6 top degrees for a career in management consulting
Ian Cooper
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As a management consultant, you’d work to help businesses, governments, and not-for-profit organizations solve problems and improve their overall performance.
Management consultants are typically outside experts hired by an organization to conduct a review of a specific problem area and make recommendations for how that organization can do better. You may, for example, help a company refine its management structure, identify potential acquisition partners and prepare for a deal, or come up with new ways to integrate technology into its daily operations in order to boost efficiency.
Most management consultants work for large consulting firms. Many of these firms operate internationally and employ tens of thousands of people (if not more). This gives them the ability to apply a considerable amount of brainpower and experience to any given client’s problems, usually outperforming what the client could accomplish in-house.
As a new management consultant, you’d be part of a team. Depending on your role, you could be tasked with doing everything from conducting interviews with key stakeholders inside a client’s hierarchy to doing deep dives into data analytics to developing a step-by-step understanding of how a specific business process works. Then, you’d help put all of this together into a specific action plan that your client can implement.
You’ll get to work with some really talented people along the way. Jenny Liu, an analyst at Kearney, says, “Everyone at the firm is incredibly smart but down-to-earth.” Another management consulting grad working for Nous Group observes that “the people that I work with are generally pretty incredible.”
However, you’ll also be expected to put in a lot of time and effort. 50 to 60-hour weeks are common. During crunch time on a major project or during an especially busy time of year, your hours may go up even further.
For your trouble, you’ll typically start at a relatively low salary — just under $62,000, according to our survey (although if you’re lucky enough to join a top-tier shop, you may earn as much as $115,000). However, stick around and that can climb significantly. More experienced consultants can receive well over six figures annually, while those who make partner may earn even more.
Many students dream of earning a spot at McKinsey, Bain, or BCG. Collectively known as the Big 3, these firms are perhaps the top management consulting groups in the world. The Big 4 professional services companies (PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, and EY) are also major players in the consulting space, along with Accenture and Capgemini. Here in Australia, Nous Group, Kearney, L.E.K., and Partners in Performance have grown a significant footprint as well.
If working at any of those firms is your goal, what degree should you pursue in order to give yourself a better shot at making it happen? The good news is that there is no one degree you need — you’ve got options. Far more important than your specific area of study is developing key skills like critical thinking, data analysis, writing, research, problem-solving, and working as a part of a team.
However, many management consultant grads do come from certain academic backgrounds. According to our survey of 447 grads working in the field, over 50 per cent studied engineering or computer science, with business-focused degrees also common.
Here’s our list of the top six.
The 6 most common degrees for new management consultants
The most common degree fields for new grads working in management consulting, based on our survey of 447 management consulting grads.
1. Engineering
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As an engineering major, a big part of what you’re doing is learning how to take a structured, logical approach to solving difficult and often poorly defined problems. Pretty much a perfect skillset to bring with you into the business world.
In school, you may study how to build a bridge or design a computer chip. But that same kind of rigorous, methodical thinking is just as useful when applied to organizations. Your engineering background will help you to study a company’s processes and figure out a way to make them more efficient or connect the dots on how a change in one part of the business could improve operations elsewhere.
Not surprisingly, perhaps, nearly a third of management consulting grads have an engineering degree. One grad we surveyed works at Partners in Performance and majored in civil engineering. He appreciates the doors that have opened for him. “You get the opportunity to step up into roles you wouldn't get in other jobs at quite a young age,” he says.
2. Computer science and IT
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Like engineers, computer science grads have a detailed understanding of how systems work. Small wonder that one in five management consultants earned a degree in the field.
A computer science degree leaves you ideally placed to help develop digitally-focused solutions for both clients and your own firm. You may, for example, help a client think about how to create an app that lets them better serve their customers. You could use your intricate understanding of how technology actually works to help your clients better integrate modern solutions into their organizations. Or you could draw on your ability to pull insights from large data sets to solve complex problems your clients are ill-prepared to tackle on their own.
According to one grad who works as a programmer analyst in strategy and transformations at Cognizant, his job offers him considerable variety. He says his responsibilities change from day to day, and that overall, he sees “lots of opportunities for learning and growth while working with a great team.”
