As I personally don't know anyone at a top managment consulting firm, but I see it as my ultimate goal to work for one, I love the fact that I can get insights from someone who has experience in this area and is willing to share it on here. Thank you so much and please keep up the good work!
Hey WolfGang! Wanted to know if you were able to get into a consulting firm. I am in a same position as you were 3 years ago and would love to hear more about your experience.
Even though I did travel a bunch, I stayed mostly in one place, allowing me to be more settled and keep a circle of close friends. The whole travel thing seems awesome at first, but very few of the consultants I know actually enjoy it long-term. It does drain a lot of energy. I also worked on a bigger variety of projects (geographically and scope-wise; not industry-wise, but I never envied the consultants working on some banking or insurance projects anyways) than any consultant I got to know in the time. Never felt as happy to go to work as I did then and haven't had the same feeling since. It was an incredibly fun and exciting experience, I keep going back to it in my mind and am benefitting a lot from it. Even beyond the professional stuff. Feel a lot more confident in what I can achieve and have a better sense of what really matters. At the end of the day, the guy who worked in our in-house post office seemed much happier than any Partner or Senior Partner I've met along the way
@@Valentine350z This probably won't help you for your interviews and I feel like I'm not the best person to talk about interviews anyways. You can get all the info you need from channels like this. Your question made me reflect on what happened in these last years and so I wanted to share my thoughts and experience. Maybe one thing you could take away for the interviewing is to just keep calm. I think this already goes a long way since everybody is so tense during these interviews. At the time, I also thought it'd be the end of the world if I didn't get into an MBB. It really isn't and I since found out that it's not even what I truly want, it was just a rather shallow dream.
I've been looking into the broad field of consulting for the past few weeks and I'm currently binge watching your videos because they are very intriguing and gives a great highlight into the consultant career field! Keep it up!
If BCG or McKinsey needs to make a business decision, would they hire an external consultant or use one of their own ? For eg.. In case an objective opinion is required.
Every company needs an external / fresh perspective to solve problems. Many of the internal team members are generally bounded by defined thinking and so cannot present out-of-the-box ideas. This is where external consultants help. This is true even for businesses. Jeff Bezof of Amazon always preferred industry outsiders to lead entry into new product categories.
That is a really good question, it's possible they might - for example, maybe bringing in one of their alums that's detached from the current challenge and doesn't have a horse in the race so to say. I strongly doubt they'd hire one of their competitors though (although I don't know for sure, but have definitely never heard of it happening).
"In a nutshell, consultants provide expert opinions, analysis, and recommendations to organizations or individuals, based on their own expertise. They're essentially fixers, serving as objective troubleshooters, and providing strategies to prevent problems and improve performance."
Great video and insight! I work at a Big 4 firm and it's interesting how this framework applies as well! I actually just shared a video on what consultants do at a Big 4 firm ✨
They work for whoever can afford them. One single McKinsey or BCG consultant can cost many thousands a day. The typical case costs between $500,000 and $1,200,000 and lasts 12 weeks, but is performed by a team of consultants. It's usually only big corporations who have that money lying around.
i still don't understand one thing. when i apply for jobs in their websites, they're mainly looking for MC consultants. i am ex-big 4 but not in MC. my experience is in deals and valuation. so pretty much providing buy/sell-side advisory M&A transactions. so my question is do these big 3 MC firms provide the service pertaining to my line of expertise? because all i read is MC consultant vacancies and that doesn't sound like what i do for a living. and my second question, what's really the difference between big 4 (kpmg, deloitte, pwc and EY) and big 3 (MKZ, Bain, BCG)?
How should I start preparing to get hired in top consultancy firms as I am a undergrad student and I am currently in my 3 year student and pursuing my engineering degree. So what are the things that I should focus on doing to get placed on any of the consultancy firms?
