Entry position

Hi there,

Fairly long response below as I will elaborate on the rationale and thinking of firms on the answers

1. Is it possible that I be considered for a higher role, based on my experience and degree, without having had any consulting experience?

• Based on what you described of your context, you will not be considered for a higher role
• At my time in BCG, there were people with 10 years of work  experience but they were still made to join as the Consultant (post-MBA position)
• Part of the rationale for this is that people are promoted in consulting based on previous demonstration of abilities and capabilities and if they are performing at the next level
  • Having more years of experience (in non related fields) often does not ‘count’ or ‘add’ towards consulting experience
  • Even if you do still have the skills, to the firms you have not demonstrated it in the firm, so you need to ‘go through the ranks’ so to say

2. If I do a great job in the interview, would it be possible that Bain does consider a change in the position because they think I might be able to get to the manager position already?

• Again, no. Typically the position you are being evaluated for has already been calibrated by HR/recruiting based on your previous work experience and CV
• In my experience interviewing experienced hire candidates, I have worked with HR to adjust the positions but this is only between associate/analyst level positions (i.e. person was meant to interview for a Consultant (post-MBA) role but performance was more along the lines of a Senior Associate/Associate)
• As Francesco mentioned, MBB is hesitant to laterally hire someone into the manager role even within MBB or between Tier 2 to MBB
• There is significantly a lot more hesitation and unwillingness to hire candidates with non-consulting background into the manager role
• The reason for this is that manager is undoubtedly the toughest role in consulting and in my POV it is the most pivotal role in a project
  • You need to be able to provide the right insight and guidance for your team
  • You need to able to understand how to navigate and handle clients (in a consulting context)
  • You need to understand and know how to navigate and operate the firm, internally (super important)
• All of the above don't sound ‘difficult’ - but trust me, it is and it requires time and experience to build up
  • Ask anyone of the coaches here and they can tell you the difference in case experience between a case with a good manager, and a case with a bad manager
• Manager sometimes is even a huge jump/challenge sometimes for the best consultants, and it often takes people ~1 year (or more) to ramp up fully into the role

Hi there,

In most cases, TA teams would know exactly which role is a good fit for you as this role would push you without overwhelming you too much.

The short answer is, you can negotiate more senior roles and if you overperform in the interviews (+ when you show competitive offers) you might land it. 

However, keep in mind that you might not really want to join as a manager directly as there's a lot of organic skills you need to acquire within consulting to make your manager life easier (e.g., how to problem solve, how to manage clients, how to manage tight deadlines and stress, how to run analytical streams and models). The manager is there to guide the team in their day to day analysis and tasks. Having done the actual streams as a consultant helps you become a stronger manager that can put himself/herself in the shoes of the consultant.

Mario 

Hi there,

1) Is it possible that I will be considered for a higher role, based on my experience and degree, without having had any consulting experience?

If you join as an experienced hire with several years of experience but without consulting experience, most likely you will start from a post-MBA position (Associate at McKinsey, Consultant at BCG and Bain).

2) If I do a great job in the interview, would it be possible that Bain does consider a change in the position because they think I might be able to get to the manager position already?

Very difficult to get a Manager position if you don’t have consulting experience, and even if you have that experience. I know cases where a manager in MBB moved to another MBB and they still asked to have an initial period as a Consultant first.

For any other questions please let me know. 

Best, 

Francesco 

Hi there,

Firstly, these companies are good at knowing where you should be. Meaning, you might fail if you join as project lead…and they know this.

Now, if your 10 years experience involves consulting and/or management (project, team, etc.) experience, then yes you can be considered for project lead. But it is highly dependent on the type of experience.

Generally, poor interview performance can bring you down a role level, but it's rare that excellent performance brings you up.

Feel free to reach out to them and have a discussion of your experience/expertise and see what they can do. Then, regardless, perform as well as you can in the interview!

It is impossible to be considered for a manager position with 10 years of experience outside consulting unless this experience is in finance, investment banking, or private equity.

It would also be detrimental for you to be hired as a manager because you will probably have to cope with requests that are quite outside your comfort zone. 

I recommend speaking with the recruiting team about where they see you entering the organisation. I echo what others say though that you'll want to be a bit cautious as entering in at a manager level without having run a consulting project before. It's a tall ask and you're often better off coming in at a lower level and progressing quickly. 

What you can sometimes do is be hired at a senior manager level but then be given 6 months or so to work your way up to running projects. 

Either way it's worth speaking with recruiting. Good luck!

Hey there,

You would only be considered for higher positions if you have gained relevant experience.

For instance, if you never managed people or a team officially, you would not be considered for an engagement manager/project leader role (even if you have 20 years of work experience).

The experience you bring to the table needs to be relevant in the context of consulting.

You would also not do yourself a favor if you enter directly into a leadership role since you are evaluated much more harshly, and have much more ambitious development goals and expectations. It makes more sense to learn the ropes from an Associate perspective and work with strong project leaders that you can then later emulate.

All the best,

Florian

Hello!

Consultant can mean very different thing among consulting companies, even among MBBs. Which one are you referring to?

Cheers, 

Clara