Should you be a Christian Management Consultant?

Consulting is often pursued in order to build career capital while keeping options open, and overall, we think it’s a strong option if that’s your aim.

The information below is generally applicable to analysts and associates working at top strategy consulting firms such as McKinsey, Bain, or BCG. It is probably less applicable to specialist consultancies or the professional services firms, such as Accenture.

Opportunities following work as a consultant

Consulting experience is often attractive to large, successful companies. You can generally advance more quickly in industry by starting in consulting then entering industry several years later. Consulting is sometimes recommended for people who want to transfer from one industry to another.

By one plausible estimate, McKinsey alumni have a roughly 1 in 690 chance of eventually becoming a CEO of one of the 1,187 publicly-traded companies with at least $2 billion in market capitalization, higher than any other company in the survey.

We’ve also found it recommended as a good first step for entering many other sectors, such as policy and social enterprise.

A substantial fraction of people leave the industry for after 2-3 years. Both of these tendencies are partly driven by “up or out” policies that are common—but not universal—at top firms, where the bottom fifth or so of employees are jettisoned or “counseled out” of the firm every couple of years. Consultants we interviewed was unaware of publicly available breakdown for where people go next, but it’s clear that they successfully pursue a wide range of paths.

One consultant within a top tier firm reported that some common paths following a 2-3 year stint as an analyst at a top strategy firm are as follows (in no particular order):

1. Attend an MBA program, paid for by the company on the condition that the employee work at the company for at least 18 months following graduation. People would rarely do MBAs without the company paying for it. Anecdotally, roughly 25-50% do this.

2. Become an associate at the same company without doing an MBA. This would happen after 18 months to 3 years, depending on how well the person was doing. Roughly 10-20% do this.)

3. Occupy a “chief of staff” position for a senior/influential public official or a CEO of a large company. This work is often somewhat administrative, but higher status and gives you a helpful mentor.

4. Work on a “strategy team” for some other company. For example, a colleague recently got a job of this kind at Google.

5. Work on the front lines in some organization that you served as a consultant. It’s valuable to take the skills/knowledge back into consulting later.

6. Policy/civil service.

7. Entrepreneurship. Most of the people he knows who did this got funding from angel investors or VCs.

8. Venture capital/private equity.

The most common destinations vary by firm.

Associates—consultants on the MBA track—also often work for 2-3 years before moving on. The same consultant identified some common next steps at that stage as follows (in no particular order):

1. Being promoted to a project manager within the company.

2. Working at a large company. It’s fairly common for people promoted to a project manager position to move on to a VP level at a large company (e.g. Fortune 500 or top 1000).

3. Policy/civil service (though this is more common for analysts).

4. Venture capital/private equity.

Of particular interest to people interested in social impact, some people work at the Gates Foundation or the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, or Malaria. There’s an interview about one such case here. The Global Fund was started by people at McKinsey. A consultant reviewing this document suggested that, in her experience, consultants leaving at the associate level have similar options to consultants leaving after a 2-3 years of work as analysts, though the rate of the options varies and the associates are likely to be qualified for more senior positions.

Common exits

A substantial fraction of people leave the industry for after 2-3 years. Common exits include: MBA programs, work in an industry you served as a consultant, venture capital, private equity, policy/civil service, work on a “strategy team” for a company.

Culture

Consultants usually have graduated from top colleges, and the firms tend to have a more intellectual culture than elsewhere in business. That said, people value niceness and how much you get done more than how smart you are.

A reader in consulting has told us:

Cultures might vary between firms, but for McKinsey I would describe the culture as follows: A strong firm culture that values friendliness, pro-sociality, hard work and own initiative.

Consultants usually work on a series of one to two month projects across a variety of sectors, companies, and divisions within companies (including government and nonprofit organisations), making it one of the most attractive options if you want to quickly learn about many different types of work.

The work is probably more interesting than many other corporate jobs, including the early years of finance, because it involves more problem solving and variety. Consultants often like the challenge and variety of their work, as well as the people they work with.

Competitive people would probably have an easier time with “up or out” policies at top consulting firms, where as much as a quarter of people are laid off or “counselled out” of top firms.

Common complaints from consultants include:

• Long hours: 60-hour work weeks are standard

• Extensive travel: consultants generally work where their client is based, and this often requires being out of town a substantial fraction of the time (though this does not apply to all consulting jobs)

• Lack of opportunities to implement strategies developed

• Spending too much time making PowerPoint presentations and writing emails

A consultant we interviewed echoed many of these points. Overall, of people we’ve coached, around one in four of the people who entered consulting found it stressful and unenjoyable, one in four enjoyed it, and the remainder thought it was a positive experience with significant challenges.

Direct impact potential

Consultants affect the organisations they work with by:

1. Sharing best practices within and across industries

2. Bringing in smart outside perspectives to offer strategic improvements

3. Helping to settle strategic disagreements within organisations

On the positive side, each of these changes can increase organisational efficiency. Sometimes, consultants increase efficiency through downsizing. This is controversial due to negative effects on employees, though some would argue that it usually has good long-run consequences.

Earnings potential

Consulting is among the highest-paid paths (either if you pursue partner positions, or exit into executive track positions in industry). Because you can enter without additional training, earnings tend to be higher than law at comparable stages. On the other hand, several sources indicated that consultants generally make less than investment bankers in comparable positions.

The clearest presentation of earnings in consulting that we have seen is available here.

Advocacy potential

Consulting offers opportunities to network with influential business people, as well as peers who will move into the high levels of many different types of organisation in the future.