Well, I'm obviously biased but what I'd recommend is 1) understanding what these top consulting firms are all about (eg context) 2) determine what core skillsets they want in employees and 3) get really good at those skill sets. That's actually what our RocketBlocks platform is designed to do. The free guide helps with #1, and the platform will help you with #2 and #3. Best of luck!
Which content specifically? The type of cases that these firms work on? If so, the best, most robust option would be to go read through the case studies posted on Mck, BCG and Bain websites.
There isn't any hard cap, especially since most firms do hire experts in laterally (e.g., hire an experienced industry person into a Principal or Partner) role. That said, the vast majority of staffers join out of undergrad, grad school or very early in career. So I'd be best something like 80% join at under ~30 roughly.
It is a very demanding, time consuming job. It gives you a lot of money, a lot of perks, a lot of varied experience, and a lot of exposure to the most influential people around for your career but it expects a lot from you in return. People above the age of 30 are more likely to have family or other commitments and thus don't see these firms as a very attractive prospect for them.
So on Type 1 this is what I don't get -- what if McKinsey, BCG or Bain don't have the expertise? I mean these are companies as well - how could they know about pricing in every market out there, or strategies to enter each one? And if that expertise can be acquired why wouldn't a car manufacturer (say) look to hire senior executives and managers who have that type of expertise already? Isn't that what the position entails? It's like hiring a person and then paying another person as well to do a work. Type 2 sounds silly to have someone outside the company, whose position won't even be affected by a wrong decision be a tie breaker. Let's say a consulting firm makes the tie breaking decision between a CEO and his/her board. Who is going to be accountable? Who is going to get affected more? Type 3 sounds fine. It seems like contracting for a special role, which I understand is for short term projects or if they don't have a workforce.
1) they may not always have the expertise but in many cases they do OR they have significantly more than the client company does and that is valuable. 2) hiring a good senior exec can take a long time - it could take 6 months to a 1-year. Hiring McK could take 2-3 days -> speed matters and companies will pay for it
@@rocketblocks Thanks for responding to my comment! So, I understood those points. But what I don't get is how could McK have a process that allows them to hire people who have the expertise, but these companies don't? It sounds like those companies are poorly managed or don't know their own market - which is surprising because the company ONLY deals with it's stuff (say auto, medicine etc etc), and it should allow them to find someone with a more focused understanding of that market. It's like if I hired a cook A and he looks to another cook B to understand how to cook. And my question is like why wouldn't I hire cook B directly and save my money? But here's my guess - the problem may be in the general availability of the expertise level of cook B itself. So I hire a kind of okay cook A, but for special meal days like my anniversary, cook A takes advice from cook B as well? That's the only guess I can think of. Would that be close to the correct understanding?
I really love all your informational videos and your website rocketblocks.me. I am looking at consulting firms as a short term stay to broaden my experience. I particularly like that you had a page of alumni members of Big 4 firms.
structuring, restructure, strategy, growth, industries...all jargons..bla bla bla ....What do Consultants do.... Company - Okay now give me a solution to my problem, brings in consultant. Consultant- We take hefty fees for that. Make advance payment. Company- Gives fees compromising on millions' salary. Consultant- Hands over a 100 year old ppt after some quick shuffling of images and taglines Company- This is coming from a INSEAD alum..it ought to be great. 5yrs... no solution..to actual problem..it takes time right. 2yrs... Consultant got CSO position because he was batchmate of CEO. Actual leaders of organisatiom irritated because they were not valued. Domain specialists left. Company got doomed. CEO was ousted after outrage. Consultant still in CSO position... Strategy won. life continues ~Corporate Jungle
It's hard to reconcile that belief with a multi-decade track records of success (e.g., a hustle works because you con someone once and disappear, which is the opposite of what these firms do).
OK tell me why this sounds like the fakest most nonexistant job... it's like he's saying so many buzzwords, so much jargon, but the actual meaning is vague and hard to grasp... it's con man pyramid scheme vibes.... please I hope I die before I should ever become like this and think it is ok to be a "consultant"....
