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5 Questions to Ask if You're Thinking About a Consulting Car

Published: Sep 12, 2011

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How should a retailer fend off a new breed of competitors like Groupon? And how can an airline create a flight plan for growth amid market turbulence? That's where we come in – to provide strategic counsel and clarity amid uncertainty. And these are just some of the tough issues that management consulting pros get to tackle every day.

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To see if management consulting is right for you, I suggest that you contemplate these five questions:

  1. Are you passionate about solving complex problems and comfortable making tough decisions?
  2. Can you spot patterns and trends while "number-crunching" data?
  3. Do you have an analytical eye for almost everything that you do?
  4. Are you constantly thinking about ways to improve your friend's new smart phone – or almost anything else within your reach?
  5. Are you comfortable being a leader?

If you answered "yes" to these questions, then you, my friend, may be made for management consulting.

At L.E.K., we look for people who are curious, have analytical firepower and are committed to rolling up their sleeves with their colleagues to come up with creative, practical solutions to complex problems. In some cases, we have literally reshaped entire industries based on our ground-breaking findings.

But other than the broad qualities that I've highlighted, you choose your path to success. At L.E.K., we have history majors excelling in our life-sciences practice. We also have consultants applying their analytical-engineering experience to fuel new growth for retail clients, and associates uncovering the hidden pitfalls behind seemingly attractive company acquisitions.

I'll be exploring the management-consulting industry from all angles in my blog, and will even have some L.E.K. colleagues share their real-world insights with you.

I look forward to answering any questions that you have. So tell me, what do you think makes a good consultant?

This post was adapted from L.E.K. Consulting’s L.E.K. Advisor blog, which is an interactive resource for undergraduate, MBA and PhD candidates interested in pursuing a career in management consulting. The L.E.K. Advisor acts as a voice for the L.E.K. brand and also features contributions from L.E.K. employees who share their “real-world” perspectives about the management consulting industry and life inside L.E.K. Check it out at http://ask.lek.com/.

To learn more about the firm, also check out Vault's L.E.K. Consulting profile.

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