WHAT YOU DON'T LEARN IN CONSULTING - Reality of working in consulting (from Ex-McKinsey consultant)
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- čas přidán 5. 05. 2020
- There are crucial skills that you will not learn in consulting, even if you work for McKinsey, BCG or Bain. While a consulting career offers many advantages, especially for young business graduates, there are downsides as well. In this consulting confession, I am going to talk about what you don't learn in consulting, based on my experience as former McKinsey consultant. I will talk about downsides working in consulting. I talk about 3 specific things you do not learn in consulting. This will cover team leadership skills, operations, as well as agility and importance of speed. These reasons might give you an answer to the question why you shouldn't work in consulting. This is relevant for all MBB consulting firms, but also other management consulting and strategy consulting firms.
If you are also interested in my video on the ADVANTAGES of working in consulting, here it is:
• 5 Reasons why you shou...
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This is a fantastic video. Thank you for sharing your "real" views on the drawbacks of consulting!
Sure thing, very happy to hear it was helpful. Thanks for watching Swarun! Best, Heinrich
Ironically, I felt the opposite on your third point. From my 3 year experience in consulting after coming from industry, I find consulting to be much more valued and driven by agility and the entrepreneurial mindset all "go go go as long as you get something to work, don't waste time" while industry was much slower and cautious and "political". I'm sure if I went back to my previous industry job with the work mindset I have from consulting, they would tell me to slow down and that I'm overambitious because that's "not the way they do things here." But I fully agree with your two prior points, ESPECIALLY the operations aspect of it. We learn how the industries work but we don't know how the actual company really works/operates which is still highly valuable. They're two sides to the same coin, so if you can learn both, I think it can put you ahead in the career path. Cheers!
Hi thanks for your comment, interesting perspective. Can see where you are coming from, agree that some aspects are more agile and dynamic in consulting compared to industry. Appreciate it! Best, Heinrich
I like this kind of content that clarifies the pros and cons of consulting career
Fully agree, important to understand what you get yourself into! :) Best, Heinrich
Heinrich, this is awesome. I came into consulting as a lateral from business, and these were the skills I often saw missing. Great insight and it made me chuckle so thanks!
You are very welcome! Glad it was helpful!
Good video. Great breakdown on the example of implementation unknowns that can be found while working on a project. I also like how you explained that basically working around top talent can spoil you lol. You learn this when you work with different groups outside of your team/organization.
Hi Kiel, thank you! Very much appreciate you watching! Best, Heinrich
I really like the discussions below, I work as a data engineer and from that IT perspective I feel a down up approach sometimes makes more sense. So to have some hands on operational experience before you just draw out some digitalisation strategy for the entire company.
Thank you very much for the video with precious information :)) Started to watch them one by one. Waiting for the new ones. Kudoss !!
Very glad to hear they are helpful. Thanks for watching!! Best, Heinrich
you really hit the nail on the head in this video - joined a small NPO after leaving consulting and I resonate strongly with this.
Hi Dario, thanks for your comment! Super happy to hear that. Always good to know I am not the only one with these impressions :) All the best to you! Heinrich
Very salient points Heinrich. I worked as a consultant in a Big 4 (not Big 3) delivering both implementation and "strategy" engagements (e.g. designing concepts as you say). Your point about implementation work is exactly right - I severely underestimated how long it took to do things like transitioning processes into a shared service center and configuring systems, and severely overestimated what a piece of technology could deliver out of the box.
I've now transitioned to an in-house strategy role with an MNC, I think the skillset that I didn't learn as a consultant was getting buy-in for our recommendations with internal stakeholders. Very often as a consultant we'd deliver the work, write a report and do a presentation and that would be it.
Thanks for sharing! Yes, can absolutely see where you are coming from. Implementation can be so tough.. thanks for watching!! Best, Heinrich
Can't agree more! Thanks for clarifying this for the masses who believe MBB are at the apex of all the jobs that one can possibly get. No doubt you learn and make a lot of impact (and network), but devil always lies in the implementation.
Thanks Pranjal! Yes, agree. Best, Heinrich
Interesting, I work in McKinsey & Company in analytics and my experiences are oposite, probably what you says refers mostly to traditional strategic consalting, but there are many other profiles in MBB:
-we work a lot with client's employees on implementation and hand over, so I believe we develop general team leading skills,
-we implement every solution we design, so I have a lot of hands-on implementation experience,
-we work in the agile paradigm and time of implementing a model is crucial to get a good result of a intervention.
