It’s great that you’re thinking about a profession in depth before jumping into it.
Every profession demands a certain set of skills more than others. But that shouldn’t hold you back from considering it and excelling at it.
I remember calling my boyfriend on the first day that I started my Consulting career. I had just completed my MBA and joined a Big-4 Consulting firm. I was at the welcome party for new consultants – standing in a corner – in tears….
”I can’t do this”….
”it’s too much being OUT there”….
”these guys are such fake extroverts (ugh!)”…
I said between sobs.
I should have been elated but I was SCARED.
Scared of failing at this high-profile jet-setting career that I had always wanted and now had.
Any guesses for my Myers Briggs personality type? INFJ – Introversion, Intuition, Feeling, and Judging. I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice to say, this combination is RARE in Management Consulting.
I was 100 percent going to quit in a few days because I felt that I just didn’t have the “consultingy” personality.
Well - I ended up staying 10 years.
So I wouldn’t say there’s a personality type for Consulting. There are a certain set of skills/abilities that can accelerate your career though.
And while there’s no manual for Consulting, these skills/abilities can be learned. Here’s a quick list:
- Problem solving and creative thinking abilities
- Relationship building / networking
- Desire to learn
- Comfortable with ambiguity and change
- Client management
- Project management
- Storyboarding
- Executive communication & presentation skills
- Running client meetings
- Leading workshops / client labs
- Comfortable with tools and technology ( Tableau, MS suite etc.)
Now it goes without saying, that you will learn and hone these skills when you work in management consulting.
10 years ago, excelling in Consulting meant either reading a ton of books with theoretical advice (not the most useful with demanding client projects) or making your own mistakes.
Some new consultants were lucky to find mentors within the firm that gave guidance but in most cases a lot of super talented professionals were working heads down praying they were making the right moves in their client projects and hoping their performance would get noticed
Unfortunately, on-the-job training is a thing of the past. Firms expect even new Analysts to come in with a certain skill set that can help them be an asset to the project starting day 1.
The one thing I wish I had done was to learn the basics of storyboarding, client, and project management before I started my Consulting career.
That would have given me the confidence to focus on creative solutions and strategy for my clients’ challenges. And confidence in Consulting … is everything.
For more tips on management consulting, keep reading the blog.
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Got more questions on Consulting? Comment below or email me at punya@byondgood.com.
Punya is a former management consultant with 15 years of experience at 2 Big4 firms, serving top Fortune500 clients. She has lived and worked in 6 countries and changed 3 careers working across several industries. Punya is passionate about coaching new and aspiring Consultants to succeed in Management Consulting.