Getting staffed as a post-MBA Associate

Hi Lionila,

it sounds like you know the area you want to work in. So the best you can do is to try to get as much exposure to that area as you can. Raise your hand and let the people in your company know what you are passionate about and what you want to work on. Make sure your mentor knows as well.

Of course there is never a guarantee that you will “always” get your way. But if you don't speak up, you will definitely not get your way. You will be used like a pawn and get staffed on projects across the board based on your availability.

You don't need to have all of the expertise in an area just to become a project team member. Most of the things I learned were actually on the job during projects in all sorts of different areas (although this was obviously not communicated to the client like that :) It is important that you show interest first and foremost and you will be able to pick up the things you are still missing along the way.

So get in touch with partners and managers who work in your identified area of interest. Maybe they even have some business development initiatives going on that you could support just to get more exposure to the area and to gain visibility within your firm.

Hope that helps

Let's get expectations right. You have a preference, and you want projects aligning with that preference.

But you won't always be proposed for a project that aligns with your preference. And getting project experience is more valuable than “being on the beach”.

More importantly, being staffed and doing great work will improve your “negotiation” power in order to get staffed where you want.

So being staffed outside of your preference is better than not being staffed.

But… let me add something here… as I don't think you are seeing this clearly.

You want performance improvement and M&A. This is great, because it means ANY industry is ok with this. But… when you go to a PI or M&A project, knowing about the industry is a great accelerator.

In other words, experience in ANY industry will make you more valuable to PI and M&A in that industry. And there's a lot of relevant industry experience (that will be useful for PI and M&A) that you can only gain in “non-PI, non-M&A” projects in those industries.

In short: gain industry experience in 1-2 industries, become a specialist in those industries, and then pivot to do PI and M&A in those industries.

Lionila, 

that's a great question. 

My advice would be to go for the things that are either the closest to what you want to do, or that will enable you to develop the same sort of skillset for what you want to do. 

Why?

1. There aren't that many projects on the market now anyway, which means that lots of people are having trouble getting staffed. It's a difficult time to be picky. 

2. As a new joiner, you have close to no value proposition. So you need to get going in doing projects in order to learn things, develop your skills, prove your value and build a network in the firm. Once you have these, it's a lot easier to navigate towards certain topics. 

Doing courses, btw, is not going to help much with getting you staffed on those types of projects. Networking will. You need to get in touch with Partners and APs and EMs who are in that space and get their support for staffing you on their projects. 

If you need more help, do reach out and I'm happy to go deeper in this. 

Also, sharing with you two guides that are particularly useful if you're just starting in the industry:

• Expert Guide: How to Become A Distinctive Consultant
• Expert Guide: How to Manage for Lifestyle in Consulting

Best,
Cristian