Hi, thanks for sharing your perspective as well, appreciate that. Yes, agree that my perspective is mainly shaped by my time as consultant in the Generalist track. Glad to hear in Analytics some of these things are handled better. Keep up the great work! Best, Heinrich
@@FirmLearning I don´t believe it is due to the handled better, maybe I´m wrong. But due to the fact that implementing these kind of analytics things is a lot harder(requires more specific skills) than e.g. figuring out how to implement PayPal even if it is a pain.
Thank you for being so open and honest! Great points.
Any time!
mate you deserve more views. very insightful.
Thanks man, appreciate it! Best, Heinrich
Absolutely. There is no substitute for operational execution. Though sometimes I do feel that strategic experience should come after the operational experience in due time to make a better leader Long term. A strategic mindset is what one should develop from the get-go while getting operational experience.
Agree! Thanks for watching! Best, Heinrich
Completely agree! After 5 years at BCG, learned to move fast, apply the 80-20 rule and many other skills, transitioning to Govt sector was a challenge. I got lucky as they put me in charge of innovations and pilot programs. Understanding the organisational culture and building relationships with people helps in leveraging your consulting background.
Hi Sanjay, thanks for your comment and sharing your experiences. Trust that you will have learned a lot in your new role! All the best from Germany, Heinrich
Great insights! Thank you
My pleasure!
Really necessary insights!
Thank you!! :) Best, Heinrich
So true. Thanks for the content. And clicked on Like
Hi Zheyi, thank you for your comment! Great to hear you found the video helpful!! Best, Heinrich
great video. totally agree. i think the agile mentality lacks from management consulting also because most of the tools and competences consultants bring to the table are born and designed for large and complex organizations
True that. Thanks for watching! Best, Heinrich
Really good content, very helpful and intresting insights ! thank you
Hi Yassir, very happy to hear that - thank you!! Best, Heinrich
Hi Heinrich, love the content you're producing! Exactly what I was looking for as a student applying for a full-time role in consulting. I've also reached out on LinkedIn, hope to connect!
Hi Rhyme, thanks for watching. Lots of success to you with joining consulting! Best, Heinrich
You are doing very good brother I will appreciate to you and you are doing very well for fresher guy
You are 100% correct here.. especially implementation is sometimes a real pain.
Thanks for sharing and watching the video!
Really interesting insight on the operational challenges of implementing PayPal
This was quite a lesson indeed.. thanks for watching!! Best, Heinrich
Hello! Are you familiar with agile teams? Have you had any experiences with it? Maybe you could do a video on that. I love this management, communicatoon and leadership videos you do. It's just those things that you have to learn in the background or as life progresses. Also, still continue sharing us what you've learnt at McKinsey! Thank you for all the interesting insights and goodluck with the channel! Subbed.
Hi Stephanie, thank you for watching. Super glad to hear the videos are helpful! Yes, agile is an interesting topic in itself, have noted it down as an idea for future videos, thanks. Will for sure continue releasing new videos every Saturday! :) Best! Heinrich
Really interesting and rich video!
It would be really intéressant that you walk through the recruitment process and how you prepared yourself for it :)
Thank you, appreciate it! Yes, have more videos on the recruiting process planned for the future - stay tuned! Best, Heinrich
I would add that one primarily learns soft skills and minimal hard skills except for Excel and PowerPoint for management consulting. Most operational roles in management require being really good at something (a software, a process, etc.) in addition to soft-skills.
Hi, thanks for your comment! Of course depends on what industry you are in, but in general I agree. Best! Heinrich
Hi Heinrich, another good value. Please make the videos about GPA, 4.0 GPA, how to get it? why it's important? what firms think about that? and anything which is related that. When to sleep? why it's important ?and how to do it? because I see you so energetic. It will be helpful for some students like me and other people. All the best.
Hi, thanks again for your video suggestions. Love this as I am always looking for new content ideas for future videos! :) Best, Heinrich
Absolutely on point about "pieces of paper with high level concepts" and off course this is not true for every case as MBB are doing a great job. But, I worked for a distribution firm in the sales team . Mckinsey was called twice in to develop a strategy to grow sales in the robotic and automation area . Both the time Mckinsey left a report which was so so in-depth but in reality it was not compatible with our system. Solutions provided to us were more like for Google or Microsoft but this is firm in Mid- West US, where still e-commerce was not introduced yet . But COVID took care of everything. All digitization happened within a month for which we had fight all the time.
I want to see more content about the non- target MBB candidates . I want to learn what different kinds of people have you met during your time in consulting as your colleagues. Someone from a different background and different work experience. I want to hear more about the kind of problems you solve and specifically the implementation process .
