Careers in Management Consulting

QUICK LINKS...


WHAT IS MANAGEMENT CONSULTING?

  • Management Consultants provide advice to business leaders about their company's most challenging business issues. 
  • You don't need a business degree, however, to get hired in a management consulting position.  Many firms seek non-MBA Masters and PhD students with strong analytical, problem solving, and communication skills.
  • Management Consulting firms often have a sustainability practice.

Examples of management consulting projects with an environmental focus may include: preparing inaugural sustainability reports and delivering recommendations for future sustainability reporting for large federal agency as well as developing a market entry/growth strategy to help a start-up Clean Tech firm enter the Asia Market.  Some management consultants may start out as generalist consultants for a few years before moving to a specialized field such as climate change or corporate sustainability.

SNRE Management Consulting Careers Skills Module Powerpoint

  • This presentation link provides an excellent overview of management consulting careers: what they are, recruiting timeline, career track and salary ranges, sample day in the life of a management consultant, etc.
  • To view this presentation, please log into eRecruiter: http://erecruiter.snre.umich.edu and go to the Documents tab/ Documents Library subtab and find it under "Management Consulting Careers-Skills Module Powerpoint."  This is a password protected resource.

Back to Top


SNRE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING LISTSERVE:

  • Are you an SNRE graduate student  or alum with an interest in or previous experience with Management Consulting careers?  Please consider joining SNRE's Management Consulting Listserve to receive or share information on related career resources, management consulting recruiting events, etc.
  • To add yourself to this list:
    • You must be an SNRE Masters or PhD student or an alum of the school.
    • Go to MCommunity
    • Log-in: you will need your U-M username and password.
    • Type in "snremanagementconsulting" into the search box.
    • Click on the group
    • Click on "Join Group" and you'll be added to the group.
    • To be removed from the group, click on "Resign".
    Back to Top


WHY CONSIDER A CAREER IN MANAGEMENT CONSULTING:

Love My Job
Most people who work for consulting firms talk about how intellectually stimulating their work is. They enjoy the challenge of going into new settings and facing some of the most difficult issues business leaders have to deal with. Although most don't admit it openly, there's also a palpable excitement associated with being able to sit down with a CEO of a large firm and tell him or her what to do. Consultants also take pride in seeing the impact their advice has on clients' businesses.

People Power
The key resource of consulting firms, and some would say the only resource, is their people. All of the top-tier firms fill their offices by skimming the cream of the undergraduate and business school elite. Insiders tell us that working at a consulting firm is very much like being on a team with the best people from school: "People are universally bright, interesting, hardworking, and motivated." Many insiders also say they enjoy socializing with their colleagues.

Learning Environment
One of the thrills for many consultants is the constant learning that comes with the consulting workload. Whether you're learning about a new company or industry, talking to people in various parts of a client organization, or brainstorming ways to deal with challenging technical problems, consulting offers a steady diet of new cases and settings. Many consultants believe they wouldn't face such a wide variety of challenges in another profession.

Why SNRE Students are Interested in Management Consulting Careers

"I am interested in finding ways to drive sustainability, such as clean energy production or watershed protection, through the private sector. To me, management consulting presented a clear path of influence to those Fortune 500 businesses that have the biggest impact. I hope to work on projects that give me the opportunity to prove to these businesses that natural resource conservation and their corporate goals can be aligned." --Sean Killian, SNRE MS/MBA 2011

"I am interested in the energy industry and was lucky enough to land a consulting internship with the energy practice of a great consulting firm. The first thing that drew me towards consulting was the diverse nature of projects that people work on. Consultants typically work the whole gamut - operations, strategy, economics, marketing - you name it. Also, as a consultant, you get a chance to work with some of the smartest people around, and that is another huge draw for me. From my experience over the summer, I hope to learn more about the energy industry, develop some client interaction experience, and ultimately decide whether consulting is the best long-term career option for me or not." --Kripal Kavi, SNRE MS/MBA 2011

Back to Top

LIST OF MANAGEMENT CONSULTING FIRMS WITH SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES WHO RECRUIT AT MICHIGAN:

Accenture
Recruitment website: http://careers3.accenture.com/careers/global/

Brief Description: Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.

Sustainability practice: http://www.accenture.com/Global/Consulting/Sustainability.htm

Environmental/Sustainability Description: Accenture is considered a leader in helping businesses and public service organizations achieve economic, environmental and social value through sustainability. Practice areas include: Carbon Data and Analytic Services, Carbon Markets and Financial Trading, Clean Energy, Smart Buildings Solutions, and Sustainability Strategy.

