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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.<\/p>\n
INSEAD, which is very strong in this sector, reports that\u00a039% of its full-time MBAs<\/a>\u00a0went into consulting after graduating in 2011.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s the big-picture mindset that a management consultant needs and an MBA is a rubber stamp that you have the requisite toolkit.<\/p>\n Nicky Winch,\u00a0head of recruiting for CapGemini UK\u00a0says:\u00a0\u201cThe MBA helps to demonstrate an intellectual and analytical capability and along with relevant experience, can help make a candidate stand out against others.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Here are a few examples from\u00a0BusinessBecause.com<\/a>\u00a0of people who have successfully used an MBA to break into management consulting.<\/p>\n Tom Park\u00a0studied law at McGill and public policy at Harvard. Between 2004 and 2007 he worked in the International Criminal Court in\u00a0The Hague, the OSCE Mission in Pristina, Kosovo and the UN Khmer Rouge Tribunal in\u00a0Cambodia. Previously he was an associate at McCarthy Tetrault,\u00a0Canada\u2019s largest law firm. A two-year MBA at the Tuck School of Business at\u00a0Dartmouth\u00a0enabled him to land an internship, and then a permanent role at McKinsey in\u00a0Montreal. He is currently based in\u00a0Dakar,\u00a0Senegal\u00a0working on a global health project.<\/p>\n Italian Fabio Gastaldi holds an MSc in Electronics and Computer Engineering. He worked for\u00a0Ericsson as a Solutions Integrator\u00a0for four years, before joining the MBA program at\u00a0Spain\u2019s\u00a0IE Business School<\/a>\u00a0in order to revive his stalling career.\u00a0Fabio says he\u00a0got 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.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt was an Italian I met during the MBA that linked me up with Bain\u2019s HR manager in\u00a0Italy. I got invited to the interview then that\u2019s it\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n INSEAD\u00a0grad Ioan Carpus had a varied career before he embarked on an MBA. He qualified as a lawyer in\u00a0Romania, 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\u2019s\u00a0Blue\u00a0Ocean\u00a0study group.<\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t 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\u00a0set up his own strategy consulting firm\u00a0focused on blue ocean methods, in partnership with several other INSEAD grads \u2013 a career move he would have struggled to make before his MBA.<\/p>\n If you want to get into management consulting, business school can certainly help you make the switch. You\u2019ll meet recruiters on campus, the growing numbers of\u00a0MBA Clubs\u00a0dedicated to consulting provide great networking opportunities, and you can fill out your resume wit projects to prove that you have the right leadership skills.<\/p>\n However, business school comes with a price tag \u2013 around US$45k in tuition for a decent full-time, one-year program in\u00a0Europe, double that in the\u00a0US! And opportunities won\u2019t be handed to you on a plate \u2013 you\u2019ll have to work for them!<\/p>\n 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<\/p>\n Maria Ahmed is\u00a0Editor\u00a0of\u00a0BusinessBecause.com,\u00a0a professional network for the\u00a0business\u00a0school world. On BusinessBecause\u00a0you\u2019ll find useful information about\u00a0MBA jobs,\u00a0MBA Rankings<\/a>\u00a0and fresh daily editorial including the\u00a0Why MBA\u00a0series.<\/em><\/p>\n