Hi PrepLounge,
My question is short - is consulting a highly extroverted and charged environment? Would a slow, deep thinker struggle in a typical consulting setup?
Is consulting a highly extroverted environment?
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Hi Anonymous,
There's a lot of variety, and slow-deep thinkers certainly exist + thrive in consulting. Most consulting firms nowadays have their teams discuss their working norms (both at the start of the case and regularly throughout) - this includes individuals self-proclaiming their working styles and preferences. The key here is know yourself. Ask for and setup the environment where you will thrive best!
Of course, innate in consulting is interaction with, and good precense in front of clients. You need to be able to communicate well and work with others, of course. So, you need to be comfortable with others. However, there are many hours in a day, and a lot of this time is spent working/thinking!
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Hi,
actually your questions mixes up two dimensions: extroversion vs introversion and thinking vs feeling. Hence there is no "extrovert vs a thinker personality" as your question suggests. Extroversion vs introversion and thinking vs feeling are character traits which come with specific behavior/preferences, i.e. you prefer specific work settings better than others or you like to communicate differently if you are more of a "thinking" than a "feeling" type of personality. However, you can succeed in consulting no matter what your personality type is - but it is easier to succeed if you know yourself and understand why others may prefer other working modes because you can adjust accordingly.
At Oliver Wyman, consultants' personality is analyzed in order to leverage your personality’s specific traits and to strengthen your relationships through better communication and understanding.
There are numerous web resources you can find that translate your personality type into "personality colors" and explain what it means in terms of your preferences/ how you can use it to your advantage.
Hope that sheds some light.
Best regards
(edited)
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Hi,
According to the McKinsey MBTI statistics, it's exactly the opposite - most of the consultants are introverts. However, once you progress to the partner role you'll need to develop extrovert traits since it correlates with sales.
Best!
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Hi there,
I will keep my answer very simple as you did. No, there are many consultants who are not extrovert but very successful at their job!
Cheers
Serhat
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Hi,
being introverted is not necessarily a bad thing. In addition to this, deep thinkers are always needed. Communication is, however, an important skill. You have to be able to explain your thought process to your client. I am not quite sure what you mean by "slow". Clearly, acumen and fast realization of problems are required in any industry in order to be successful. Ultimately, you have to be convinced about yourself being a good consultant since confidence is a necessary characteristic to be shown in front of a client. I recommend you to do an internship or participate in a workshop offered by consulting firms. Then you can see if this job is meant for you. It is quite difficult to give you an answer to a quite generic question.
Best,
Daniel
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