Job Search Tips: Executive MBAs Transitioning to Management Consulting (1 of 2)

In my role as a Campus Recruiting Lead, I have the opportunity to speak with many hopeful MBA students seeking a transition to consulting.  It is not at the major recruiting events that you get to know a student’s truthful trials and tribulations, but at the one-on-one coffee chats.  During these candid coffee conversations, one can see the nuances of the Executive MBA (EMBA) student experience contrasted with that of the full-time (FT) MBA candidate and hear about the various documents they used to help them along the way.

The "Ace the Case" recommendations for aspiring consultants are legion.  Websites such as vault.com, managementconsulted.com, or firm sites, as well as books like "Case in Point," can provide excellent guidance.  Most of this reference material is geared towards FT MBA candidates, with very little in the way of tailored assistance to someone coming from an EMBA program.

This is the first of two posts that seek to fill that gap with the following initial tips:

Start Early.  Begin your active and earnest search for the right firm at least one year prior to graduation.  This may seem like a long time to a typical EMBA student, but not when viewed from the FT perspective.  

FT students vie for internships and then normally accept an offer from the original firm they were with the previous summer. Most EMBAs hold a full-time job while at school, so conducting an internship that may not lead to a job can be an extremely daunting prospect.  EMBAs usually come into an interview season at a 10 week deficit and without a supporting network.

Many EMBAs will commence their search for the next gig during the final semester or term, and this is too late to build up a consulting-centric network or enhance your “crack the case” neuron firing rate.  First, you need to get to know people involved in the process, both at the career center and at various consultancies, so you can have a first-hand feel of each firm’s cultural differences before you step into an interview set.  Second, you need to sharpen your quick math skills and practice the structured flow of a case from the opening framework to the final answer delivery.  All this takes time.  Preparing earlier than you think will help close the gap between you and the FT group, for whom this is the second time around the consulting interview block.

Embrace the on-campus recruiting (OCR) process.  Many EMBA students ask me, “Is there a better way than OCR?”  This is a natural question given the serious time constraints posed by simultaneous work on a full-time job and full-time education.  Add on a full-time job search, and something has to give.  Although it ends up being a tall order during the recruiting season, OCR will provide EMBA candidates the best return on their career change time investment.

True, every consultancy possesses two entrance mechanisms:  campus recruiting and experienced hire recruiting. What EMBA candidates don't realize is that the OCR process is much more streamlined and caters to them much better than the experienced hire route. Instead of piecemeal learning about each firm’s interview process from individual HR departments, career centers will post convenient schedules.  Instead of waiting to schedule a follow-on interview after the last interview completed, you will be notified within 24 hours about next steps regarding interviews that will occur in approximately two weeks.  There will be no other period in your career where +10 firms line-up to hire you in a time-compressed, easily understood fashion during a timeframe that happens to coincide with your next major career milestone (graduation).

The experienced hire process is different for each firm in both timeframe and process flow.  One firm may only hire candidates in February, while another in May; one consultancy may require four interview sets, yet another three sets.  When you know a smattering about one firm and heaps about another, it becomes tough to know whether or not you are choosing the right firm. Also, these variations minimize your chance for overlapping offers. 

Moreover, firms mostly reach out to industry to fill specific skill gaps presented by either imminent or in-flight projects.  This means that although you may be an expert in supply chain improvements, your prospective firm might need a strategy guru for its next social sector project. The result for you, as an otherwise excellent candidate - no hire. Campus hires are known career switchers, so there doesn’t need to be an exact match between desired skills and a candidate’s background.  You maximize your chances for success and minimize time invested by utilizing the OCR process.

To sum up, starting earlier than you think and leveraging the OCR process will put you on the right path to getting hired by a top consultancy.  My next post on this topic will deal with tips on personal focus areas once you once you are on that good path.

These are my first thoughts, and I welcome other EMBAs, FT students, and alums to add to this conversation.

Carter Reue is a Manager at Alvarez & Marsal. He helps Fortune 500 companies drive profitable growth through performance improvement.