Expert Thoughts on the Consulting Industry

Prior to joining AdmissionsConsultants, Kent was a Director and Senior Consultant for numerous healthcare-related consulting firms such as PA Consulting Group, The Advisory Board Company, The Wilkerson Group, and CSC Healthcare.

Just as management consulting is among the first areas to go bust during an economic downturn, it is usually also the first industry to rebound during good economic times, as we’re now witnessing. Even the leading MBA programs saw the percentage of their graduates going into consulting go from 35% to 50% in the early 2000s to just 20% to 25% last year, while second-tier schools saw consulting nearly evaporate as one of the leading recruiting areas.

Now the top schools are seeing consulting firms return at full tilt, especially for internships as the industry prepares for strong growth over the next three years, at the least. Overall, the consulting industry should expand by at least 5% annually through 2006.

Still, first as an MBA applicant and then a student searching for a consulting career, certain areas are booming in the industry while others continue to suffer. According to comprehensive research reports I wrote about two sectors of the industry and published by Kennedy Information – The Global Healthcare Consulting Marketplace (2003)and The Global Government and Public Sector Consulting Marketplace (2004) – those two sectors of the marketplace are expanding the fastest, with healthcare consulting growing by 13% annually and public sector consulting by 8% annually. So if you’re a scientist or medical professional looking for healthcare consulting after your MBA, or a military officer considering government consulting for a post-MBA career, you’re in great shape and will be in high demand by both the schools and their recruiters. The utilities and manufacturing areas of consulting will also grow above the industry average, and financial services consulting is just now rebounding.

However, other sectors are to be avoided either as a post-MBA career or for your MBA applications, unless you have a very strong story to tell and passion for the specific area of consulting. Areas such as communications, media/entertainment, and transportation consulting will continue to shrink in the next few years, while high tech and energy/oil/gas will remain flat.

Overall, I told my MBA clients in the past two years to be very careful in describing management consulting as their preferred post-MBA emphasis, as the admissions committees were very worried about the possibility of placement after graduating. This year, however, I think it’s a much safer route for those candidates who have significant work experience (not necessarily consulting) in a certain industry field.

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