As I personally don't know anyone at a top managment consulting firm, but I see it as my ultimate goal to work for one, I love the fact that I can get insights from someone who has experience in this area and is willing to share it on here. Thank you so much and please keep up the good work!
Thanks! And I'm glad to hear it's helpful. We've got more good videos coming soon. And best of luck in your interviews!
Hey WolfGang! Wanted to know if you were able to get into a consulting firm. I am in a same position as you were 3 years ago and would love to hear more about your experience.
Even though I did travel a bunch, I stayed mostly in one place, allowing me to be more settled and keep a circle of close friends. The whole travel thing seems awesome at first, but very few of the consultants I know actually enjoy it long-term. It does drain a lot of energy. I also worked on a bigger variety of projects (geographically and scope-wise; not industry-wise, but I never envied the consultants working on some banking or insurance projects anyways) than any consultant I got to know in the time.
Never felt as happy to go to work as I did then and haven't had the same feeling since. It was an incredibly fun and exciting experience, I keep going back to it in my mind and am benefitting a lot from it. Even beyond the professional stuff. Feel a lot more confident in what I can achieve and have a better sense of what really matters. At the end of the day, the guy who worked in our in-house post office seemed much happier than any Partner or Senior Partner I've met along the way
@@Valentine350z This probably won't help you for your interviews and I feel like I'm not the best person to talk about interviews anyways. You can get all the info you need from channels like this. Your question made me reflect on what happened in these last years and so I wanted to share my thoughts and experience.
Maybe one thing you could take away for the interviewing is to just keep calm. I think this already goes a long way since everybody is so tense during these interviews. At the time, I also thought it'd be the end of the world if I didn't get into an MBB. It really isn't and I since found out that it's not even what I truly want, it was just a rather shallow dream.
@@Valentine350z wish you all the best and let me know how it goes if you feel like it. Maybe in about 3 years time 😉
These companies sound like therapists for large corporations.
Ha, sometimes everyone needs a little help :)
I've been looking into the broad field of consulting for the past few weeks and I'm currently binge watching your videos because they are very intriguing and gives a great highlight into the consultant career field! Keep it up!
This video is so clear and concise. So brilliant - thank you.
As an MBA aspirant, I find your Videos to be pure gold. Keep uploading. Many Thanks !
How are you doing 3 years later?
@@leelarawat2450 at a good Bschool, just started
You explain things so well. About to go into an interview with BCG and this video has been really helpful. Thank you and subscribing!!!
You even lay out the video structure like a consultant, haha! Awesome vid!
Amazing video mate! Thank you so much! I really appreciate you taking the time to create it.
Thanks Ezio!
Really great video bro !!! You gave me a great general view about these companies
Glad to hear it!
Finally an informative video about this topic. Thank you!
If BCG or McKinsey needs to make a business decision, would they hire an external consultant or use one of their own ? For eg.. In case an objective opinion is required.
Every company needs an external / fresh perspective to solve problems. Many of the internal team members are generally bounded by defined thinking and so cannot present out-of-the-box ideas. This is where external consultants help. This is true even for businesses. Jeff Bezof of Amazon always preferred industry outsiders to lead entry into new product categories.
Good question! Its always good to get an unbiased opinion on what's going on within your business ✨
That is a really good question, it's possible they might - for example, maybe bringing in one of their alums that's detached from the current challenge and doesn't have a horse in the race so to say. I strongly doubt they'd hire one of their competitors though (although I don't know for sure, but have definitely never heard of it happening).
Fantastic video. Thank you so much for the clarity provided! Would definitely recommend to others.
seems like it's a matter of convenience/company inefficiency. also seems very valuable on the other side. as you said, 'the world is messy'.
Thanks for sharing this framework.
Loved the precise and clear explanation. Subscribed!
Awesome, thank you!
Thank you so much! This provides so much clarity.
