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Management Consultancy

If I wanted to go into Management Consultancy would it be better to do a degree in Management or something different like Maths or Economics?

I have been looking at degrees in Management at Bath, Lancaster, and Warwick. Do the big strategy consultancies such as Mckinsey, Bain, etc view Lancaster as a good university and do they recruit from there? I know it has an excellent business school but its not in the top 10 Universities so how would it compare to Warwick, Bath etc?

Also I have heard that there is a lot of travelling involved in management consultancy, Is this usually abroad or just around the UK? Roughly how long would you be away from home each week?

Sorry theres a lot of questions, any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Reply 1

jrhartley

13

hibbert

If I wanted to go into Management Consultancy would it be better to do a degree in Management or something different like Maths or Economics?

I have been looking at degrees in Management at Bath, Lancaster, and Warwick. Do the big strategy consultancies such as Mckinsey, Bain, etc view Lancaster as a good university and do they recruit from there? I know it has an excellent business school but its not in the top 10 Universities so how would it compare to Warwick, Bath etc?

Also I have heard that there is a lot of travelling involved in management consultancy, Is this usually abroad or just around the UK? Roughly how long would you be away from home each week?

Sorry theres a lot of questions, any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Don't know about the subject - I think Economics might be better than management as the consultancy will want to be able to mould you into their way of doing things, also I think mgmt is a bit of a "non-degree" - at least with economics you've got a solid foundation. I wouldn't have thought McK, Bain, et al. would be too excited about Lancaster - you need to think how your cv will look when they submit you to go to work for a client - they really want well known, respected unis and I don't think Lancaster fits there, unfortunately. You'd be better off looking at the top 10 unis imho, plus it gives you more leeway if you want to change career later too.

Travelling - yes, if you're working for McKinsey or any of the top 10 big international consultants, then you will be away for a lot of the time. UK or International, depends where the client is. Away from home each week??? Ha - more like away from home each month! They don't fly you back for weekends, I'm afraid, you will be expected to live living out of a suitcase and hotel dining... and show willing by being in the overseas office at weekends. My friends who have been working at McKinsey have been in foreign countries on placements with clients for 3 months, maybe getting to fly back once a month or so. It's not a commuting job, to be clear, like investment banking, you are expected to live for the firm. If you don't like the sound of that, then I think maybe aim for one of the more niche, less international firms.

Reply 2

Stan Hibbert

OP

Thanks, I agree with your point about Lancaster, I have been on the Mckinsey website and the profiles seem to be mainly oxbridge, where did your friend go to university who works for Mckinsey? On the Bain website they have people from Warwick, Bristol, Nottingham so maybe I should look at those unis.

Having said all that I was just reading the Lancaster prospectus and in the Graduate Opportunities section of the Management course it has a list of some of the companies their graduates go on to work for and one of them is Mckinsey... I thought Mckinsey were solely Oxbridge, maybe a few from other top 5 Unis.

Economics may well give me a better grounding however I'm not sure I would enjoy it as much (I currently do Economics A level)

Thanks again,

Reply 3

jrhartley

13

hibbert

Thanks, I agree with your point about Lancaster, I have been on the Mckinsey website and the profiles seem to be mainly oxbridge, where did your friend go to university who works for Mckinsey?

Two mates worked at McKinsey - both were at Cambridge. One had been working at an investment bank for about 10 years, went to McKinsey and said the workload was unbelievably hard vs. investment banking (and the pay is less) and quit after about 2 years. My impression, its akin to an MBA in that working there is a way to build up your little book of contacts.

Reply 4

LauraB84

Yes you will have a slight advantage if you have a degree from Oxbridge. But companies like McKinsey don't just look at your academic achievements, they want a lot more than just a 2.1.

I am biased since I go to Lancaster but if I were you I'd definitely consider it. From the year that have just graduated people from the BBA management course have gone onto work for Accenture, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Procter and Gamble, Ernst and Young, Deloitte Consulting...life really doesn't end if you don't have an Oxbridge degree.

Also, Ernst and Young have just set up a degree (accounting, auditing and finance) in collaboration with Lancaster University, so it can't be that bad a place!

Reply 5

Stan Hibbert

OP

LauraB84

Yes you will have a slight advantage if you have a degree from Oxbridge. But companies like McKinsey don't just look at your academic achievements, they want a lot more than just a 2.1.

I am biased since I go to Lancaster but if I were you I'd definitely consider it. From the year that have just graduated people from the BBA management course have gone onto work for Accenture, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Procter and Gamble, Ernst and Young, Deloitte Consulting...life really doesn't end if you don't have an Oxbridge degree.

Also, Ernst and Young have just set up a degree (accounting, auditing and finance) in collaboration with Lancaster University, so it can't be that bad a place!

What are you studying at Lancaster?

Business Studies BSc

OP

Whats the business school like? Does it live up to its reputation, also do companies come on milkrounds to Lancaster? Do the big management consulting companies/Investment banks recruit from Lancaster?

Reply 8

roff

2

i've no idea, I dont go there :wink:

Reply 9

Stan Hibbert

OP

The question was aimed at Laura, I'm confused now

Reply 10

roff

2

I was just telling you what course she was doing at Lancs since you asked.

Reply 11

LauraB84

I lived with quite a few people who are on the BBA European Management course, and if I was fluent in a second lancguage it seems like a fantastic degree to do. The straight management course seems pretty good as well.

I know at our last careers fair we had representatives from KPMG, Pricewaterhouse, Deloitte and Touche and JP Morgan. If you want to work for one of the big investment banks then don't forget they'll look for a lot more than just your degree. If you've got the grades for Warwick and Bath then go for it though. At the end of the day you should have a good look at the course because they'll vary from place to place and just go with what you think is best for you. :biggrin:

Reply 12

Stan Hibbert

OP

ramroff

I was just telling you what course she was doing at Lancs since you asked.

Sorry, I thought you were saying you did Business at Lancaster

Reply 13

john williams

15

LauraB84

Also, Ernst and Young have just set up a degree (accounting, auditing and finance) in collaboration with Lancaster University, so it can't be that bad a place!

I applied for Economics and Finance at Lancaster and was offered the above option, but didnt choose Lancaster as one of my choices.

It all depends on what grades your capable of getting and what offers you have, as there are alot of better unis out there, but going to Lancaster wouldnt be the end of the world.

Reply 14

LauraB84

john williams

I applied for Economics and Finance at Lancaster and was offered the above option, but didnt choose Lancaster as one of my choices.

They actually offered you a place on the course? I was under the impression you had to go through a selection procedure (assesment tests and a workshop). Or did they just tell you about it? I know they didn't give out the information about the course until after many people would have given in application forms. Sorry for being nosy, just a little curious about the new degree.

Reply 15

john williams

15

LauraB84

They actually offered you a place on the course? I was under the impression you had to go through a selection procedure (assesment tests and a workshop). Or did they just tell you about it? I know they didn't give out the information about the course until after many people would have given in application forms. Sorry for being nosy, just a little curious about the new degree.

No sorry i phrased it in a slightly misleading way, i applied for Econ and Finance and once they'd given me a offer, a few months later they sent me info on that course, but as i wasnt interested in going there i didnt pay much attention to selection, as i didnt like the idea of spending a yr working.

Reply 16

Howard

5

Having some experience at actually managing something might be useful. It's all very well having a BSc in Business or even an MBA whatever, but if you can't pour piss from a boot you're not likely to be seen as very credible when you make a presentation in the boardroom.

Management Consultancy

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