In this article, I will demystify what a management consultant does.
For many students, consulting is one of their favorite career choices after graduation.
However, few understand what a management consultant does.
Thus, in this article, I’ll answer these questions:
What do consultants do?
Or, what does a day in the life of a consultant look like?
And many more…
Furthermore, I will provide first-hand insights from an ex-BCG consultant in the video at the end of this article.
Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
What Does A Management Consultant Do?
In your opinion, what does a management consultant do?
There Are Many Possible Answers This Question
First, an answer can be that a management consultant creates value for its clients.
This is clearly stated on McKinsey’s website.
Secondly, another answer can be that a management consultant advises its clients on defining their strategy, improving their operations, developing their sales & marketing capabilities, transforming their organization, etc.
For instance, here is Bain & Company’s capabilities as shown on its website:
Besides, you can see hereafter 2x examples of real case studies done by the Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company (source: BCG.com and Bain.com).
Finally, a good answer could have been that management consultants do various tasks, such as spending 12 hours on an Excel spreadsheet, running back-to-back interviews, or developing slides for a big client meeting.
To conclude, the three answers above are all good.
But it won’t help you find a job in consulting. That’s why I have another answer to this question: let’s discuss it in the next section.
However, There Is One Important Answer To This Question (If You Want To Apply For A Job)
If you plan to apply for a job in consulting, there is an excellent way to answer the question, “What does a management consultant do?”:
Management Consultants are essentially problem-solvers.
Indeed, companies and public institutions hire Consultants to solve their most pressing problems.
Therefore, as a Consultant, you’ll be asked to solve various challenging issues from different sectors and types of clients.
Furthermore, consultants consider themselves problem-solving professionals.
This means that they solve problems using a logical and structured approach.
On the other hand, they do not solve problems by doing random analyses or because they have 20 years of work experience in a specific field.
To conclude:
That’s why everything you do during the consulting recruitment process (including writing your cover letter and resume, as well as preparing for your fit and case interviews) should be aimed at demonstrating your problem-solving skills.
Who Do Consultants Work For?
In short: for all types of businesses.
Hence, the top Consulting firms work:
- Big corporations
- Private Equity Funds
- Public institutions
- Non Profit Organisations (NGO)
For instance, you can see the industries served by the Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey & Company hereafter.
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What Is The Typical Day Of A Consultant?
You have probably heard about top consulting firms like McKinsey, the Boston Consulting Group, or Bain & Company.
However, you might not have a basic understanding of what the day-to-day work of a strategy consultant is.
To find out, let me walk you through a typical day of a management consultant:
Morning
4.30 am. Wake up and head to the airport.
6 am. The team (2 consultants and the Project Manager) is at Paris airport. Direction Spain for the day where we are to present to the client, a leading ceramic tiles manufacturer, our recommendations on key actions to reduce its SG&A costs. This is a delicate topic, and it will be a challenging meeting.
9 am. Upon arrival at the client’s site, we meet with the client’s CFO to discuss our analyses and recommendations. He is challenging some data and is asking our team to check some assumptions before our meeting at 1 pm with the CEO and the management team.
Between 10 am and 11.30 am. A consultant performs additional financial and operational modeling to cross-check our findings while the other Consultant interviews the Cost Controlling Director to validate our arguments. In the meantime, the Manager is designing the workstream (milestones, key analysis to perform, resources needed) to align with the client on the project’s second phase.
Between 11.30 am and 1 pm. The team is together to synthesize the analyses and discussions in the morning. We decide to change how we present our arguments. We don’t have time to go out for lunch and take some sandwiches to eat while updating the slides before the meeting with the CEO.
Afternoon And Evening
1 pm. The meeting with the CEO starts. He’s looking forward to seeing our recommendations.
2 pm. The presentation went well: with the CEO, we managed to define the key actions they must perform to meet the targets defined by the Board.
Between 2 pm and 4 pm. We have several meetings with Directors in the client’s organization. It’s a good opportunity to get to know their teams better and discuss the project’s next steps.
5 pm. In a taxi to the airport, check and answer emails.
Between 8 pm and 10 pm. Back to the office. The Manager debriefs the day with the Partner while the Consultants start synthesizing market and research reports to prepare the second phase of the project: in which country the client should invest in growing its sales by 25% in the next 3 years.
How Much A Consultant Make?
Suppose you want to learn how much BCG consultants make. In that case, I’ve put together a comprehensive guide that compares management consultant salaries at some of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world.
Hereafter you can find a synthesis for MBB firms.
What Are The Exit Opportunities After Consulting?
Is Management Consulting a career for life?
For most people, no…
There are many reasons why people leave consulting.
For instance:
- Up or out policy
- Work-life balance
- A desire for operational responsibilities
- Being headhunted
- A desire to specialize in a certain industry or function
- Create a company
- Etc.
So, what are the exit opportunities after a few years in consulting?
After a few years in consulting, you can have a lot of options. In other words, you can end up doing
For instance, here is a list of the most common options:
- Corporate strategy: many consultants opt to join the strategy team of a client in their industry of expertise
- Operational role: consultants often seek P&L responsibility when exiting into operational roles
- Finance: Private Equity, Hedge Funds, VC, Asset Management, or Corporate Finance exits are all relatively common too
- Entrepreneurship: consultants can join an early-stage startup or create one
These are common options, but there is a “long tail” of other options besides those listed here.
Chatting With An Ex BCG Consultant
I had the chance to have a very interesting and insightful conversation with Guennael, an ex-BCG consultant. Guennael joined BCG as an experienced hire.
In this video, he shares his experiences at the Boston Consulting Group.
I asked him the following questions:
- #1: Why did he choose to go into consulting?
- #2: What do management consultants do?
- #3: What a typical project looks like
- #4: What was your favorite part of being a consultant?
- #5: What was your least favorite part of being a consultant?
- #6: Why BCG? Or, in other words, why did he choose BCG?
- #7: How is BCG different from other consulting firms?
- #8: How would he define the culture at BCG?
- #9: Why did he leave the Boston Consulting Group?
- #10: More generally, where do consultants end up when they leave consulting?
To conclude, watch this video until the end because Guennael gives you great advice to land a job in consulting.
Enjoy this video!
Conclusion
Now it’s your turn.
Do you have a question about what does a management consultant do?
If you want more information about what a McKinsey consultant does, what a BCG consultant does, or what a Bain & Company does, leave a comment below.
To conclude, if you are interested in landing a job in consulting, you can learn what the McKinsey recruitment process looks like here.
Thanks!
Sébastien
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You need 4 skills to be successful in all case interviews: Case Structuring, Case Leadership, Case Analytics, and Communication. Join this free training and learn how to ace ANY case questions.
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Very Good and Informational Read! Looking forward to many such articles in the future.
thank you!
Thank you so much for this article! This was exactly what I needed.