being employed by a top tier consulting firm like McKinsey, Bain and BCG straight away. Allotting 60 to 80 hours per week for work is no joke at all. Going home with the thought of going through your mails for 30 minutes before you sleep so they won’t build up can be a pain in the neck. The tasks on management consulting job descriptions are so time-consuming that many would say consulting is ideal for single applicants or married people with no kids.

Is management consulting still worth trying for?

People who prefer to see the glass half-full would always answer the question in the affirmative. They tend to focus on the countless opportunities a consulting lifestyle can offer. They see the positive impact of their research studies and recommendations in the organization, the countless opportunities to improve their skills, the learning and professional growth, the chance to interact with different personalities and the free tickets to a world of travel and wonder.

Tips to Help You Get Through

Time management can be very tough, but still very possible, for those in consultancy. This explains why many expert professionals are able to stick with the profession for a long time. They have learned helpful techniques to resolve the never-ending work-life balance issue among consultants. They have managed to make the people around them feel their presence despite their hectic management consulting lifestyle. How? Below are some tips:

Relationship Assessment

One feature of Facebook is to group your “Close Friends” so you would easily get updated with their whereabouts. If you are to use this feature, who would you add to this category? The metaphor may sound either corny or hilarious but assessing your relationship when your plate is overflowing can be very useful. You’ll be able to distinguish who among your contacts are important in your life and who just come and go. Once you have identified these people, make it a point to contact them regularly, despite your management consulting lifestyle. You can have a weekend dinner with them once in two weeks or exchange emails or Facebook messages from time to time.

Let Them Understand You

If you don’t explain how crazy your schedule can get, your loved ones might interpret your absence in parties and gatherings as negligence or aloofness. This isn’t healthy, of course. So when you get a chance to talk with them, share what’s cooking in your career. Explain what management consultants do and keep them updated. You don’t need to divulge everything, just make them understand that you are expected to do this and that. Share something interesting as well as burdening people with your responsibilities can be boring, too.

Get in Touch

If you lived three decades ago, you would have loads of reasons for not being able to communicate. Now that you live at the age of technology, everything is very convenient for you. You already have instant messengers, emails, mobile phones, social media websites, web albums and wireless Internet connections; what more can you ask for? You can send a curt message while waiting for your train. You can take a picture of yourself while at work and share it. You can always voice chat with your partner and kids when you’re away from home.

The field of management consulting can be full of business activities but this doesn’t mean it will cut your relationships off. But to stay connected with your loved ones, you must have the motivation to make it happen. And that motivation must be as strong as your need to meet your client’s requirements.

It only takes expertise for a person to be labeled a consultant. As long as you have the know-how on a specific topic, you can be called that way. However, when somebody hires you to be part of a globally established firm, what does it truly entail? Below are five questions beginners often ask to grasp the area of management consulting.

What is Management Consulting?

Management consulting is the practice of analyzing business problems and offering  advice to improve business performance. It all started when Frederick Taylor, the father of scientific management, studied time requirements of a manufacturing process in 1880′s. It eventually led to the emergence of other consultants. One of them was James McKinsey, the founder of the global consulting firm McKinsey and Co. Because he and his expert colleagues were able to help companies recover from economic crisis, the profession became more popular.

What Are the Characteristics of Good Consultants?

Because the nature of the job is intellectual and critical, management consultants need to possess excellent problem-solving, logical and communication skills. These are necessary in meeting requirements of clients. Consultants must also have a flair for interacting with different people since they conduct meetings with clients, facilitate focused group discussions and interview a number of employees. Further, they must also be able to endure long working hours and must be willing to travel in different cities or countries from time to time.

How Are Candidates Assessed for Management Consulting Positions?

Recruiters evaluate candidates in three ways. First, they pre-select candidates who have the right skills, experience and knowledge through resume and cover letter screening. Those who get selected are then called for testing. Not all firms adopt this method, though. Lastly, they conduct experiential and case interviews to further gauge the candidate’s ability to think critically and express opinions clearly. Case interview questions may include situational business dilemmas, brainteasers and estimation questions. To know the basic facts of management consulting case interviews, check this post.

What Are the Educational Requirements for Management Consulting Positions?

Any person with a university degree can apply for a position in well-known firms like Monitor, Booz and BCG. Graduates of Management, Marketing, Economics and Business Administration have an edge because they’ve already learned the concepts of organizational management, cost and benefit analysis and marketing strategies at school. Though it isn’t a requirement, many consultants hold an MBA degree. This achievement somehow indicates that they’re willing to go an extra scholastic mile to be of better service to the firm and clients.

What Are the Typical Duties and Responsibilities of Management Consultants?

Activities of management consultants vary from firm to firm. It mainly depends on the client’s company, business status and requested services. Consultants usually tailor their approaches according to these factors. In general, the process includes examining the client’s problem, breaking down the factors affecting it, researching data through studies and interviews, analyzing information and recommending solutions to the top management. The final decision lies with the client. The consultants just guide them to the right direction.

