The Business Careers Handbook 2020
SPECIALISATIONS
39
Management consulting – operations, process and technology Stacey Kent is a consultant in Financial Advisory – Corporate Tax at PwC. Jump to page 82 to read Stacey’s interview.
What is management consulting – operations, process and technology? Strategy consulting firms such as McKinsey traditionally make recommendations at the high level. This might include how to play in a specific market, how to be more efficient or how to unlock value. Once a strategy consultancy provides its recommendations, it is usually up to the organisation to implement these. This is a generalisation, of course, but it’s useful to keep in mind when we consider the other type of management consultancies that we will focus on here: those that provide advice in operations, process and technology. For these consultancies, it’s less about top-down recommendations and more about rolling up the sleeves and being embedded within an organisation to enact change. Not only might you be talking to the CEO about what needs to be done, but you might also be working directly with front line employees to actually implement these changes. This could involve anything from designing a technology solution and helping to implement it, developing a cost-saving process and conducting employee training, to creating a new organisational structure and getting everyone on board. While this highlights how strategy consultancies differ from operations, process and technology consultancies, in reality, you will find larger strategy consultancies increasingly offering implementation support, while similarly, some operations, process and technology consultancies are reaching further into strategy.
Regardless, the industry typically categorises operations, process and technology organisations to include firms such as Deloitte and KPMG, consultancies such as Accenture and Partners in Performance, and other smaller boutique organisations. What is the graduate experience in management consulting – operations, process and technology? As a graduate, you will learn the fundamentals of consulting in your first couple of years. Often referred to as ‘building your toolkit’, this can include technical skills such as quantitative analysis or financial modelling and other softer skills, such as presenting your findings. As the work is very hands-on, it is important you can work comfortably with your client and their employees at all levels. From meetings with senior management at headquarters, to being on site working with mining engineers, you will be expected to traverse a range of environments. This is an excellent opportunity to build rapport with your client and eventually convert this into future business opportunities as you become more senior. Over time, you will be expected to own larger parts of the analysis and begin to form and test your own hypotheses. This is a natural progression to managing your own consulting projects. As a consultant, you will gain exposure to a range of industries and functions. You’ll learn the fundamentals of business and what makes an organisation work.
What are your career prospects in management consulting – operations, process and technology? One of the great things about working as a management consultant is the training you receive. While some of this may be formal, it is primarily what you learn on the job that is most valuable. Becoming adept at both the quantitative and relationship aspects of consulting will place you in good standing for the rest of your career. Similar to strategy consulting, if you decide to go down the track of becoming partner, the path is fairly well defined: work hard, perform well, bring in new business and you will have a great chance of getting to the top of your consultancy. Alternatively, and again similar to strategy consulting, there are many opportunities beyond consulting, if that’s what you choose. Most common is moving in-house to work at a corporate, particularly for a client you may have worked with before. Choose this if you have: ■ Excellent analytical and quantitative skills ■ An interest in a hands-on approach to problem solving ■ Strong interpersonal and relationship building skills.
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