Do you seek to become a consultant after your MBA? Or more likely to spend a few years as one and then move on to other things. Consulting firms are traditionally among the largest employers of top MBA and college graduates and are an attractive alternative career option for people who have toiled in the industry for several years.
When it comes to management consulting, McKinsey & Company is the dream for most MBA graduates. The almost a century-old firm, McKinsey & Company is the biggest & world-renowned management consulting firm with headquarters located in New York City & around 127 offices spread across the world. The company has a network of more than 27,000 employees making it a billion-dollar firm.
Through the years, the students of ISB have made a mark in McKinsey & Company, carving a niche in the industry through their talent, rigour & work ethic. It is no surprise that ISB has become the institution for the largest hiring for McKinsey in India.
While speaking on the various aspects of management consulting, the alumni of ISB who are now working as partners at McKinsey & Company, shared experiences & anecdotes from their journey through ISB and beyond. Here are a few key takeaways from the session.
The World is your Oyster
Consulting is truly a global profession. With top-tier consulting firms, one gets the chance to work all around the world on various assignments across diverse industry verticals in numerous geographical regions & countries. The variety & scope of learning is immense as the dimensions of the industries changes rapidly. The thumb rule is one year spent in consulting world is equivalent to four years spent learning anywhere else.
Diversity is the Flavour of Consulting & ISB
The people one meets, interacts & works in consulting circuit is diverse & from all walks of life such as armed forces, medical industry, liberal arts, law & order, public administration, social impact and much more. One gets to learn from different perspectives which help in broadening the self-perspective & knowledge curve.
With diversity being the driving force, ISB experience ensures a similar environment conducive to such learning, helping in a smooth transition into consulting jobs & opportunities.
Engineering or IIT – not a pre-requisite to consulting & ISB
Consulting is a diverse & ever-evolving industry. Though engineering may seem the pre-requisite, diversity is the core value consulting brings for the clients and is encouraged in the management consulting industry. From liberal arts to pure sciences, people in consulting are from a broad spectrum of background & is the asset consulting firms aim to build.
Similarly, almost half of the students at ISB come from non-engineering backgrounds, making learning a diverse & wholesome experience.
Pandemic & the New Normal
There are two trends the business world is witnessing & consulting to an extent mimic that as well. The professions of today are moving towards the digital & analytics lead business transformation trend for the past half a decade. Digital technology, analytics, AI and machine learning have rapidly become the core area of consulting. Hence there is a more influx of data scientists, product engineers & managers in the consulting space. Climate change & sustainability is another trend being discussed in the business world as company core agendas. The pandemic to an extent has also changed the model of working & delivery in consulting world with remote working becoming the new normal.
ISB: The top school for recruitment at McKinsey & Company in India
ISB alumni is a fantastic community at McKinsey & Company and far bigger than any other alumni community in India. In terms of recruitment from various campuses across the country, ISB remains to be the largest intake campus for McKinsey & Company across all B-schools & universities in India. The calibre & knowledge ISB students bring to the organization are well recognised globally.
ISB’s YLP Programme: The perfect setup for pursuing any career including consulting
ISB’s YLP programme is a great setup for graduating students as it provides a chance to attain relevant work experience before pursuing MBA from ISB. It makes your ISB experience richer & helps you gain a more balanced career view. This in turn catapults your recruitment towards a different tenure with any organisation.
-Paritosh Garlyal, Content writer, Admissions and Financial Aid