Hi Harshita, thank you for watching and your thoughtful comment, sharing your experiences. Can definitely see where you are coming from. Yes, will create more videos about topics like this in the future :) Best! Heinrich
This is great content!
Thank you Frida :) Best! Heinrich
I actually find that if you were in technology consulting for specifically in implementations and delivery, these don't apply to us because we're in the trenches with the client in the operations and implementation. With TEAMWORK, I guess it depends on how the team is structured because there are times when you are working with offshore resources, other consultants (not from your firm), and the client itself being integrated into the team. I can completely see how these apply for strategy and management consulting, though!
Hi Christine, thanks for sharing! Yes, do see where you are coming from. Agree that your experience can differ based on the type of consulting you do. Best! Heinrich
Amazing video.
It would really help if you can make a video on how to transition from IT Business Analyst to a big consulting firm as Consultant or Associate consultant.
Thanks for this suggestion! Might pick it up for one of the future videos! Best, Heinrich
appreciate your straightforwardness ! Could you discuss weather it would be possible to enter strategy consulting after pivoting from a core engineering work background through an MBA?
Yes, do think this is possible and I have seen profiles like this at MBB. Lots of success to you! Best, H
Hi Heinrich, again this is a very useful insight from your video. I haven't got any experience yet to work in a consulting firm. However, working in a big corporation that sometimes uses the service from external consultants, I often hear some stories from some managers within my company that usually consulting firms will leave the clients only with concepts (just like how you described it in your video). Most of the time, these business practitioners have less to zero experience in executing these concepts, therefore, in the worst case, it will lead them to leave the concept unimplemented altogether. What is your opinion about this?
Thanks for sharing. Well, as I also say in the video, there is for sure some truth to that. However, especially the more senior consultants on the team / the responsible partners will most often have already done similar things / projects with other clients in the past. And of course, they are being held accountable by these clients if the concepts do not work. Therefore I would argue that such a feedback loop does exist! ;) Best, Heinrich
Thanks for your great advice. I follow you and watch your videos very regularly as I am just about to start my INSEAD MBA path :D
My husband is also a fan. He is a strategy consultant at a boutique consulting firm. He loves his work environment and his colleagues very much, but he aspires to switch to an operational role as he has been in the field all of his career life. He is short on ideas of what he can do, or where to start. Can you please make a video of how to make the transition? Did you meet with the firm you made the transition into while you were a consultant or did you know which industry you want to target and you built your connections separate from McKinsey?
Hi Yasaman, super happy to hear that, thank you. Thanks also for the video idea, might pick that up in future videos! Lots of success and fun to you at INSEAD!! :) Best, Heinrich
Great video!
I'm curious. What kind of skills that you gained while working in consultancy do you find the most valuable right now in your new corporate position?
Hi Zakhar, I currently very much benefit from my Excel and PPT skills as I am working in a SME and only very few other people are able to work with on on an intermediate level (we currently have many important meetings with external stakeholders, which is why this is very important). Besides that, the "can do" mindset of being able to solve pretty much every problem that you naturally develop in consulting is also very helpful ;) Best! Heinrich
Thank you for the insight ful video. I have gathered 3 years of consulting experience in both India and US. And your pointers were always in my mind pushing me towards more industry roles (I feel without implementing your ideas your experience is just one side of the story). A couple of questions if you could help answer:
1. Consulting provides a generic experience. Would moving into an industry specific role becomes difficult as you don't have those specific skill sets.
2. What are the other options for jobs outside consulting ( not corporate strategy or business planning manager which is just replicas of consulting. When I go specific profiles, my skill sets fall short).
3. How can I prepare myself for industrial roles? Or say do I need to prepare for them?
Hi Nandini, regarding your questions:
1) It will for sure help if you did some projects in your target industry to build some knowledge there.
2) Would consider trying to get into a "regular" line manager role, to learn to manage a P&L, be responsible for operations etc.
3) Do not think you can do much to prepare. If you want to end in industry, would suggest you to not to the transition too late.
Lots of success to you!
Best, H
Please make a video on business/financial modeling and courses/materials recommended
Thanks Thomas! You mean courses / materials specifically or financial modeling? Best, Heinrich
Hi Heinrich,
Thank you for the 3 helpful insights.
Regarding team Leadership, what approache(s) do you use within consulting team for decision-making if team members don't agree ?
Thanks again,
Alain
Depends a lot on the character / personality of the people involved and the importance of the decision. In the end, you are of course responsible for the overall result as a team lead. Best, H
@@FirmLearning @Firm Learning Thank you Heinrich for this prompt feedback. It looks like several factors can impact decision making as you mention.
