Networking tips for an experienced hire in Toronto

Question

Hi

I am an ex-consultant and worked with KPMG in India in their Strategy and Operations team for about 3 years. I did work in the areas of Business Transformation, Investment Appraisal, and Profit Improvement. I also worked in their Toronto office for a year. Recently, the management started focusing more on advisory work than strategy consulting. I love consulting but the challenge I am facing is that I hardly know people in Toronto in the consulting sector like in MBB or tier 2 firms.

I did try to find out networking events where I can meet people from MBB/Tier 2 firms, but either there are a million people targetting employees from the firm or I hardly come across anyone considering they are busy with work. I also tried to reach them on LinkedIn, but no luck.

What would be your advice for networking with MBB/Tier 2 firms in Toronto?

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi,

I would start with understanding where your experience fits best in consulting. If we take the BIG3 companies as an example, there may be multiple options:

You have some general experience that is relevant for consulting but do not have a deep functional expertise (e.g. 4-5 years as a brand manager). In this case, you should apply for a general consulting trek.
You have a very deep industry expertise (e.g. risk in banking). In this case, you may be a good fit for an Expert career trek within the research department.
You have a functional knowledge (very often supplied with the relevant PHD) that suits one of the dedicated operational groups within the company (e.g. operations, implementation, private equity)
You have functional knowledge in digital that is in line with the newly created subsidiaries (E.g. Digital Ventures or Quantum Black at McKinsey)

Tier 2 and Tier 3 consulting may have even more (or less) options, especially if your industry experience is in tech.

There may be multiple options to approach this:

Actively monitoring opened roles that might suit your experience on the web-sites
Sending the resume to HR asking for advice. If your profile is interesting they might schedule a meeting with a manager or partner from a relevant industry / function or someone who is responsible for experienced hires
Calling the local offices asking for Information about any upcoming events for experienced hires
Leveraging your network / linkedin connections looking for advice on where your profile suits best

Good luck!

Answer 2

Hi,

Happy to provide my two cents. Being based out of Toronto, I can relate to the challenge of networking for consulting opportunties in the city.

In my experience, LinkedIn can work well if you use a targeted approach to reaching out to people. What I mean by that is that try to search specifically for professionals with similar backgrounds [big 4---> target firm]. Also in the LinkedIn messages, provide an option for a phone call. This should help you increase your Linkedin response rate and help you form relationships on the street.

Hope that helps!