3. Accounting, commerce, and finance
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A degree in accounting, commerce, or finance will give you a clear perspective on how money moves. This is a useful skill for anyone seeking to help a business improve its performance.
For example, you could work on a team that focuses on helping clients identify potential merger or acquisition partners. Here, you’ll be able to make a major contribution by digging into the finances of both parties to see if a deal would make sense for your client. You could also work with your client to assess potential financial risks in developing a new product line, think through the implications of adopting a new partnership structure, and more.
One thing you won’t be doing, though, is spending all day staring at spreadsheets. An accounting grad working at Nous Group notes that she not only does a lot of data analysis or slide development but plenty of “client interaction, like holding workshops, giving interviews, and making presentations.”
4. Business and management
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As a business and management grad, you’ll have spent several years studying how companies function. Pretty good training for a future management consultant, eh?
After all, as your job will be to help companies improve how they function, you’ll be well-placed to dive in and get to work. That can mean different things at different times. One grad who works for Publicis Sapient suggests you should be prepared to take on a wide range of duties. “No day is the same — every day is an opportunity to learn about different industries, companies and cultures.”
However, you should be aware that what you learned in school may already be out of date. The business world is moving faster than ever, so be ready to forget your assumptions. Instead, come in with an open mind and soak up whatever you can from clients, co-workers, and mentors.
5. Economics
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If studying accounting or finance involves getting into the specifics of working with money, studying economics often means focusing on the bigger picture. That’s a good talent for a future consultant to have.
For one, you’ll be able to help assess your client’s needs in the context of the broader economic situation. If you’re working in risk, for example, you may be well-positioned to evaluate the possibility of an upcoming recession and help your client batten down the hatches to better ride out the storm. You could develop long-term strategic recommendations to capitalize on projected economic trends or assess the market to help a company decide whether to buy out a rival.
Another Partners in Performance grad with an economics background notes that his work offers considerable variety. “It depends on the engagement,” he observes. “Sometimes it is a lot of data crunching and sometimes it a lot of client-facing. Client facing and communicating is the best part.”
6. Law
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Businesses, governments, and nonprofits must all navigate laws and regulations on a daily basis. This means that a management consultant with a law background is ideally placed to help clients understand and address problems in that arena.
For example, if you’re working with a client in say, the banking industry, your job may include reviewing proposed regulatory legislation to identify how it will affect your client and what the client should do to prepare for any consequences should the bill pass. Even when you’re not consulting directly on legal issues, your strong critical thinking skills and ability to break down complex problems will be highly valued.
One law grad who now has a job at Nous Group has found the role to be a good fit. He notes that “our work is 100 per cent focused on solving clients' most challenging problems and delivering real and sustainable results,” and that even “junior consultants enjoy a high degree of autonomy and client-facing opportunities.”
What about an advanced degree?
Terminal degree levels for new hires in management consulting, based on our survey of 447 grads working in the field.
80 per cent of consulting graduates have only a bachelor’s degree, with only 20 per cent holding a master’s or a doctorate. But can either of the latter help set you apart from the pack?
Maybe. Having an advanced degree on your resume could help you to stand out during the initial phase of the hiring process when you’re competing with dozens or hundreds of other applicants just to land an interview.
But far more important are your skills, attitude, work ethic, and ability to contribute as part of a team — not that you’ve spent more time in school than most. There is no Doctor of Consulting degree, after all. You’ll learn on the job by doing the work alongside senior colleagues who can help guide you.
So if you’ve got a postgraduate degree, great! But don’t stay in school just because you want to work in consulting someday. You’re far better off finishing your bachelor's and getting actual work experience.
There’s more than one road into management consulting. What’s yours?
As you’ve no doubt surmised by now, there’s no one path to becoming a management consultant.
However, if you’ve got one of the degrees listed above, you can feel confident that you’re likely capable of bringing real value to a consulting role. The same abilities that have carried you through school will prove useful in your new career.
If you studied something else, though, the door isn’t shut. Consider your skills.
Can you bring high-level problem solving, critical thinking, an ability to work with others, and a serious work ethic to whatever task is in front of you? If so, it won’t matter that your degree is in comparative basket-weaving. You could be an asset to any consulting group.
Time to see what’s out there!
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