Best alternatives to strategy consulting ?

Hi there,

With "wide industry exposure, networking opportunities, career capital and good exit opportunities" as the metric, I'd say you could find that, to a lesser degree, in the following areas:

1. Management consulting
2. Operations consulting
3. IT consulting
4. PE (Private Equity)/ VC (Venture Capital)
5. Tech (but be careful where you land specifically)
6. In-house consulting (far less industry exposure though)

Happy to talk through career options more on a call!

Hey there,

You can approach this question from two sides:

1. For prestige, exit opportunities, money, etc you should look into

• Investment banking
• Private Equity
• VC

The tasks are sometimes similar, but not comparable, the colleagues will be similar to MBB. Lifestyle will likely be much worse in terms of hours

2. If you aim to work in a similar environment with similar tasks, but a better lifestyle, I'd recommend you to look at

• In-house consulting
• Strategy departments of large corporations

In both roles, you will work together with McKinsey, BCG, and Bain consultants frequently.

Cheers,

Florian

Hi A!

I'd say most professional services have a wide variety of customers across many industries. Think lawyers, accountants, bankers. The key difference is that strategy consultants (MBB and T2 firms) often work directly with C-Suite clients and have therefore a more hollistic overview of the firm and the industry it's in.

Other professional service providers usually work with specific functions (the legal department, treasury, controlling, etc.) and therefore develop a very detail-driven and narrow perspective on their clients.

Hope this helps!

Hello!

Have you considered tech?

My personal experience is with Amazon -which btw, with an engenieering background, offers endless opportunities- and it was fantastic. Great learning curve, amazing talent, good pay, plenty of opportunities... nothing to envy to consulting. 

Feel free to send me a PM in case you want to further discuss it. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hi there,

You will find industry exposure, networking opportunities and growth/exit as well in:

• Private Equity
• Venture Capital (with focus on tech though)

IB also offers most of what you mentioned, but not as much industry exposure (you normally work on some verticals).

The job is going to be quite different though in those sectors.

Most people do consulting first before PE or VC, as they are a lot more difficult to break into.

Best,
Francesco

Could you specify a bit more? In terms of learning experience, exit opportunities, salaries, etc. ?

I d say what makes strategy consulting special - to me - is the client-service business aspect. All infamous things such as the "steep learning curve" are not in place because MBB wants you to have that but because it is a natural result of what happens when you put clients FIRST and always work under deadlines and have to push yourself out of your comfort zone every single day to go above and beyond for your team and your client.

Alternatives: for me personally, investment banking (not as analyst but as post-MBA associate). In-house consulting could be comprable - but there are too many differences for me personally.

Hey,

Based on your aspiration, management consulting is really the best option. The closest alternatives will be in-house consulting, investment banking, Private Equity or working for a tech firm. But they are not like for like comparisons.

But my advice is to approach it this way- pursue that career track which is more in line with your values, career aspirations and risk apetitie. Pursue that where you know or have a good feeling that you will enjoy it and be more joyful. Dont pursue it for money, branding or better exit options. If you make your moves well, do good work and make a positive impact , you will be in demand & success will happen! Too often people get into roles & companies for all the wrong reasons and then invest huge efforts to change. Life is too short to invest in things that dont matter to you or the environment around you. 

Hi there, 

just to sum up: PE, IB, VC, in-house consulting, strategy, IT consulting, tech.

Cheers, 

GB

I also moved into consulting from an engineering background for the variety of work, grounding in business skills, exit options and career branding perspective.

Other fields that offer similar benefits include M&A, PE/VC, and perhaps a strategy team in Big Tech too