If you are a recent graduate, the consulting industry offers a great way to get a head start in your career, and to hit the ground running from the outset. The industry understandably attracts high achievers who have big dreams, high hopes, and great expectations for how their professional careers will play out.
Consulting firms are very transparent about the skills you need to have if you want to build a successful career in the industry. For example, McKinsey explicitly looks for people with leadership ability, problem solving skills, and initiative. Other skills that firms look for include organization, attention to detail, and critical thinking.
Many students have sound analytical skills because they are incorporated and taught within degree programs. However, consulting requires a lot of analysis and application, and you are expected to hit the ground running from day one. Do not underestimate how crucial these skills will be for success in the industry.
Although the upsides of the consulting industry are obvious, many recent graduates fail to fully consider the drawbacks of a career in the industry. It is easy to fall into this trap if you do not conduct a thorough SWOT analysis of the industry. In mapping out opportunities that the consulting industry offers, you also need to reflect on whether consulting is a short- or long-term career goal. The outcomes you achieve will be highly impacted by this reflection, so don’t rush the process. It took me several months of introspection to reset expectations and get my career on the right track.
Here are three lessons I have learned from the first two years of my consulting journey:
1. Master PowerPoint and Excel
PowerPoint and Excel are programs you will use daily. They can be used independently but most of the time consultants use them in combination. As a strategy consultant, you will live and breathe PowerPoint presentations. Any research, data analysis, problem-solving, or other work you do will be incorporated into a slide deck.
Consultants communicate with clients via presentations, which helps to explain the popularity of PowerPoint. A deck, with its collection of carefully crafted tables, charts, figures, and images, is one of the best ways to enhance an oral presentation so as to clearly communicate a strategy and how you are going to implement it with the client.
2. Learn the Art of Storytelling
Storytelling is about more than engaging an audience. It is about ensuring that your audience – manager, project team and client – understands the message you are trying to convey. The challenge is presenting your findings with someone else in mind.
Since each individual will receive and process information in a different way, and since consulting clients tend to be senior managers who are busy non-technical experts, you need to communicate in a way that everyone can understand.
Storytelling and sales are similar. In both cases, you are taking the listener on a journey where each step follows on from the last, the listener is persuaded to come with you, and the listener’s objections are anticipated in advance. The ultimate destination of a story is often for the listener to understand both where they are (e.g. what is the nature of the problem?) and what action should be taken (e.g. what is the best solution?). In order to move a story forwards, consultants employ a range of persuasive techniques including data (e.g. market size and revenue forecasts), relevant examples (e.g. competitor analysis), and expert opinion (e.g. this is why the client has hired you!).
Storytelling is a lifelong skill that consultants develop over time. It isn’t a skill that you will master overnight. It requires extensive project work, and exposure to different industries and client-facing roles. The more experience you gain, the more confidence you will gain, which will enhance your ability to tell powerful stories that lead the client where they need to go.
3. Understand Your Role on a Project
Project timelines can be confusing. For instance, on shorter projects of 4-12 weeks, you may be rolled in the project (asked to join) or rolled out (asked to leave) right in the middle of it. As a result, many junior consultants don’t get to see the outcome of many of the projects they have worked on. In this context, it can be challenging to understand the value you have added to the project, and to get meaningful feedback on your overall performance.
As a junior consultant, it is important to invest some time to understand your role, the resources available to you, and the expectations of your managers. Just as a soldier does not need to understand the entire battlefield strategy in order to be highly effective, you should be able to operate as a highly effective junior consultant without always having the big picture.
The bottom line
Consulting will teach you curiosity and patience. It will push you outside your comfort zone to find new and innovative ideas and better ways of working. While there will be certain projects that you truly dislike, even in those projects you can still find meaning in the work you produce. It is important to be open-minded and agile. Every deliverable is produced with quality and value in mind. In the pursuit of excellence, the learning journey is continuous.
Thanduxolo Love Mtsweni is a Management Consultant Analyst at Accenture in South Africa. She holds a Bachelor of Administration in International Relations and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management (PDM- Business Administration). She is passionate about empowering the youth, and advocating for better youth employment opportunities.
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