Experienced hire: Why no consulting so far?

Question

Hallo,

I am working already for 4 years and have had internships in FMCG before finishing grad school.

For my interview, I would like to prepare an answer to the question, why I havent been in consulting so far and why now - can anyone give me some tips on good reasoning?

Answer 1

Hi,

When answering “Why consulting” questions, provide three reasons why you want to pursue a career in a consulting firm. A general rule is to find the reasons that are important for you and logically fit everything you have done before:

Deepen expertise in a particular industry / function (e.g. you want to grow further in financial services and get exposure to these clients).
Personal rationale like your experience of working with consultants on a client-side
Developing certain skills (C-level skillset)
Working with great people
Working with the most complex problems
Switching your career
Etc

It's important to not only provide each point but also explain why this can be done ONLY in consulting (E.g. I will be able to develop a C-level skillset because I will be working directly with top management, working on the most complex problems and leveraging the best experts in these fields)

Best

Answer 2

Dear A,

For this answer you may reply that you have different objectives before and lastly, while working with consultancy in your company you've figured out how interesting it could really be. And this motivated you to apply to consulting now.

Hope it helps.

Best,
André