It’s good to start a blog on a high point, so …
Last night, two consultants from Boston Consulting Group came to the University of Manchester to talk to PhDs about
- consultancy
- BCG as a company
- the skills PhDs can bring to jobs like these
- what consultancy companies are looking for
- how to get into a major strategic management consultancy like BCG (including CVs and interviews)
Over 100 PhDs from all faculties were represented in the audience, which was encouraging – BCG pointed out that in their London office, there was a pretty even split between disciplines (if I wrote it down correctly I think it was 16% Arts & languages, 16% Social Science, 18% Sciences, 24% Engineering and 26% Business, with about 20% having a PhD and 25% having an MBA).
The subject matter of the PhD was far less important than the level of achievement (academic and non-academic) and the transferable skills PhDs can bring. They explained it in terms of subject/technical knowledge being more useful in an operational sense, whereas skills such as communication, ability to structure, organise and solve problems, and use creativity and initiative were much more useful at a strategic level – the level at which they operate.
Hopefully, everyone came away with the sense that the things which were going to make the biggest difference to their chances of joining a strategy consulting firm were their achievements which would make them stand out from all the other PhD applicants. The scary bit is that having a PhD for this level of job only gets you past the first post – all the other applicants also have a PhD, so you have to have both outstanding academic achievements (publications, academic presentations, competitive funding gained) and non-academic achievements (during your PhD) which demonstrate your leadership, initiative, drive and interpersonal skills.
So, are they all from Oxbridge, as the stereotype would lead you to believe? Well, a lot are (can’t get away from the fact that there are a lot of high achievers at those institutions), though it’s a minority in the BCG London office. However, the consultants pointed out that high achieving PhD talent is very widely spread, which is why they specifically made this trip to Manchester.
BCG are planning to send a copy of some of their slides for uploading to the Careers Service website, and to let us have the list of those who signed up for the presentation. By early next week, I’m expecting to be able to post more info, and contact those of you who want to take a career in consultancy further to discuss any more support you might need. Watch this space…
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