This was extremely helpful. Subscribed!
Awesome, thanks!
"In a nutshell, consultants provide expert opinions, analysis, and recommendations to organizations or individuals, based on their own expertise. They're essentially fixers, serving as objective troubleshooters, and providing strategies to prevent problems and improve performance."
Great info! Thanks!
I think I’d really like to hear you go into the difference between strategy consulting and consulting - do you have any content on this? Great vid btw
Great video and insight! I work at a Big 4 firm and it's interesting how this framework applies as well! I actually just shared a video on what consultants do at a Big 4 firm ✨
Does Mckinsey work only for big corporations or for mid-size & start-ups as well?
They work for whoever can afford them. One single McKinsey or BCG consultant can cost many thousands a day. The typical case costs between $500,000 and $1,200,000 and lasts 12 weeks, but is performed by a team of consultants. It's usually only big corporations who have that money lying around.
thank you for this video, quite informative!
i still don't understand one thing. when i apply for jobs in their websites, they're mainly looking for MC consultants.
i am ex-big 4 but not in MC. my experience is in deals and valuation. so pretty much providing buy/sell-side advisory M&A transactions.
so my question is do these big 3 MC firms provide the service pertaining to my line of expertise? because all i read is MC consultant vacancies and that doesn't sound like what i do for a living.
and my second question, what's really the difference between big 4 (kpmg, deloitte, pwc and EY) and big 3 (MKZ, Bain, BCG)?
Thank you for sharing this insight. It gives direction to startup.
So, what's the business model? Is there a way to figure it out the business model of any business??
Good question, we've got a detailed post about that here with example numbers: www.rocketblocks.me/guide/business-model.php
Explained it soo thoroughly !!!! Thanks
How should I start preparing to get hired in top consultancy firms as I am a undergrad student and I am currently in my 3 year student and pursuing my engineering degree. So what are the things that I should focus on doing to get placed on any of the consultancy firms?
Well, I'm obviously biased but what I'd recommend is 1) understanding what these top consulting firms are all about (eg context) 2) determine what core skillsets they want in employees and 3) get really good at those skill sets. That's actually what our RocketBlocks platform is designed to do. The free guide helps with #1, and the platform will help you with #2 and #3. Best of luck!
Network! In addition to the above!
Let's just take time to appreciate the word "Complicatedness"
It's a very complex word :)
Thank you so much
Thanks man. Looking for this.
Happy to help, glad it was useful for you!
Great content! Succinct and informative. Thank you!
Does anyone know of a good book that looks at similar content? Would love to reinforce what I have learnt here! Many Thanks for the great video!
Which content specifically? The type of cases that these firms work on? If so, the best, most robust option would be to go read through the case studies posted on Mck, BCG and Bain websites.
Thank you. Very valuable insights. If I may ask, Kenton, for how long have you worked at BCG?
great video, thanks
Can i use prefilled frameworks during my interview?
Great insights
How is rocketblocks' hiring process? what strategy do you use for new hire? what kind of professional do you look for?
Ceclia De Oliveira
Thank you! THANK YOU!!!!
Thank you for this video
what is the maximum age to enter consultancy?
There isn't any hard cap, especially since most firms do hire experts in laterally (e.g., hire an experienced industry person into a Principal or Partner) role. That said, the vast majority of staffers join out of undergrad, grad school or very early in career. So I'd be best something like 80% join at under ~30 roughly.
It is a very demanding, time consuming job. It gives you a lot of money, a lot of perks, a lot of varied experience, and a lot of exposure to the most influential people around for your career but it expects a lot from you in return. People above the age of 30 are more likely to have family or other commitments and thus don't see these firms as a very attractive prospect for them.
Great vids - Could you do a video on your favourite consulting buzz words!!
Wheelhouse, bucket, log jam, etc?
Actually, we've already got a series like that! You can find the third one here: ua-cam.com/video/AxQviLR7exQ/v-deo.html
How long did you work for bcg btw?