Sorry I was not specific enough. Let's assume 2 consultants are not agreeing on a next hypothesis to test or on a recommendation. What would be a hierarchy for decision making? For ex, 1 Consensus, 2 EM choice, 3 Principal/Partner choice, 4 vote! 5 Other
Thanks you in advance Heinrich
@@alainakel9282 When the team is in hard disagreement and no other way to resolve this seems available, the most senior person can decide (as he has the responsibility in the end). In most cases you will be able to come to a solution via discussion though :) Best, H
@@FirmLearning Thank you Heinrich. Well appreciated. It makes sense. Have a great Weekend.
Best,
Alain
excellent share!
Thank you Asish!! :) Best, Heinrich
Great content. I consult for ServiceNow (architecture and do development) and have applied your top down approach when I am demoing solutions to Upper and c level management. Do you have any other videos on your channel you would recommend for someone consulting for a particular project.
Hi Tone, regarding practical skills, suggest you have a look at the videos on creating slide presentations (have them also organized in a playlist). Lots of success to you - thanks for watching! Best, Heinrich
The moving fast and breaking things is to protect entrenched interests. Consulting is just to see if you’ve figured out the strategies of those entrenched interests when the dust has settled.
Thank you for watching and for sharing your experience!
very interesting!
Glad you think so! Best, Heinrich
Thank you for the great video, especially the insights on implementing Paypal ! Did you have any other problem transitioning to an operational role, given that consultants are usually generalists at consulting firm, gaining experience in all different industries whereas when you move to industry you are supposed to be specialist in that particular industry?
Hi Hoang, thank you! Overall I rather felt that my experience in consulting was helpful for that. In consulting this is exactly what you learn - to quickly immerse yourself into new industries and problems. Of course always better if you also bring some domain expertise to the table from the beginning. Best! Heinrich
@@FirmLearning One thing I forgot to mention is that I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to every single comment. It must be great to work for/under someone like you. :)
would you recommend going into consulting for a few years for someone aspiring to be a lawyer in the long term?
do you think exposure to c-suite individuals would be an important factor in success in a career like law?
do you feel like project management is the perfect mix of consulting and operations?
Another question: How do consultant acquire enough knowledge to talk with the experts of the client fast enough? If some employee at the client has 5+ years experience in a topic, how can a consultant find a solution in the topic domain he couldn't?
Usually based on two things:
1) Experts in the consulting firm: The more senior consultants and partners on a project will have extensive experience in the industry and have usually "seen it all" as they already did similar projects in the past etc. For niche knowledge, you can reach out to other colleagues in the firm, there are so many people working in the firm with such a variety of backgrounds that you can find experts on pretty much any field. Of course, then translating this knowledge into an actionable solution for a client is a challenge that needs to be solved by the team on the ground.
2) Data analysis: The more junior consultants on the teams usually do not have extensive domain knowledge. However, their strength is / should be analytical capabilities. I.e. collecting the right data from clients and conducting analyses that were potentially not evident to the client from the beginning. From the perspective of the consultant it is indeed sometimes surprising, but you do often uncover things the clients were not really aware of.
But of course all of this is not easy and delivering real value for the client is hard work, and yes, projects can fail as well (or be not as successful as hoped for).
Best, Heinrich
Can you do a video about the school selection by consulting firms? I want to know how students that are not from Ivy League or top ranked colleges get into consulting and how they compete with top ranked college graduates once they get in.
Hi Emily, great topic :) Suggest you have a look at my Instagram. Did an IGTV exactly on that topic! Best, Heinrich
I live in México and am starting a consulting firm, my main focus is digital transformation, how to develop strategic coherence between people, processes, and technology to get objectives and KPIs. I´m currently working on a project with a senior manager (from another firm) who´s my mentor, but we have a difference of opinion on what the deliverable should be.
On my hand, I want to deliver strategic advice and things to take into consideration but I also want to establish the execution, I have an MBA and multiple certifications on digital marketing which I can advise the client and further reduce operational costs.
My mentor wants to only deliver the strategic advice and how to operate forward, however, we do not have large information databases that can provide premium information or insights (well, our incredible judgment on information but it´s an interpretation from free sources of information, not a database that few have)
so my question is this, ¿What would be a good deliverable for a starting consulting firm with no incredible datasets that can provide enhanced insights no one can find? ¿Is it correct to differentiate ourselves by providing excellent strategic advice and a well-rounded roadmap on the execution of the strategy?
I ask because I feel that un consulting you really should focus on delivering more than the client asks for, every time and build up a reputation from there. That you should really care more for the client than the competition or the standard deliverables from the competition.
