Psychology to Consulting?

Hi Ada, 

The beauty of consulting culture, esp. in MBBs is the diversity of people and backgrounds they can attract and retain. This means, most backgrounds, can find a home and hopefully fulfilling careers in consulting. 

At McKinsey, I have personally worked with and known peers with background similar to yours. Do they form the vast majority? No. Are they thriving in consulting? Many. 

If you are keen to pursue this career, I encourage you to start 
1. Interacting with folks in consulting to understand the job better 
2. Engaging with these companies via HRs to understand demand, fit etc
3. Honing your profile, CV, and ambition statement to "why consulting and what you bring to the table"

Happy to help you out if you have more queries. All the best!

Hi Ada,

congratulations on wrapping up your M.Sc. in Clinical Psychology! Great achievement!

In short: Yes, your profile (based on what you shared, and before knowing grades) likely is interesting enough for MBB/T2. In fact, I have had consultants on my teams with Psychology background.

It will come down to how you present in your CV and the Cover Letter - here it will be critical to have a compelling reasoning for your pivot. Naturally you will then need to be convincing in the interviews once you got the invites.

Reach out to me via message if you want to further discuss. Very happy to!

Best,
Lukas

Hello Ada! 

Yes absolutely! especially if you target the People & Organizational Performance (POP) practice at McKinsey, which has ongoing needs for people with strong behavioral science and organizational insight backgrounds. Your mix of psychology consulting & asset management experience is actually pretty unique, with an analytical side and a human-behavior side that POP projects need.

The key will be framing your story so it’s clear how your skills translate into solving complex business problems; for example, applying your psychology background to change management (I’ve done a lot of this!!), leadership development, or organizational transformation, while also showing your comfort with data and financial concepts from your asset management experience.

With strong networking and solid case prep, your profile could definitely get attention at MBB :) good luck Ada! 

The short answer is: yes, your background can be interesting to MBB or Tier-2 firms — but your success will depend on how you frame your experience, build your case/fit interview skills, and connect your story to what consulting firms value.

Here’s why you do have an edge:

• Diverse exposure — A Clinical Psychology M.Sc. + asset management + psychology consulting is unusual. That mix says you can think analytically and understand people deeply — which is gold for consulting.
• Transferable skills — Consulting firms hire for problem-solving, communication, and structured thinking, not for industry specialization alone. Both internships give you credible business and human-insight experience.
• Differentiation — Many candidates have finance or engineering backgrounds; fewer can combine behavioural insight with commercial exposure.

Where you’ll need to put in extra work
 

1. Narrative – You need a crisp, compelling “pivot story” that ties your psychology and business experiences together into one coherent arc about why consulting is the logical next step.
2. Case interviews – MBB/Tier-2 won’t care how unusual your CV is if you can’t crack cases. Structured problem-solving, MECE thinking, and mental math will be critical.
3. Fit/PEI stories – You’ll want strong examples of leadership, resilience, impact, and teamwork, drawn from both your psychology and asset management experiences.
4. Networking – Especially for a non-traditional background, direct outreach to consultants/alumni will help you bypass filters and get interviews.

If you can package your profile as:

“I understand markets, organizations, and human behaviour — and I want to bring that integrated perspective to solving complex business problems at scale”

…then you’ll stand out in the applicant pile.

Ada,

High-level yes. 

Why? Because you have some work experience that can signal transferable skills that are valuable in consulting. 

But I would need to understand your profile in more detail to be able to tell. It depends what university you went to, how good was your performance there, and what did you do specifically during your internships.

Even so, in terms of applying for consulting roles, I'd go broad (not only targeting MBB). 

You might find the following guide useful:

• Expert Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy

Best,
Cristian

Hi Ada. 

100% yes. 

Generally these firms are hiring plenty of people w/o background that is (directly) applicable to consulting. My best friend at BCG was a English teacher abroad before joining BCG. 

Having said that they will actually view your background has pretty  relevant to strategy consulting. 

Happy to chat through your specific application strategy. 

Cheers,

Andreas