Subscribed, in hope you will.make.more videos
We will - more coming soon!
So on Type 1 this is what I don't get -- what if McKinsey, BCG or Bain don't have the expertise? I mean these are companies as well - how could they know about pricing in every market out there, or strategies to enter each one? And if that expertise can be acquired why wouldn't a car manufacturer (say) look to hire senior executives and managers who have that type of expertise already? Isn't that what the position entails? It's like hiring a person and then paying another person as well to do a work.
Type 2 sounds silly to have someone outside the company, whose position won't even be affected by a wrong decision be a tie breaker. Let's say a consulting firm makes the tie breaking decision between a CEO and his/her board. Who is going to be accountable? Who is going to get affected more?
Type 3 sounds fine. It seems like contracting for a special role, which I understand is for short term projects or if they don't have a workforce.
1) they may not always have the expertise but in many cases they do OR they have significantly more than the client company does and that is valuable.
2) hiring a good senior exec can take a long time - it could take 6 months to a 1-year. Hiring McK could take 2-3 days -> speed matters and companies will pay for it
@@rocketblocks Thanks for responding to my comment! So, I understood those points. But what I don't get is how could McK have a process that allows them to hire people who have the expertise, but these companies don't? It sounds like those companies are poorly managed or don't know their own market - which is surprising because the company ONLY deals with it's stuff (say auto, medicine etc etc), and it should allow them to find someone with a more focused understanding of that market.
It's like if I hired a cook A and he looks to another cook B to understand how to cook. And my question is like why wouldn't I hire cook B directly and save my money? But here's my guess - the problem may be in the general availability of the expertise level of cook B itself. So I hire a kind of okay cook A, but for special meal days like my anniversary, cook A takes advice from cook B as well? That's the only guess I can think of. Would that be close to the correct understanding?
Just out of curiosity, what did you do in college?
Economics + History major at UVA
Sir,
Please tell me how I get job at this company?
Thank you
They throw the masses to the wolves.
Still not clear?
Very well presented, but your obsessed by buckets
Structure is everything :)
why is he holding a pen?
I like to! Plus, you never know when you'll need to make a note :)
I really love all your informational videos and your website rocketblocks.me. I am looking at consulting firms as a short term stay to broaden my experience. I particularly like that you had a page of alumni members of Big 4 firms.
Thanks Jasim!
structuring, restructure, strategy, growth, industries...all jargons..bla bla bla
....What do Consultants do....
Company - Okay now give me a solution to my problem, brings in consultant.
Consultant- We take hefty fees for that. Make advance payment.
Company- Gives fees compromising on millions' salary.
Consultant- Hands over a 100 year old ppt after some quick shuffling of images and taglines
Company- This is coming from a INSEAD alum..it ought to be great.
5yrs...
no solution..to actual problem..it takes time right.
2yrs...
Consultant got CSO position because he was batchmate of CEO.
Actual leaders of organisatiom irritated because they were not valued.
Domain specialists left.
Company got doomed. CEO was ousted after outrage.
Consultant still in CSO position...
Strategy won.
life continues ~Corporate Jungle
hustle companies out of money
It's hard to reconcile that belief with a multi-decade track records of success (e.g., a hustle works because you con someone once and disappear, which is the opposite of what these firms do).
rocketblocks you guys are so good with your words to make it sound like you know what you are talking about, blah blah blah
@@randomvariety7874 jaded by your own ignorance on the matter. Sad.
...this is some multi layered satire right?
Why does my guy speak so slow?
You know UA-cam has playback speed controls, right ;)
OK tell me why this sounds like the fakest most nonexistant job... it's like he's saying so many buzzwords, so much jargon, but the actual meaning is vague and hard to grasp... it's con man pyramid scheme vibes.... please I hope I die before I should ever become like this and think it is ok to be a "consultant"....