What is your experience as a Civil engineering background to consulting?

Hi Anonymous! 

Although you didn't specify, I'm assuming you mean the MBB type consulting firms, rather than more specialized firms. All answers below are written with that in mind:

1. As a 6-yr engineer without an MBA, the main question that people have is around your business judgement. They will assume you're good with math and in your specific industrial expertise, but question whether you understand how economies work, a bit of finance, accounting, strategy, etc. So highlight any experience in company management, P&L responsibility, etc.
2. Yes, this helps to close the (perceived) skill gap described above.
3. No - if at all, they would want to test how you do in cases that are not tailored to your industry.
4. None. FIT is around your personal fit, not your subject matter expertise. And MBB don't hire you for your engineering industry experience, so don't expect any deep dive into your skills.

I know this is probably not what you were hoping for, but still hope it helps. To get MBB's attention you'll need to position yourself as a generalist that is able to quicky adapt to new industries and build an understanding of drivers that shape a previously unknown industry quickly. That may feel superfical in your deep industrial background, but this is the way strategy consulting works.

Hi there,

1. The key skills consulting companies look for are leadership, drive, problem solving, ability to influence others and to communicate well with key stakeholders, in a context of excellence. This should be expressed in a quantifiable way in your CV, showing the action taken and the results achieved
2. Yes, big brands always help in the CV screening. But what will help you most is an internal referral
3. Cases are not tailored to your industry. You may get cases related to a specific practice you are applying to though (eg digital). Even in that case you will have cases unrelated to the practice area.
4. Industry knowledge is only sometimes tested if you apply as an experienced hire for specific practices or expert areas (eg digital, O&G). For generalist positions for Associates (the one you will probably target) it is not tested

Best,
Francesco

1. Regardless of your background, you should be looking to highlight the same skills: Problem-solving, analytical capability, leadership, driving change, teamwork, diverse experiences, client management

2. Yes. This definitely helps, especially if they're a target school and you can throw on that brand

3. If you are coming in as an experienced hire (into a specialized role), then yes (mostly). If you are coming in as a generalist, then no.

4. FIT would generally be defined as stories to understand traits like those in #1. However, you should expect to get a number of discussion-like questions that are both fit and case. As in "How would you go about setting up x". Or "how do you think about x". With x being a very relevant topic in the industry