Hello,
I am an engineering consultant in the pharmaceutical industry with a bachelor's in Chemical Engineering. I have 3 years of experience as an engineering consultant.
I am considering a career shift from being a project engineer in an engineering consulting firm to being a consultant in a management consulting firm like McKinsey/BCG/Bain. The reason for the shift is that I want to work at the higher level of the project value chain - working on strategies for capital allocation rather than working on the very technical side of engineering. I eventually want to be an investor (portfolio manager) working in the asset management business. I believe being a management consultant will help me understand businesses better. I also recently passed CFA Lv1 to build a foundation in finance and economics, and I plan on preparing for Lv2 and 3 in the near future.
Considering my goal above, I would like to ask for your advice on two things (I'll have McKinsey as an example to describe positions):
1. Should I apply for a BA position with 3 years of experience or work 1-2 more years as an engineer + get an MBA, then apply for an Associate position? If BA, why? If Associate, why?
2. I read somewhere that if one is not selected, he/she needs to show a significant improvement before reapplying. Considering this, how should I start preparing for applying to management consulting? Should I prep for case interviews before submitting applications?
Thank you.