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This hilariously demonstrates what I've long thought about consulting companies: they don't provide "smarts as a service" as they claim (otherwise they would j

by strlen 14y ago

This hilariously demonstrates what I've long thought about consulting companies: they don't provide "smarts as a service" as they claim (otherwise they would just take the MIT engineering grad, or simply compare based on GRE scores, etc...), instead they provide "corporate ladder infiltration as a service". They want the kind of people with an impressive diploma, with the right hand shake, who exude athletic acumen and look smart and accomplished. Their job would be to impress middle management which would then permit the consultants to do what is likely a trivial job. It's sad to see so many people with STEM degrees going down the consulting route. I can't obviously understand why anyone would want to go down that route. If someone is truly intelligent and are purely after the money itself, quantitative finance, or working at Google and sticking around for promotions and stock grants (I'm not even talking about, e.g., Founder's Awards -- which I'd argue aren't out of reach for someone truly "best of the best") would pay much better. If (like most people) they want to actually derive some kind of satisfaction from their work, it becomes even more puzzling. Carl Sagan mentioned in one of his books that he felt the way science is taught in high schools is largely mechanical and robotic and that might draw the wrong kinds of people into science. Without extra-curricular help (youth science/math camps for some, or in my case dad being an maths professor and mom being a software engineer), many creative minds tend to shy away from those fields for that reason. They presume that these fields are remain like that at university level: I've often tried my best to help-out younger hackers who decided not to pursue a CS education thinking they were "bad at math" (based on their experience with high school maths). As a result by the time of high school seniors apply to college, STEM majors end up attracting many individuals that like mechanical and robotic work ("plug and chug") in pursuit of external awards and social status. Once they graduate, however, they know they can't contribute meaningfully to their field with that attitude; management consulting seems like a good "refuge" for those types. The lesson isn't "these firms are being silly in their recruitment practice", the lesson is "buyer beware" when it comes to being these firms' customers.

rdl 14y ago
The best thing about the 2007-2009 financial collapse was freeing up a lot more STEM graduates for "real" work in the economy, like tech startups, engineering roles at companies, etc., vs. going into consulting and finance.
- strlen 14y ago
  Well, not all people coming from those backgrounds can work in those fields, so one has to be careful. Many can and are glad to come to to tech/startup worl, though. Indeed some (many?) financial companies/hedge funds are really just software companies in disguise and have great folks working for them.
brianchu 14y ago
I think some of your points are a little off the mark. A bit about my perspective: I used to be (and still am) interested in business (vaguely defined), and did lots of research and talking to people and I used to see consulting as the best option for my career after college. But now I'm an engineer at a startup. 1) They do take MIT engineering grads (see my own comment) 2) Consulting pay is actually not very good. We're talking $80k and not much bonus. Google pays more (STEM roles). Finance pays even more. STEM people don't go into consulting over finance for the money. The exception might be liberal arts majors for whom consulting does pay the most out of all their options. The reasons they go into consulting... 3) The reason people (like me in the past) want to do consulting is because it's a "career supercharger". If you get into McKinsey/Bain/Boston you have not only that pedigree on your resume and near guaranteed entrance into a top 10 business school, but you also get a very broad set of experience working with (and connecting with) CEOs/executives and working in multiple markets and with multiple business models and analytical models. You get to work in many projects and with many different teams. Consulting has a multiplicative effect on your career. 2 years in consulting has the equivalent effect on your career as, say, 4 years in a biz dev role at a Fortune 500. A lot of people who know they are interested in "business" but don't know what they specifically want to do in business also go to consulting to figure that out. Finally, for any business position you apply to, nobody ever questions whether your consulting background is relevant experience. Consulting basically keeps all business doors open. The same does not apply for, say, finance. 4)Whether consulting is value-adding is a mixed bag. Sometimes it can really help a company. Oftentimes consulting is just used politically to cover an executive's ass and is used to tell the other executives what that executive already knows.
- MrFoof 14y ago
  >If you get into McKinsey/Bain/Boston... Fun fact: If you are a college dropout and apply to these places, they will at best politely rebuff you. However, if they need you, and you run your own consultancy, they have no problems being your customer in in order to get a job done. How you handle the awkward inevitable conversation at lunch about your lack of degree is up to you, though personally I always try to have fun with it.
  - 14y ago

by strlen 14y ago

rdl 14y ago

The best thing about the 2007-2009 financial collapse was freeing up a lot more STEM graduates for "real" work in the economy, like tech startups, engineering roles at companies, etc., vs. going into consulting and finance.

strlen 14y ago
Well, not all people coming from those backgrounds can work in those fields, so one has to be careful. Many can and are glad to come to to tech/startup worl, though. Indeed some (many?) financial companies/hedge funds are really just software companies in disguise and have great folks working for them.

brianchu 14y ago

I think some of your points are a little off the mark. A bit about my perspective: I used to be (and still am) interested in business (vaguely defined), and did lots of research and talking to people and I used to see consulting as the best option for my career after college. But now I'm an engineer at a startup. 1) They do take MIT engineering grads (see my own comment) 2) Consulting pay is actually not very good. We're talking $80k and not much bonus. Google pays more (STEM roles). Finance pays even more. STEM people don't go into consulting over finance for the money. The exception might be liberal arts majors for whom consulting does pay the most out of all their options. The reasons they go into consulting... 3) The reason people (like me in the past) want to do consulting is because it's a "career supercharger". If you get into McKinsey/Bain/Boston you have not only that pedigree on your resume and near guaranteed entrance into a top 10 business school, but you also get a very broad set of experience working with (and connecting with) CEOs/executives and working in multiple markets and with multiple business models and analytical models. You get to work in many projects and with many different teams. Consulting has a multiplicative effect on your career. 2 years in consulting has the equivalent effect on your career as, say, 4 years in a biz dev role at a Fortune 500. A lot of people who know they are interested in "business" but don't know what they specifically want to do in business also go to consulting to figure that out. Finally, for any business position you apply to, nobody ever questions whether your consulting background is relevant experience. Consulting basically keeps all business doors open. The same does not apply for, say, finance. 4)Whether consulting is value-adding is a mixed bag. Sometimes it can really help a company. Oftentimes consulting is just used politically to cover an executive's ass and is used to tell the other executives what that executive already knows.

MrFoof 14y ago
>If you get into McKinsey/Bain/Boston... Fun fact: If you are a college dropout and apply to these places, they will at best politely rebuff you. However, if they need you, and you run your own consultancy, they have no problems being your customer in in order to get a job done. How you handle the awkward inevitable conversation at lunch about your lack of degree is up to you, though personally I always try to have fun with it.
- 14y ago