| Topic Name: |
PhD looking to enter consulting |
| Message Name: |
Dead on |
| Date Posted: |
06/16/2001 |
| In Reply To: |
Its not my only consideration, however, consulting(on the surface at least) seems to incompass most of what I enjoy from grad school and science. That is, problem solving, brainstorming new ways to do things, and working in "teams." THe real upside, as I see it, is that in consulting you actually get to see results of your ideas and suggestions rather quickly, as opposed to in science where you can plug away at a problem for years and only see incremental advancement and very rarely see any real world applications to ones work. (This is even true in industry where it takes a good 10-15 years of work to develop a successful drug, and over 90% of all intial targets never make it to market!)
Although I would love to do research in a big pharma setting, to get those jobs, I would have to do a 3-5year post-doc, which is truly just an extension of being a grad student (long hours and low pay). So the higher salaries in consulting are a real upsides (especially if I would of had to work 60-70 hour weeks anyway if I stayed in the same career path).
But, some of these assumptions about consulting might be rather naive...so any comments would be greatly appreciated...
D |
| Message: |
Re"consulting(on the surface at least) seems to incompass most of what I enjoy from grad school and science. That is, problem solving, brainstorming new ways to do things, and working in "teams." THe real upside, as I see it, is that in consulting you actually get to see results of your ideas and suggestions rather quickly, as opposed to in science where you can plug away at a problem for years and only see incremental advancement and very rarely see any real world applications to ones work."
I spent 10 years teaching at two major research universities prior to joing the consulting world about 7 years ago.
You are dead on, relative to both my ratioanle and experience.
Doesn't work for everyone, though ... but with these as your reasons, you are likely to do well.
The complication, of course, is finding a consulting job this year.
Best bet, is to work through your school's alumni roster of people at major firms who hire PhDs, and start to network. Set up informational calls, take peoiple to lunch, etc. Shoot for individuals with titles of VP, Partner, Principal, Senior Manager, Manager at McKinsey, Bain, BCG, A T Kearney, Booz Allen, Price Waterhouse (Applied Decision Analysis group, maybe Strategy), Accenture (Strategy and Business Architecture only). You may wish to work with your university's business school placement office to find a contact list, since more of the senior folks at these firms will have come from B-school.
You may also want to scan the firm's web sites ... many firms develop and publish "thought leadership" in specific industries ... the authors of those pieces will be good people to contact. Look at McKinsey Quarterly (available online and searchable by industry / topic), Booz Allen's "Strategy and Business", abstracts and author info available online, copies available in your local Border's Books) ... also just see the industry sections of other firms' sites, such as Accenture.
In addition to getting a hearing due to perceptions about PhDs (overcome that by just stating the reasone you gave here), your biggest challenge will be the state of the job market. However, your PhD will give you differentiated skills in certain industry groups, so I would say you have a chance.
In addition, some divisoions of some firms are hiring ... for example, rumor is that Booz Allen's World Tech Business is hiring ... downside ... that is not the Booz you hear about as the "consulting" side, and WTB works almost exclusively with government ... howwever, starting at Booz WTB may be a good place to get a foothold for 1-2 years while everyone else struggles, then you will have both PhD and real consulting experience which you can take to other firms in 18 months.
Good luck.
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