Hi Miguel, thanks for reaching out! Yes, this is indeed a constant struggle - of course prio 1 should always be to deliver the project that you agreed on with 100% quality. I do agree that often things pop up to the sides where you feel like that this would indeed add tremendous value for the client. Usually way to go is to provide some little insights into the new topic, helping the client to get a bit more clarity. If it becomes clear that this new project is something the client wants to actively pursue and expand the scope accordingly, you should discuss with the client how you want to proceed. Usually, this means either agreeing in a change of scope for the current project, or continuing with the current project and staff a new team / new resources on top to deliver the additional topic as well. Hope that helps.. Best, Heinrich
How did you find your Exit Job? Were you able to increase your salary?
Had a close personal relationship with the company and then decided to make the switch after some years. Salary is on comparable level.
Die Redegeschwindigkeit hier ist sehr gut, in anderen Videos etwas zu langsam. Stark!
Hi Ali, Danke dir! Ja versuche das noch zu verbessern. LG! Heinrich
Please talk about use of expert networks in consulting
Hi Sudhanshu, thanks for your comment. Indeed an important topic, might pick it up in a future video! Best, Heinrich
Is it true that the strategy consultants in MBB are never responsible for strategy implementation? The product of the best consultants is just the information in the package of a report or a PP presentation? And that information may never be implemented (and for consultants it doesn’t matter)?
There are some Ops / Implementation projects as well, but yes the majority is conceptual in nature. Of course you do not want the client to just leave with a report that they cannot really implement, but it would be a lie to claim that this never happens. Best, H
@@FirmLearning so you basically do not have skin in the game.
One thing I never understood about consulting: why senior execs should make us of junior consultants?
Hi, thanks for your comment! In general the teams are always a mix of junior and more senior consultants. If clients only want senior consultants, the fees would go up ;) Best, Heinrich
please make a video in how a consultant solve a problem and how do they provide that answer to reach customer satisfaction.
Hi, thanks for watching, great topic! Please check out also some of my newer videos though, there are several ones that touch on these questions :) Best! Heinrich
Can you please shed some light on what is it like to be a Technical Consultant?
Hi Ekta, thanks for this suggestion, might pick that up for future videos! Best, Heinrich
All I can say is Yup. All accurate. Made me laugh at how accurate this video is.
I am so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching :)
Leadership
Operation
Agility and speed
Thanks for your input and for supporting the channel! :)
As a light-hearted video - can you make a vid on your collection of coffee mugs?
Interesting idea. The collection is not that extensive though.. but lets see to what it expands in the future :) Best! Heinrich
Hey I have a suggestion
Put the main points or summary of the video in the comments or in the description
Hi Hrishikesh, thanks for your comment, appreciate the feedback! Already started using the "Chapters" feature that structures the video into chapters for the newer videos. Hope this helps with navigating the video. Will think about more comprehensive summaries, thanks! Best, Heinrich
@@FirmLearning Awesome
Are you still working on your doctoral thesis?
Yes, I do! ;)
Oh, those work-arounds...
True that ;) Thanks for watching! Best, Heinrich
And that is exactly the problem with a lot of consultants (working for large companies); there is no substitute for experience. As a rookie just out of school, with no experience how can you advice without properly knowing contexts that textbooks, and internships don't teach you? A good consultant is someone with experience on the ground floor, with people, with supervision, with executive Management. Needs to be able to communicate with everyone, and needs to know the back and front office. I've seen a lot of consultants from reputable companies getting destroyed by simple practical questions from people from the work floor. Young, a speedy laptop, just a diploma, fancy clothes, and cool business card don't make a good consultant, experience (of course with some educational background) does.
Hi Danny, thanks for sharing. Yes, fully agree that experience is important in consulting. I do believe that junior people who do the number crunching have a place in a team as well and can also provide value. Best! Heinrich
5% is strategy and 95% is execution
No instagram for me
Still thanks for watching Michael :) Best! Heinrich
Hi Heinrich, good video, as always! I'm 31 yrs old, married with no children yet, an MBA candidate from Macquarie Uni (Sydney), and ex-corp. rating analyst manager in Indonesian largest credit rating agency. Do you think it's a good idea to switch to consulting with my age and background? I'm interest in consulting because I want to be able to answer the question of "how to make a company better?" instead of my previous job in which I answer the question of "Is this company good/moderate/bad?".
Can't believe how rude this video is. To make a general statement that non consultants are not motivated!!!
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English is obviously one thing consulting doesn't teach! 😮
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