AT Kearney:  
Recruitment website: http://www.atkearney.com/index.php/Careers/careers.html

Brief Description: A.T. Kearney is a global management consulting firm, focusing on strategic and operational CEO-agenda concerns. The stated mission of A.T. Kearney is to help the world's leading corporations gain and sustain competitive advantage, and achieve profound, tangible results.  

Sustainability practice: http://www.atkearney.com/index.php/Our-expertise/sustainability-our-capabilities.html?q=sustainability

Environmental/Sustainability Description: A.T. Kearney's Sustainability expert group includes over 90 professionals in all major global markets. Not only do we develop comprehensive sustainability strategies with and for our clients - we also help companies turn ideas into actions. Our expertise spans from developing a corporate sustainability strategy, systematically optimizing a "green"  product and service portfolio, to creating a sustainable value chain.

Bain & Company
Recruitment website: http://www.joinbain.com/default.asp

Brief Description: Bain & Company is a global business consulting firm with offices in all major cities. It's key focus areas are in strategy, operations, mergers & acquisitions, technology and organization.

Sustainability practice: http://www.joinbain.com/life-at-bain/social-impact/corporate-environmental-impact.asp

Environmental/Sustainability Description:  Practice areas include economic sustainability, and the use of technology for social change.

The Boston Consulting Group
Recruitment website: http://www.bcg.com/careers/default.aspx

Brief Description: BCG is a global management consulting firm and one of the the world's leading advisors on business strategy. Utilizing decades of industry experience and functional expertise, BCG looks beyond standard solutions to develop new insights, mobilize organizations, drive tangible results, and make companies more capable.

Sustainability practice: http://www.bcg.com/expertise_impact/capabilities/sustainability/default.aspx

Environmental/Sustainability Description : Sustainability is a priority for BCG and its clients and it has created a global sustainability network across multiple practices, hosted by the Energy and Environment practice and supported by experts from the Industrial Goods, Public Sector, and Social Impact practices as well as other industry and functional practices. Its comprehensive models help clients develop strategies and best practices to create competitive advantage and make business sense of sustainability

Booz & Company
Recruitment website: http://www.booz.com/global/home/join_us/apply

Brief Description: Booz & Company is a global consulting firm that creates and delivers essential advantage to the world's top businesses, governments, and organizations. It's industries include Energy and Utilities,  Aerospace & Defense, Technology, Health Services, Media and Entertainment and the Public Sector.

Environmental/Sustainability Description: Booz & Company is a leader in the low-carbon space and its Low Carbon and Sustainability team has been working for many years with clients across geographies and industries. Its experience ranges from assisting in the design of emission trading schemes to developing renewable energy strategies for some of the world's largest utilities, and working with leading research organizations like the World Economic Forum to develop industry overviews.

Sustainability practice: http://www.booz.com/global/home/what_we_think/low_carbon

Deloitte
Recruitment website: http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Careers/index.htm

Brief Description: Deloitte is one of the world's largest consulting firms, delivering corporate strategy to the local and global leaders across human capital, technology and the strategy and operations space. It's practice areas include Integration, Divesture and Restructure, Organizational Change and Talent

Sustainability practice:
http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Services/additional-services/corporate-responsibility-sustainability/index.htm

Environmental/Sustainability Description :  Deloitte is maintains a specialized Clean Tech Practice and advises global leaders on emerging issues such as climate change and greenhouse gas regulation, energy costs, scarcity of resources, transparency, and social responsibility.

IBM Global Services
Recruitment  website:
http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/html/bcs_careers_development.html

Brief Description: IBM Global Business Services (GBS) is the professional services arm of Global Services, including management consulting, systems integration and application management services.  Functional areas include Strategy & Change, Supply Chain Management and Human Capital Management

Sustainability practice: http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/html/bcs_consumerprods.html

Environmental/Sustainability Description :  IBM solutions helps customers reduce costs and systemically minimize energy, water, carbon emissions and waste. IBM is helping customers to become more energy efficient, implement new ways to source, manufacture and distribute goods and services in a more sustainable manner, enable safe and renewable sources of energy and manage resources at a macro level, transforming entire industries. IBM takes a holistic approach to the planet's challenges that combines innovative technology, deep business insight, and industry expertise.

