Consulting

Consultants go into an organisaton and assess ways to improve the company’s proft-making ability, efciency, or positon in the market. They’ll then implement a plan to help the client achieve its goals.

A popular choice among graduates, consultng is a coveted career path because of the very atractve salaries ofered. More than that, there’s also a wide variety in job roles as graduates get to work on a number of diferent projects, and perhaps even get the opportunity to travel.

However, working in high-pressure environments is to be expected, and ofen against very tght deadlines.

Consultancy frms also ofen specialise in a partcular sector such as IT or fnance.

You’ll need…

• Analytcal skills • Commercial awareness • Creatvity • Good interpersonal skills • Problem-solving skills

Types of employers

• Management/strategic consultancy • Human resource consultancy • IT consultancy • Financial advisory consultancy • Public relatons consultancy

Career path

Newcomers generally start out as analysts and remain there for about three years. The company may then encourage the pursuit of a postgraduate degree at this point before allowing a graduate to become a consultant, where another two to three years will be spent.

The next step is to become lead consultant or manager, before becoming a partner in the frm or an industry specialist. Seasoned professionals can even break of and form their own consultancy frms.

Job-hunting tips

• Practse case studies before applying.

They tend to make or break applicatons • Read business pages for commercial awareness. Keep an eye on successful or innovatve advertsing and branding campaigns, and fgure out what makes them work • Keep abreast of the latest trends in management, fnance, operatons, HR and IT

Work experience

Many consultancy frms in Singapore ofer summer internships. Keep an eye out for them and apply as early as possible to keep from missing out.

Deadlines

Applicaton deadlines for full-tme positons and graduate programmes close around September and October.

Did you know?

Management consultants rarely have two identcal workdays. The broad range of work means creatng solutons on a case-bycase basis tailored to each client, so professionals usually end up with a very wide scope of tasks.

Most popular employers

1. Boston Consultng Group 2. McKinsey & Company 3. Accenture 4. Microsof 5. PwC 6. EY 7. Bain & Company 8. Deloite 9. KPMG 10.Oliver Wyman

Source: Singapore Graduate Barometer 2021 editon