Undergraduate Careers:
Consulting
Consulting opportunities are varied and cover a wide variety of fields and areas of expertise—from IT, to human capital/HR, strategy, nonprofit or business analytics consulting, among others.
The Primer to Consulting (159K PDF) provides alumni feedback and information on a variety of consulting roles.
Make an appointment at the FCC (617-353-2834) early during your studies at SMG to discuss preparations for a consulting career with a counselor.
If you are interested in consulting opportunities, consider joining the BU Management Consulting Association (contact@bumca.org), read the Vault Guide to Consulting (through MiTRAC, under Quick Links, then click on Industry Guides), and target the type of consulting that is the best fit for you. Then, make an appointment at the Career Center to develop your job search strategy.
Consultants come with varied backgrounds depending on the type of consulting. Secure an internship or part-time job in your concentration during sophomore and/or junior years; this will build your resume, provide you with real-world experience in your concentration and increase your competitiveness when seeking full-time employment in consulting.
Prep for Case Interviews through club Case Interview Boot Camps, practice sessions with the FCC, and continuous informational interviewing and reading. Top consulting firms often have detailed information on interview preparation on their websites.
Get to know faculty members in your area of interest, as many do consulting work on the side and can provide valuable advice.
Sample Entry Level Job Titles
- Analyst
- Application Service Specialist
- Assistant Business Analyst
- Assistant Project Administrator
- BAS Associate
- Change Implementation Associate
- Client Services Consultant
- Consultant
- Human Capital Consultant
- IT Consultant
- Junior Consultant
- Management Analyst
- Research Associate
- Research Analyst
- Strategy Analyst
- Systems Process Analyst
- Technical Consultant
- TSRS Consultant
Sample list of employers of BU alums in consulting roles
- Accenture
- Acosta Sales and Marketing
- Acquis Consulting Group
- Arthur D. Little
- Bain & Company (Singapore)
- BearingPoint
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- Computer Sciences Corporation
- Decision Resources
- Deloitte Consulting
- Digitas
- Ernst & Young
- Forrester Research
- Grant Thornton
- IBM Global Business Services
- International Sports Properties
- McKinsey & Co.
- Mercer Human Resource Consulting
- Monitor Group
- Navigant Consulting
- Oliver Wyman
- PA Consulting
- PriceWaterhouseCoopers
- Spring Consulting Group
- Towers Perrin
- Yankee Group
Faculty: Erik Molander, molander@bu.edu (BUMCA faculty liaison)
Boston University Management Consulting Association, www.bumca.org; contact@bumca.org
Alumni: Alumni contact information is available through LinkedIn, the Career Advisory Network, and the Primer to Consulting. Please prepare carefully and approach alums professionally, not asking for a job or internship
Selected Consulting Fields
- Organizational Development Consulting
- Strategy Consulting
- Market Research
- Human Capital/Human Resources Consulting
- IT/MIS Consulting
- Nonprofit Consulting
- Business Analytics
- Marketing Consulting
Salary range of SMG graduates from classes of 2007 and 2008 in consulting roles: $34,000 – $65,000
Average reported entry-level consulting salary (41 alums reporting):$53,650
ON-LINE AND PAPER RESOURCES
Case in Point: Complete Case Interview Preparation, Fourth Edition by Marc P. Cosentino
The Fast Track: The Insider's Guide to Winning Jobs in Management Consulting, Investment Banking, and Securities Trading by Mariam Naficy
The Wharton MBA Case Interview Study Guide (Wharton Econometric Studies Series)
WetFeet Guide to Consulting; www.wetfeet.com
Vault; Available through MiTRAC; see the Vault Guide to Consulting; The Vault Guide to the Case Interview; message boards
Consulting Information Services; www.consultinginfo.com
Strategy + Business Magazine by Booz Allen & Hamilton; www.strategy-business.com
The Consulting Magazine; www.consultingmag.com
McKinsey Quarterly; www.mckinseyquarterly.com
Pardee Library Career Guide: Consulting; www.bu.edu/library/guides/pml/career/consultant.html
American of Management Consulting Firms; www.amcf.org (see the Member List for list of consulting firms)
For additional information and detailed descriptions of possible career options please refer to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, www.bls.gov/oco:
- Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services