McKinsey & Company

UM Recruitment website: http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/apply/university_recruiting/schools/ba/university_of_michigan

Recruitment website:  http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/

Brief Description: McKinsey & Company is widely recognized as a leader and one of the most prestigious firms in the management consulting industry.  A global management consulting firm that focuses on solving issues of concern to senior management, McKinsey serves as an adviser to the world's leading businesses, governments, and institutions.

Sustainability practice: http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/ccsi/

Environmental/Sustainability Description:  Mckinsey is a leader in sustainability consulting. It's Climate Change Special Initiative is a cross-functional and cross-industry effort, which brings the latest insights, experience, and expertise from all parts of the firm to help advise the world's leading institutions on the impact of climate change.
 

Monitor Group
Recruitment website: http://www.monitor.com/JoinMonitor/tabid/60/L/en-US/Default.aspx

Brief Description: Monitor is a boutique strategy consulting firm working with the world's leading corporations, governments and social sector organizations as their integrated resource for growth.

Sustainability practice: http://www.gbn.com/people/personlist.php?tag=sustainability

Environmental/Sustainability Description: Monitor has a strong presence in sustainability consulting through its Global Business Network. Practice Areas include international water authority, energy, sustainability, climate change, and sustainable transport.

What is Sustainability Consulting:  Thoughts from SNRE alumna Christina Gilyutin . . .

Back to Top

 

CASE INTERVEWS:

What is a case interview?

To get a job as a management consultant you must first pass the case interview. A case interview is an interview format where you are given a question/situation/problem and asked to resolve it.  The case interview question/situation is usually a business situation or a business case that the interviewer has worked on in real life.


The case interviewee then proceeds to ask the case interviewer logical and sequential questions that will enable him/her to understand the situation, probe deeper into relevant areas, gather pertinent information and arrive at a solution or recommendation for the question or situation at hand.

Why are case interviews used in the management consulting?

The nature of management consulting is very unique and challenging.  Most of the time is spent understanding and analyzing businesses, problems, situations or solutions and communicating with clients, team members or management.

Management consultants need to bring to the table a wide variety of skills.  The most important skills include good thinking and communication skills.  Good thinking refers to structured, logical and analytical thinking.  Case interviews present a great setting to test both thinking and communication skills.

The nature of the job requires the ability to ask relevant questions, probe deeper into specific topics and gain a complete understanding of the situation at hand.  Often, management consultants are required to make decisions without all the required data and facts. Uncertainty is a near constant in most tasks.  Frequent travel, uncooperative clients, new team members and clients every few weeks or months and tight deadlines add to the challenging nature of the job.

Case interviews have the unique ability to place people in a real live situation/case. Case interviews allow the case interviewer to get a first hand glimpse of how the candidate will tackle a case/situation in real life.  Resume interviews or behavioral interviews do not test the above skills as thoroughly as a case interview.

Where does the case interview fit in? How is the case interview weighted compared with the rest of my profile - GPA, institution, prior work experience, etc?

Your profile which includes GPA, institution and prior work experience is important.  Each organization has screens they use to select candidates to interview.  The weight given to each item may vary by organization.

However, if you have been called for a case interview, you can assume that you have met the requirements as far as your profile is concerned.  You are now being tested on other skills.  If you do well in the case interview you can reasonably expect to get an offer.

Unlike other types of interviews, the only way to improve in case interviews is to practice, practice and practice some more.  Cracking case interviews is an acquired skill! Below is a link to a number case interview preparation resources.

Back to Top


CASE INTERVIEW PREPARATION MATERIALS:

Books & Materials:

Online Resources:

Clubs at U-M

  • Consider joining the Michigan Graduate Consulting Club (In addition to informational events from consulting firms with presenters who come from PhD or other non-MBA masters backgrounds, the group organizes case interview practice sessions which is very valuable for those seriously considering consulting as a career path.)

Back to Top

MANAGEMENT CONSULTING COURSES: 

Please use SNRE's Course Exploration Tool to search for a list of classes that SNRE students have taken in particular topic areas.  You will need to select a field of study and then type in course topic (ex: FOS = "Sustainable Systems" and Keyword = "Strategy").

  • Strategy
  • Finance
  • Statistics
  • Economics
  • Organizational Studies

Back to Top

A Special Thanks . . .

SNRE would like to thank Jason Angel (SNRE MS/MBA 2011) for his thoughts, insights, and research into the development of this management consulting career page (which is especially targeted at non-MBA Masters and PhD students at SNRE) and for the management consulting workshop that he helped launch to kick off this effort.