| Topic Name: |
Consulting Glass Ceilings |
| Message Name: |
Advice from Big Fiver |
| Date Posted: |
01/29/2001 |
| In Reply To: |
Thank you for the advice. Allow me to respond to a couple of points you made before I break new ground.
Your question about whether I know what project managers do at McKinsey suggests that I don't truly understand the role they play. I realize that project management is a very broad term and people can be project mangers their entire career and always work on increasingly larger and more complex projects. I also realize that at many I-banks, let's say WDR, for example, the project managers have been with the firm for 10+ years and many of them are in their late 30s. So I understand that there is an incredible range in the term. To clarify, I have never applied for a PM position that has required more than five years of experience. I thought that was well within the range of my expertise.
In terms of revelancy of experience, I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. My experience is more than up to the task. I would agree with you if I were a standard college student who "project managed" fund raisers for the trip to Colorado and demanded six-figure salaries. But I've lobbied for, and won contracts to plan and develop network control systems for GE Power, to plan and create a VPN for two venture capital companies, to re-develop manufacturing processing algorithms for Revlon, to plan and implement an IT revitalization initiative for the entire City of Albany.
How could these experiences NOT be revelant? Given the fact that I owned the company that completed these projects, that gives at a solid three years of VERY relevant full lifecycle experience in sales, client relations, public speaking, project management and development. Most people spend years in lower roles just to get to the point where they can view the things that I've done. In the past year, I was a "real" project manager for a "real" company, so I've proven myself in the year I've been out of college. I'm not an untested commodity.
Given all of that, I don't see why it is unreasonable for me to only want a project management or consultant-level position with a major firm. Do you honestly think that if I had done all of those things with Andersen, rather than on my own, that these companies would still ignore me, or that if I had done all of these things but was, say, eight years older rather than an abberant, hyper-ambitious "boy", that they would still ignore me? Honestly?
The final point to which I must respond is my knowledge of the new economy. I've read numerous articles about the foundation of electronic commerce and the global economy that dates back to the late 70s (yes, before I was born). I've also talked to a "mentor" of mine who spent years at EDS and has a tech resume that starts a year before I was born, so I'm quite aware of how the new economy has reached the state where it is now. My contention was that this did not become mainstream and recognized as a strategic business necessity until around 1996. I stand by that contention, as even today, many companies are only now coming to terms with the importance of ebusiness. My experience with P&G (which didn't upgrade to Windows 95 until the end of 1997) has provided ample evidence of that, beyond the articles I read. Do you disagree?
To new ground - You mentioned in your header that I should consider an analyst position. Given what insight I provided into my experiences, do you still believe that I should? Will that be detrimental to my career, to take such a major step back? Or is it possible to take one of the PM offers that I received at one of the smaller firms and try to make a horizontal jump to a Big Five later on?
Actually...one last question. Do I really come across as arrogant in my writing? Please elaborate, I'm actually quite curious about this.
Thanks again for your advice. Even if I argue with it, it's not necessarily because I disagree. I just wish to gain and grant insight. |
| Message: |
Demigawd,
You are obviously very bright and talented, but you need to reality check. I currently work for Accenture (for the past 2.5 yrs with a cs degree out of top tier school) as a tech consultant. I have several problems with your previous posts:
1) What do you want to do; work in IT consulting, Strat consulting or ibanking? Hopefully you realize that these career paths are VERY different.
2) Clearly, you are best suited for IT consulting. If you want to do strat or ibanking, you will have to start out entry level (unless you got to bschool.) No doubt about it. You have no skills that are relevant to them.
3) Assuming you decide IT consulting is the right choice, here are your options: a) work with the "big boys" (accenture, et al) and take a position like experienced analyst. Although you think you have tremendous IT consulting experience, no large reputable firm will risk putting you in a consultant/manager position to tarnish their name at a client site. b) take a higher level job at a smaller consulting firm. the obvious downsides to this are less brand name recognition and market risks (potential layoffs.)
Here's my recommendation: look deep into option 3a. Having a big name on your resume will make you look much more mature, and will give you insight into the world of bigtime consulting. Besides, with your experience you may move up the ranks faster than you think. Before you start on another long detailed reply, think this option through seriously. With the market going south, this is a very safe bet.
By the way, if you're such a terrific startup person why can't you make more than 125K with your own company? I have been considering breaking off on my own and am surprised to hear your negative comments.
Hope this helps.
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