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Why do recruiters use brain teasers during management consulting interviews? Do they expect you to give the correct answer? By reading this article, find out what their purpose is in the recruitment process.

During management consulting case interviews, you will most likely encounter three types of problems: practical business cases,  estimate questions and brain teasers. As we all know, the last type comes in the form of puzzles, riddles and other questions that require blue sky thinking. If you are boxed in by conventionality, chances are you won’t get the right answer nor nail the question.

Management consulting brain teasers are quite mind-boggling but the good thing is, recruiters aren’t looking for the correct answer. They focus more on how logical your process of deriving the answer is. This ability is highly significant in the position you’re applying for. Consultants are lavishly paid to analyze, think and solve. If you aren’t ready for these responsibilities, then this field is probably not meant for you.

Examples of Brain Teasers

Brain teasers used as interview questions started in Microsoft and it gradually became a trend in technology companies. Currently, many interviewers are adopting it as it’s a good way of determining how smart a person is. There are lot of brain teaser examples online. On this website, this brain teaser is given as the first example:

By moving one of the following digits, make the equation correct. 62 – 63 = 1

We would usually think of moving any digit from left to right or vice versa. Unfortunately, no matter what digit we move horizontally, we can’t obtain the right answer. The most logical thing to do is to exchange numbers 3 and 2 but that’s going beyond the rule. To answer this problem, we move one digit in a vertical direction. If we move six as the exponent of 2, we can calculate that it’s equivalent to 64, It makes the equation correct.

Here’s another tricky example from this site:

Mary’s father has five daughters: 1. Nana, 2. Nene, 3. Nini, 4. Nono. What is the name of the fifth daughter?

We might instantly assume that the name of the fifth daughter is “Nunu” because the other daughters have used the four vowels of the alphabet. However, if we think about the question intently, we would recognize that the answer was already given at the start of the problem. Take note that if you find the answer to the  management consulting brain teaser in a drop of a hat, it must be wrong. There must be a trap somewhere. Brain teasers are meant to trick or confuse you.

Another classic example is summarized below.

The rich father is dying so he wants to leave his properties to the wisest among his three sons. He asked them to purchase something that is large enough to fill the bedroom, but small enough to fit in their pocket. What did the wisest child bring?

Initially, we would assume that what should fill the room must be tangible like curtain or balls. These, of course, are impossible since we can’t put them inside our pocket. It can be too complex to realize that a match can fill the room with light.

How to Answer Brain Teasers

As mentioned earlier, management consulting brain teasers can be very puzzling. It’s natural to be caught off guard with an interview question like this but if you dwell on panic, you won’t be able to clearly consider options. Be calm, remember the critical success factors and try to think of as many approaches as you can.

Further, be reminded that the purpose of the interviewers is to know how you approach the problem. If you keep your ideas to yourself, they won’t have a way of assessing your logic. Make sure that you speak out all the possibilities you’re considering. It will let the interviewers conclude that you can carry out brainstorming tasks when you’re hired for the position.

Answering management consulting brain teasers isn’t only what you should master to get a job in a management consulting firm.

Responsibilities of management and IT consultants may overlap at times but there are unquestionably a few differences between the two. By reading this post, you’ll know what their similarities and differences are. You’ll also be able to assess which type of consulting is fit for you.  

Main Objective

Both management and IT consultants target to help clients improve business growth with their well-thought advice. The only difference is that they work on different aspects of the organization. Management consultants focus on organizational development, cost and benefit analysis and market researches. They use management consulting frameworks to find out and generate solutions for the main business dilemma. Here’s the job description of management consultants for your additional reference.

On the other hand, IT consultants concentrate on advising management on how to efficiently manage information technology to meet their business goals. They also develop, implement and evaluate IT systems that lead to productivity and efficiency in business processes. They also train employees to strengthen their skills.

Job Requirements

Management and IT consulting positions require some of the same skills and abilities. Both teams must be analytic, logical, organized and attentive to details. They must also be able to excellently express their thoughts in written or verbal form. They must have the capability to deal with top management and interact with frontline employees as well. What sets them apart is their technical expertise.

Management consulting staff are expected to be knowledgeable in human resources, strategic planning, finance, marketing, sales and operations. They must have a good grasp of change management tools and techniques. They must also have a good background in technology since in some cases, they need to touch that area during evaluation. Graduates of Management, Marketing, Economics and Business Administration are usually the potential candidates for this field.

On the other hand, IT consultants try to understand the current IT infrastructure of the company and identify the main concern so they must be proficient in all factors affecting it.  These factors include the hardware, the program and the people using them. IT consultants must be adept in IT assessment, computer network, systems integration, security and customer relations management. They also need to keep themselves abreast with the latest software, gadgets and other updates in IT. Graduates of Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Engineering and other related courses are usually hired for this position. Most have CISCO, Microsoft and other technical certifications.

Prominent Management and IT Consulting Companies

Three of the top-tier management consulting firms that are popular around the world are McKinsey, BCG and Bain. Other widely-known firms are Deloitte, Booz and AT Kearney. In the field of IT consulting, Accenture, Deloitte and Capgemini are some of the large ones.

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