Why consulting? 7 brilliant interview answers (+ 4
awful ones)
"Why consulting?" is one of the first
questions you'll be asked for your consulting interview, and it's also
essential to consist of in a consulting cowl letter. The true news is that it
is quite clean to offer a sturdy, specific answer, and we're going to reveal
you precisely how to do this
Below we'll cowl all the high-quality motives for
becoming a consultant and come up with examples of ways you may paintings those
into your solution. Plus we'll assist you shape your answer, display you an
example, and tell you what NOT to say (even though it's proper!).
1. 7 remarkable reasons to emerge as a representative
2. How to reply the "Why consulting?" interview question3. "Why
consulting?" pattern answer4. What NOT to say5. How to prepare for a
consulting interview
Below you'll discover seven very strong motives for
turning into a control consultant. You can pick and pick from these while
you're building an answer to the "Why consulting?" interview query.
(Note: if you're nevertheless at utility stage, you'll
want to make sure your resume is great in case you want to get an interview.
Check out our consulting resume article or get 1-to-1 professional feedback on
your resume).
Reason #1: You will work with senior pros
As a consultant, you may work immediately for CEOs and
their executive groups very early on your career. This will permit you to begin
growing numerous the smooth abilties you'll need to turn out to be a senior
government in a while (e.G. Convincing people who don’t agree with you,
managing tough stakeholders, supplying to massive audiences with little time to
put together, etc.).
This is actually a unique opportunity. Your friends
who are not consultants will no longer get this threat in the first few years
of their profession. They commonly should await a couple of promotions to have
exposure to their organisation’s CEO, not to mention the CEOs and senior
executives at other agencies.
Reason #2: You might be able to have a huge effect
One of the perks of working with senior executives is
that they recognition on the toughest troubles their business enterprise faces.
This means the paintings you do as a representative may have a whole lot of
impact on a agency.
“Impact” is a phrase you may hear the senior partners
of McKinsey, BCG, Bain and others use very often. That’s the ultimate purpose
of each consultancy: having a positive effect on their customers, corporations
and (in principle) society at huge.
If you already know anybody in consulting, get them to
inform you about some of the projects they worked on and the effective effect
they'd. If you find the venture thrilling you can then use it as a cause to talk
about with your interviewer.
You can also discover tasks and case studies on enterprise
web sites or their YouTube channels. Try to discover a few you are honestly
interested by and point out them in your interviewer once they ask you why you
need to be a consultant. Here are some that we liked. But we’d inspire you to
have a have a look at the websites of the corporations you're applying for and
find your own.
Example: “I want to be concerned in big tasks that
have a completely excessive impact. For example, I study how at the start of
the COVID-19 pandemic, McKinsey worked with Vyaire, a manufacturer of
scientific ventilators, to help them enhance their production degrees to
remarkable degrees. I'd like to be concerned in a venture with such high
urgency and actual impact."
Reason #three: You will examine loads and development
quick
You will research a lot right away as a consultant,
nearly by way of necessity. You will trade initiatives every ~three months.
The starting of most projects may be very excessive as
you attempt to capture up with your customer at the situation they are facing
so that it will truly help them. The kind of tasks and their depth will
experience uncomfortable. But it also manner your charge of gaining knowledge
of might be much better than if you labored within the enterprise. It’s
arguable, however a few headhunters even say that 12 months in consulting is
equivalent to 2 to 3 years in industry.
As a representative, you will be given
responsibilities plenty extra quick than your industry friends. If you have
confirmed you're prepared to manipulate a challenge in your remaining case,
you'll be given a supervisor role for your next case. In different jobs, you
typically have to watch for a manager role to free as much as be promoted. The
speed at which you will development in consulting is truely handiest constrained
through your very own talents.
The remarks cycle is extraordinarily short too. You
gets feedback on a everyday basis at some stage in your tasks and you may
additionally get a complete evaluation at the give up of every case outlining
the following things you should be working on. Consulting companies have were
given a number of the strongest profession evaluate techniques within the
global. Unfortunately, this system is broken at a lot organizations outside of
consulting.
Finally, consulting companies invest a LOT in training
their group of workers. Some people say McKinsey and others are within the
enterprise of "renting brains". You will be your firm’s fundamental
asset, the product they sell to customers. As a effect, most companies will
ship you on schooling for three days or extra each 12 months, every now and
then in unique destinations which includes Cancun or Barcelona.
When your interviewer asks you why you want to be a
consultant you should not hesitate to cover this factor in case you are surely
excited about studying quick.
Example: “One of the reasons I need to be a
representative is that I need to be examined and challenged. I understand that
McKinsey invests quite a few assets in education its employees and sturdy
feedback strategies, and I'd love to advantage from that, however in addition,
I want to be thrown out of my consolation sector and face new troubles every
week. I additionally am eager to development speedy and take on extra duties
the extra I examine, and I realize that during consulting there are plenty of
opportunities for progression so long as your overall performance merits
it."
Reason #four: You thrive as a generalist
As a consultant, you may work throughout a extensive
type of industries and problems. And first of all you'll need to study a brand
new enterprise and a new subject matter from scratch. For instance, you can
pass from supporting an airline develop sales for your current undertaking to
assisting a grocery chain cut its deliver chain fees in your next project. Two
very extraordinary industries and topics.
One of the maximum a hit enterprise books of the
previous few years (it became on the McKinsey and Financial Times shortlist
2019) is a book referred to as "Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized
World". It talks approximately why folks that can work across a wide
variety of problems are higher equipped to succeed inside the contemporary
world. If you've got examine this book or some other commercial enterprise
e-book that might be applicable, it can be thrilling to consult for your
solution.
Example: “One of the reasons I need to be a
representative is that I’ll get exposure to a huge variety of industries and
troubles. I these days read the book "Why generalists triumph in a
specialized world" and it honestly resonated with me. I a good deal opt
for studying laterally across a couple of different regions rather than mastering
greater vertically and specializing in only one."
Reason #five: You will work and make buddies with
vibrant human beings
You will meet a number of exceptional human beings in consulting. Projects typically remaining three months and include ~5 specialists. In 12 months, you may have labored with ~20 one-of-a-kind colleagues. In five years, with ~100. And that doesn’t consist of the patron aspect and all of the people you may meet to your local workplace. Meeting and working with so many vibrant humans is an possibility you may now not get some place else.@ Raed More foxconnblog