Advice for a 20 year old? [Archive]

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Confused

06-22-2007, 06:25 AM

Firstly, hi everyone, this is my first post. I've been lurking for a few days and have already learnt a fair bit.

Before I ask any questions, I should probably describe my background. I'm a 3rd year university student at one of the 3 metropolitan unis in Sydney, Aus, studying a business/commerce degree with a major in accounting. My marks are ok but nothing special. My WAM is at 69% (no idea what GPA would be), hopefully have it at 70+ by the time I graduate. I should probably also mention that I'm doing a 6 month Co-op internship at a well known internet company which will finish in July.

Basically, over the last few months I've been trying to figure which direction I want my career to go and what would be something I enjoy with good opportunities as well. The more I look into management consulting, the more I like. It would be an absolute dream to work for the likes of Bain, BCG, McKinsey etc at a later point in my career.

So I signed for an audit position at a Big 4 accounting firm for next year. Its not deloitte, and I mention that because I think they're the only Big 4 firm which still has its management consulting arm? In any case, I'd like to qualify as CA (equivalent of US CPA) first and have some idea of where I want to go by time I'm 23-24. I'm definitely willing to travel overseas to work/study.

Anyway, sorry for writing so much. My issue is that I really want to drive my career towards strategy and management consulting. I think its some of the most interesting work in the business world but I don't really know what path to take to get a foot in the door from an accounting background. Thanks in advance for any advice/comments.

mba-options

06-26-2007, 07:19 PM

mba-options

06-28-2007, 02:05 PM

Confused,
I was reading in another forum and found this website. I am not affiliated with it and honestly, I have not looked at it in depth. However, at first glance it seems to be an informative resource for MBAs going into management consulting.

http://www.mbaconsultingtrack.com/

Hope this helps.

cemj99

06-28-2007, 06:33 PM

Unfortunately I don't have much substance to add, but I will recommend this. A top 10 school will servce as a good catalyst to get into a top management consulting firm. You're only 20 so you have a lot of time to make sure your grades are high and you are able to get into a top 10 school. Most of the people I know in management consulting usually worked at a firm such as Accenture for a few years, graduated from their undergraduate program with Honors, and went to a school like Harvard, Wharton, or Stanford. I know this is a no brainer but the rank of your school will make a world of difference when trying to get into management consulting. Firms like McKinsey usually recruit from a select number of schools. You want to make sure you are in the mix by going to one of those schools. Research firms that you may be interested in and see what schools they recruit from. I know it's more to that but this is at least a start.

mike

06-29-2007, 06:02 AM

Why do you want to wait until later in order to do Strategy and management consulting? With an undergrad in commerce you probably could get a position at Cap Gemini or Monitor or another consulting firm. Talk to the career advisors for your program.

Confused

06-29-2007, 08:18 PM

Confused,
You do not sound totally confused!:)

I do not have the expertise to help you but can offer a suggestion or two.

You have your goals, you said:

"The more I look into management consulting, the more I like. It would be an absolute dream to work for the likes of Bain, BCG, McKinsey etc at a later point in my career."
Find out what kind of experience, education, and connections will get you to where you want to be. I looked at McKinsey's website and they have all kind of info on what they are looking for. They have information for MBA's from top schools, college grads, advanced degree grads, and experienced professionals.
Ask professionals in this field what you need to do. People love to tell you about what they do...especially if you are interested. The trick may be having access to such a person.
See what kind of forums, associations, groups, etc. exist for management consulting. Try to get first-hand information. This will allow you to be steered in the right direction and if possibly open some doors for networking.Hope this helps.Thanks I will definitely have a mroe detailed look on their site. I was looking at BAH and some of their projects, I think they helped design the NFL, that stuff looks really exciting!

In any case, you're right and I do have to speak to someone in the field. I don't know anyone but I will speak to the careers advisors at UTS when I go back to full time uni. I guess I can also speak to my CFO when I leave yahoo, I have a good relationship with him, and he'll hopefully be able to give me some advice.

Do you think HR at these firms will be able to help much? I'll try and send an email this week to a few of them. Thanks a lot for your advice.

Confused,
I was reading in another forum and found this website. I am not affiliated with it and honestly, I have not looked at it in depth. However, at first glance it seems to be an informative resource for MBAs going into management consulting.

http://www.mbaconsultingtrack.com/

Hope this helps. That site looks like a goldmine of information! Thanks heaps I faved it and I'll have a good look this weekend.

Unfortunately I don't have much substance to add, but I will recommend this. A top 10 school will servce as a good catalyst to get into a top management consulting firm. You're only 20 so you have a lot of time to make sure your grades are high and you are able to get into a top 10 school. Most of the people I know in management consulting usually worked at a firm such as Accenture for a few years, graduated from their undergraduate program with Honors, and went to a school like Harvard, Wharton, or Stanford. I know this is a no brainer but the rank of your school will make a world of difference when trying to get into management consulting. Firms like McKinsey usually recruit from a select number of schools. You want to make sure you are in the mix by going to one of those schools. Research firms that you may be interested in and see what schools they recruit from. I know it's more to that but this is at least a start.cemj99, you add an aspect which I hadn't covered in depth. Aside from the prestige of such schools, I'd love to study in the US for a while, but I'm aware those schools are damn hard to get into. I was looking at GMAT preparation and I'll see what I can do for now. Probably 2 areas for me to consider are the GMAT itself, which I will try and look at in my spare time and I'll try and get used to the style of questions. I'll have to do that before I start my CA, because next year I'll have my hands full with that and work + if I play rugby again.

Another thing I wanted to address before I applied for a MBA school would be non-career related stuff. I haven't done much outside of studies/sports/uni etc since high school and I wouldn't mind taking advantage of the KPMG career break at soem point to either work for a chairty or at my local hospital or better yet something overseas. In any case I think if I did that in a year or two it would be a good break from the coproate world and might give me some perspective.

I'll try and use what info sources I have. My brother's good friend worked at accenture for a while and another friend got into Wharton so I'll try and learn what I can off them :)

Why do you want to wait until later in order to do Strategy and management consulting? With an undergrad in commerce you probably could get a position at Cap Gemini or Monitor or another consulting firm. Talk to the career advisors for your program.Hey. My marks are ok at the moment but in Australia, you need I think over 80 to have a real shot at it at undergrad level. Aside from that I had already signed for KPMG by the time accenture kickstarted their recruitment. I just wish I'd opened my eyes maybe a few months earlier and applied more for these types of firms rather than the big 4. Hardly anyone I know at uni even tried for consulting, everyone was going for accounting firms/investment banks.

The reason I said in a few years is because I'm locked into a contract now and I couldn't risk throwing away a guaranteed job at 2 big 4 firms for a potential shot at consulting. Graduate recruitment is an absolute lottery but I don't think I was willing to take that gamble. Also, I'm aware that those main consulting firms are a very elite group, I'm honest and realise I'm not at that level yet but I do think I can get there. In all honesty, I'd like to cut my teeth at a smaller/less well known consulting firm or accenture/cap gemini to get a taste of what its like before I go for it as a career. Basically, when I apply for the likes of Bain,etc I want to be ready. At undergrad level I think Bain take 4 people out of 1000 applications or it was like that when my brother graduated a few years back.

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I should probably add that the firm I'm working at next year said it was ok to drop my management submajor to do electives and they even recommended that to broaden my education (undergrad management is a joke at my uni, they don't really take it seriously). I will use this as an opportunity to try and learn more about where I'd like to go. I'll take up management consulting as a subject and see what I can learn there and hopefully get first hand exposure to people working in the industry, i.e lecturers, tutors. Big thanks to everyone for your advice!