Strategy Consultancy: What it entails and the harsh reality

What is strategy consulting?

Strategy consulting can be explained in 3 ways
a. Working with CXOs to help them achieve their goals
b. Providing direction at the firm-wide level
c. Helping the firm achieve a particular direction (e.g., creating an acquisition strategy in a new market)

What are some of the firms for strategy consulting?

a. Segmenting by type of consulting – i> advising CXOs (e.g., MBBs) and ii> advising middle managers (e.g., Big 4s)
b. Segmenting by functions – social impact, org consulting etc.

What do strategy consultants do?

a. Define the problem statement – it can be a big problem or multiple problems
b. Create hypothesis – establishing direction/answers based on experience
c. Research & Analysis – biggest chunk of the consulting work. Data comes from 2 sources – client and external data (secondary or primary sources)
d. Alignment – aligning on recommendations within the team
e. Closeout/communication – communicating the recommendations to the client

What is the growth trajectory and pay for front-end roles?

a. Undergraduate – People get hired as business analysts [12-16 lac per annum fixed]
b. Postgraduate – People get hired at junior associate (designation name varies) [22-30 lac fixed per annum]
c. Managers generally earn 60-90 lacs per annum (fixed + variable)
The growth is steep and incredible and hence the lure, but one should be prepared for rigorous working hours

How to get into these front-end roles of strategy consulting?

It’s very difficult, and the odds are stacked against you but there are 2 options
a. Lateral hire – PG or non-PGs having experience in mid to top-tier firms. It takes 8-9 years of previous experience to make a shift to a consultant position (post is achieved post 2 years after joining from a top tier school)
b. Non lateral – Campus hires.
i>. UG – Colleges are limited (IITs, SRCC, Stephens etc). Interviews comprise of 3-4 case interviews 
ii>. PG (mostly MBAs in India) – Limited to top-tier (IIM ABC, ISB, etc.). There are some opportunities from other colleges as well.