What is a good pre - MBA career step that will help me get a tier 1 consulting job post MBA?

Hi there,

Given your engineering background, it would be better if you can find a role that involve more business related work.

• Business Analyst sounds good (regardless of IT or not); otherwise a role with project management skills could be good too
• I don't recommend QA role as it would still be very much technical; international experience wouldn't help you as much as business exposure, and you already had international internship anyway
• I don't recommend tier 3 consulting either. Get a tier 2 or just leave it. Between an MBA with a tier 3 experience and an MBA with a business role in a well recognised corporate, the latter might be more preferred actually. 

Best,

Emily

Hi Aditya,

Given your background as IT engineer, I would strongly suggest to look for opportunities on digital transformation, data analytics (big data, advanced analytics), artificial intelligence, industry 4.0, and blockchain.

Having expertise on these fields would attract you even to bigger names like MBB which is expanding aggresively on these fields and require people with strong technical skills (even more if they also have consulting skillset: problem solving, cross-functional management understanding, structured communication).

Hope it helps.

Kind regards,
Nathan

Dear Aditya,

I would definitely recommend you to look for roles in consulting, may be on the entry position, as well as look for more strategic or more general management roles. 


If you have any specific questions and need some, feel free to reach out. 

Good luck,
André

Hello Aditya,

If you do an MBA, the previous (short) working experience is not crucial. Anyway, if you have to choose one, I would suggest to go for a Data analyst or Digital roles. In the last years MBB are focusing their attention on these fields.

Best,
Luca 

Hi Aditya, the last experience on your cv (i.e. the MBA) will be the most important one. However, another international experience or 1.5 years in consulting will boost your application.

Best,
Antonello

Hi Aditya,

the usual best path to a junior position in a top consulting firm is experience in:

• Second-tier consulting companies
• Strategy roles for a top brand

Given your background, you may consider applying for a position at a consulting firm before the MBA using the right networking techniques – this would have the added benefit that some companies may be willing to pay for it.

Best,

Francesco

Hello!

If you are confident that you will get into a good MBA, then it´s not relevant. MBA would precisely position you for consulting -network, name, CV, on-campus recruiting, etc.-. 

I would focus better atm in seeing which experience is best precisely to ensure you are admitted in an MBA 

Good luck!

Cheers,

Clara

Hi,

The formula for the successful application in your case is the following one:
Interesting career progression + top mba + strong networking + strong interview skills = Big 3 offer

I think your current career would be of an interest to Big 3 recruitment teams and you should focus your effort on other parts of the equation!

Thanks,

Anton