Is Consulting Possible with my experience and my education?

Question

Hello everyone,

I would appreciate your advice on whether my background and planned career path can realistically lead to a consulting role.

My background combines military logistics, analytics, and global supply chain operations. I began my career as a Logistics Officer in the Air Force (Lieutenant) serving for 3.5 years from 2017-2021, where I was responsible for planning, coordination, and execution of logistics operations in a structured, high-pressure environment. This experience gave me early exposure to leadership, operational discipline, and large-scale resource coordination.

After leaving the military, I worked at a startup company for approximately a year from 2021-2022 where I was involved in market analysis and demand-related projects in a fast-paced, unstructured environment. I then completed an MS in Business Analytics at the University of Texas at Dallas, from 2022-2024, focusing on statistics, predictive modeling, SQL, and data visualization.
For transparency, my undergraduate GPA from a prestigious Little Ivies liberal arts nearby New York City college was 2.3, and my master’s GPA was 3.1.

Following my graduate studies, I worked as a Market Research & Demand Planning Intern at Hera Arms for about six months, supporting forecasting, market analysis, and planning activities.

Currently, I am working at LX Pantos, the supply chain and logistics spin-off of LG Electronics, where I have been employed since January 2025 and plan to continue until November–December 2026. In my current role, I focus on supply chain analytics, KPI management, Power BI dashboard development, capacity planning, and operational performance analysis across large-scale logistics and last-mile delivery networks.

Looking ahead, I am planning to apply to IMD, INSEAD, HEC Paris, and Rotterdam School of Management, with the goal of starting an MBA in January 2027.

While consulting is my long-term objective, I understand that I may not enter consulting immediately after the MBA. As an alternative pathway, I am considering joining global companies such as PepsiCo, Unilever, or Nestlé in supply chain or operations roles, or logistics companies such as Maersk or Kuehne+Nagel, potentially working for 1–3 years in regions such as the Middle East, Europe, or Asia, before targeting consulting firms such as Strategy&, Roland Berger, or Kearney in any geography.

Given this background, I would like to ask:

Is consulting realistically achievable with my experience and education, either immediately post-MBA or after an industry role?
How much does a lower pre-MBA GPA (undergraduate and master’s) matter for consulting recruiting, particularly in Europe or the Middle East?
If I perform very strongly during the MBA (e.g., graduating with top academic results or honors), can that effectively offset my prior GPA when recruiting for consulting?
How realistic is the industry → consulting transition in practice, especially from supply chain / operations roles?

Any candid feedback or perspective—especially from those who have seen similar profiles—would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your insights.

Answer 1

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your context and specific questions. I'll answer it based on my own experience of transitioning from the industry to consulting at McKinsey, after my MBA at INSEAD.

Let me answer your specific questions:

-> Is consulting realistically achievable with my experience and education, either immediately post-MBA or after an industry role?

An MBA could definitely put you on track for a career transition to consulting. INSEAD for example is a top consulting school and has consistently been the #1 source of talent globally for MBB for a very long time. McKinsey for example (almost always) hires the most number of consultants from INSEAD, so landing that would be a step in the right direction.

-> How much does a lower pre-MBA GPA (undergraduate and master’s) matter for consulting recruiting, particularly in Europe or the Middle East?

A higher GPA of course helps, but a lower GPA is not entirely a deal-breaker. Ultimately, MBB firms are always looking for a "spike" in your CV and that can be in any domain (work-experience, academics, extra-curriculars, entrepreurship etc.)

-> If I perform very strongly during the MBA (e.g., graduating with top academic results or honors), can that effectively offset my prior GPA when recruiting for consulting?

Yes, making the Dean's list for example while at B-School can indeed be spike (but of course that alone does not guarantee an interview)

-> How realistic is the industry → consulting transition in practice, especially from supply chain / operations roles?

There are two important things to note here. It is almost impossible to change industry, function and geography (all three) at the same time even if you do an MBA. Here's why:

- For example, prior to INSEAD, my background was in Industry -> Media, Function -> Sales and Geography -> India. It is neigh near impossible to transition from that to Industry -> Investment banking, Function -> Finance and Geography -> London for example, simply because you cannot change all three dimensions.

- Therefore, it is very important to figure out what is your non-negotiable and then anchor around that dimension. In my case, I ensured that I kept Function constant by specifically applying to the Marketing & Sales practice of McKinsey. This allowed me to change my Industry to -> Consulting and Geography to -> Europe.

The next thing to note is that there is an unconscious bias when it comes to recruiting into consulting. One way or another you will see that the most preferred profiles for consulting shortlisting often comes down to the following:

- Most preferred -> Candidates with prior Investment banking experience, private equity background etc. at large American brand names

- Next most preferred -> Candidates with ex-consulting experience at Tier 1.5-2.0 consulting firms, or roles like CEO's office, strategy work, in-house consulting etc.

- Next most preferred -> Candidates who have had experience in the same geography to which they are applying, with large global well-known brands (e.g., have previously worked in London for five years, if you are applying to London office etc.)

- Next most preferred -> Prior industry experience in sales, operations etc. if you apply specifically to that practice (e.g., Operations practice, Marketing and Sales practice etc.)

The way you should therefore position your story could be around "Hey, I am an Operations expert, having worked for 4+ years in operations and supply chain in strategic roles, leadership roles etc. Now I am keen to transition to consulting and bring my operations expertise by applying to the Operations practice of McKinsey.." for example. This way you anchor your story by keeping your functional expertise constant for example to break into consulting.

Happy to connect one-on-one if you'd like to chat. Hope that helps and good luck!

Answer 2

hey there :)

Short answer yes this is absolutely realistic. Your profile is actually very relevant for consulting because military logistics, analytics and large scale supply chains translate very well into problem solving, leadership and operations cases, and I have seen similar backgrounds place successfully. The low pre MBA GPA is not ideal but it is not a deal breaker at all, especially in Europe and the Middle East where firms care much more about your MBA brand, story and interview performance. A strong MBA performance can clearly offset past grades, and industry to consulting moves from supply chain or operations are common if you position impact and complexity well. I moved into consulting myself and saw this often across McKinsey, BCG and Strategy firms. Happy to help you sharpen the story or next steps if you want.

best,
Alessa :)