Calling Management Consultants...

[timbobalob]

Hi all,

I am considering a career change and would like to know more about Management Consultancy. If there are any out there I would be extremely grateful if you could give me some information about the business and how/where to start. I am currently a Business Analyst with a degree in Management Science.

Many thanks in advance!

Tim

[samn01]

Tim,

I am a specialist recruiter in this area and happy to have a chat if you think that might help. Also try top-consultant.com, its one of the best sites for management consultancy jobs.

Hope that helps.

Sam

[timbobalob]

Sam... YHM

Many thanks,

Tim

[jago]

i know more than one friend who has joined accenture after a few years of doing various other vocations (construction/engineering/finance etc). Only mention as they tradionally have a high intake, and are easy to approach direct (nothing against a good agent). No opinon either way as to whether they're a good company to work for (i don't btw).

[wainy]

Depends what field of Management Consultancy you want to work in (quite a few sub groups) I work for Capgemini which has about 2000 consultants in the UK. I am part of the Supply Chain group with about 150 of us. Been in the game about 7 years now.

there is quite a bit of recruitment going on!

If you have any specific questions drop me a pm

[AquilaEagle]

So, you want to consult a consultant about consultancy?

I can feel a new business opportunity here...

[Leftie]

AquilaEagle said:

So, you want to consult a consultant about consultancy?

I can feel a new business opportunity here...

This may not be what you had in mind but is my experince of the first few years in business:

If your sector works for the public sector a lot I don't think it is the best career move at this time. Contacts I have who trade mainly with the public sector are finding work increasingly difficult to find in the 'consultancy' field and I can't see that getting easier unless the Lib Dems get elected!

Personaly I hate the term consultant and prefer to use the professional title of the job I do:

e.g. engineer, architect, psychologist etc without the 'consultant' tag as I think it has had too much bad press. If I have to use a tag I use the tag 'independent' as I think it conveys the image and the work I do.

Before I went 'independent' I was told that I would have to sell 2 out of the 5 days a week at a full rate to make a go of it and thought they were being pessimistic as I work from an ofice suite at home In fact by the time you have paid insurance in it's various guises, provided accomodation, IT, stationery, done some advertising, paid your CT and employers NI (if you are a limited co), and been taxed to death I think you need to sell 3 days a week at a full rate to make it work. The advice l always see and I think it is spot on is to minimise overheads. I think that you do really have to have a niche market with no real competitors to achieve the highest days rates. As my Dad used to say: "never do anything that anybody with a big hammer can do".

I have a couple of public contracts that are renewed without tendering but the one question their procurement people do ask is about day rates and I think they have a figure over which they wil either try to talk you down or will go to tender. I had an old friend contact me recently having retired and set up a consultancy selling specialist training to government and charities. His day rate was twice what I charge and he couldn't figure out why he hadn't got a single days work. He was delivering training without any proper qualifications in an area which had largely been a hobby for the past 10 years to organisations without too much money.

I think also that if you go 'independent' you have either to be very, very good and live entirely off unsolicited recommendations or be prepared to also be a salesman/woman for yourself. The best advert is the quality of your work but in quiet times you have to be prepared to make the calls.

[stevieb]

I have looked into this as it seem that managment where i work is slowly being evaporated to nothing, and career progression is getting restricted. I am currently an Engineer for a civil engniering firm but have qualified to a high level with a MEng, MSc, and now studying for a MBA which has 18 month left.

I have a few questions about this..

1) would being an engineer put off a management consult over employing a pure business qualified person?

2) likely chanes of career progression?

I have been looking at some jobs within my company at the moment to get away from engineering and more into project managment but i am seen as a technical person, and this has left me out of the senior managment loop

steve

[BoRED S2upid]

https://www.sell2wales.co.uk/index.html

You may find this of interest. Also some free guides (Don't know how much use they are).