My job as: A Management Consultant

discharge

Occupation: Management Consultant
Qualifications held: BA & some post grad dips and certs
Previous Jobs: Operations manager, business analyst, dishwasher
Daily/weekly/yearly routine: Studying how organisations work and changing them to work more efficiently. Persuading people, interviewing people, writing clear reports, documenting behaviour, analysing numbers. Public speaking.
Age bracket: 38. I started at 30 although there are jobs at all levels over about age 22.
General comments: I love this job. It's very well paid and its unpredictable and never boring. There is no guarantee of income and I have to travel a lot so I am away from my family often. You need to have good verbal and numerical skills.
Day In The Life: (describes just a regular day in detail)Wake up in a hotel in some city somewhere and get ready for work. Talk someone into letting me into the client's building, Negotiate for a desk from an absentee somewhere in the customer's office and set up my laptop and make myself at home. My work will depend on what stage of the consultancy project I am at: selling, analysing problems, designing solutions, implementation, training. Often I have to meet a lot of people and very rapidly suck all the relevant information out of them. People are usually very happy to talk to me and this is enjoyable. I have to get through the many security systems in the company and persuade the managers to give me as much access to company information as I need.

When I have all the data I need I write up my proposals. Then I have to sell my results to management suggesting to them tactfully how to change their businesses for the better. Often I then stay around to manage the project to introduce the changes. Sometimes I work alone but usually there are at least two of us and a network of other consultants from the same consulting company around the world who I can contact for help.

Nobody watches what I do too closely like what time I come to work or how long I take for lunch but if I miss my deadlines I would be fired. I often have to work very hard, on more than one occasion I have worked all night and then worked at the office the next day. Between projects I take a few weeks off. I probably work 8 months a year.

I don't get involved in office politics as I don't hang around long enough in any office to get dragged in. People are usually very nice to me and if we ever come across someone who is really nasty and causing trouble in the office we can work in their removal as part of our recommendations.

I am always an outsider and that suits my personality. My jobs is to go into a company and look at their problems from an outside perspective.

There are different varieties of management consultants specialising in strategy, finance, computers, psychology. There are consultants who only do certain industries.

You can go straight in from college with any degree to someone like accenture. They will train you and work you very hard and your lack of experience means you will be given a lot of dogwork. At that age, you are in no position to make many suggestions and you will be helping older staff. Later you can specialise in some area or join a small firm or start your own firm. Retired people often work as consultants as their experience and wisdom is respected.

rocky2

Discharge,
I am hoping that you could give me some advice.

I returned to college on a part time basis 4 years ago, and will complete a Bcomm this year. I have worked in the hospitality industry for over 16+ years and have worked with some of the best people in the business, but I simply want something new, this was my reason to return to college. I also plan to do a post grad this year; I am looking at MSc Financial Services UL (Highly recommended, and I have a huge interest in financial markets and finance in general), MSc International Management, NUIG/Trinity (highly recommended/strong focus on strategy) and MSc E-commerce, NUIG (as I am interested in mobile commerce). Can you tell me or advise me, which postgrad would help me to get my foot in the door of a top tier consultancy company, such as BCG, Bain etc. By the way I am 35+, will this be a drawback. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks