Senior commercial manager vs internal consulting

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BCG McKinsey and Bain

Recent activity on Feb 09, 2020

5 Answers

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Anonymous A asked on Feb 06, 2020

Hi all,

I’ve been offered two new positions within my current company.

1) a Senior commercial manager position combined with a product owner role and a role within a company wide strategy department, Strategy Consultant.

I wish to position myself on the best track to advance to a senior position both within my current company, but likewise if I one day chose to apply for a position at another company. In addition to this, I still have the desire to explore the opportunity to apply for MBB as an experienced hire at some point.

In short: are commercial managers (and product owners) highly regarded and valued in industry and/or consulting or would it be wiser to stay in strategy?

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Answer 1

Best answer

Clara

Expert

Content Creator

updated an answer on Feb 06, 2020

McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

If I understand your post correctly, options are:

Senior commercial manager position + product owner
Strategy Consultant

If this is the case, I believe both would work.

With (1) you would adquire product owner skills, that is demanded, for instance, in Agile implementation projects. Atm for instance, McK has a whole "hub", the Mckinsey Digital Lab, where this experience would be much appreciated (https://www.mckinsey.com/careers/search-jobs/jobs/agilecoach-mckinseydigitallabs-31804)

(2) is consulting already, that would for sure be useful for a post MBB application.

Hence, for posterior MBB, none of them are deal breakers. Choose depending on other KPIS.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

(edited)

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Answer 2

Daniel

Expert

Content Creator

replied on Feb 06, 2020

McKinsey / ex-Interviewer at McKinsey / I will coach you to rock those interviews

Hi!

at least at McKinsey Product Owners are actively searched for these day. Agile is the new black, so it would be a definitely a right move from the MBB perspective.

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Answer 3

Luca

Expert

Content Creator

replied on Feb 09, 2020

BCG |NASA | SDA Bocconi & Cattolica partner | GMAT expert 780/800 score | 200+ students coached

Hello,

Any leadership experience, especially in the strategy field, is valuable for consulting companies.

Anyway, if your aim is to join strategic consultancy, I would not spend many years in the industry but I would try to prepare for the change asap, starting studying and building your own network.

Best,
Luca

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Answer 4

Antonello

Expert

Content Creator

replied on Feb 08, 2020

McKinsey | top 10 FT MBA professor for consulting interviews | 6+ years of coaching

Hi,
I think a managerial position is important for MBB application. However, if your goal is MBB I would start to structure a plan to apply asap and in an efficient way (e.g. by getting a referral).

Best,
Antonello

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Answer 5

Vlad

Expert

replied on Feb 06, 2020

McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

First of all, let's distinguish between a product manager (tech product role) and product owner (Product P&L ownership) roles. I guess you are talking about the product owner

Secondly - for your growth within the company Product ownership looks much more interesting than a strategy role, because you are working on the "Real things" and not just slides

Thirdly - from MBB perspective both roles are good and equal if you manage to sell your experience correctly

Best

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Senior commercial manager vs internal consulting

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