More MBAs than ever are heading into consulting roles upon graduation, thanks in part to increasing demand for internal strategy consultants among corporations, Business Because reports. Management consulting firms have long drawn large percentages of MBA grads, and now, as banks, healthcare companies, retailers and others shift toward hiring internal consultants, consulting as a function is more popular than ever, according to an article this week in Business Because.
Citing employment statistics from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, Spain’s ESADE Business School and France’s HEC Paris, among others, the recent article suggested that the trend is a global one. At Tuck, 40 percent of the MBA Class of 2014 went into consulting and strategy functions, higher than any other. At ESADE, consulting drew 26 percent of the class, the highest, and at HEC Paris, consulting and finance functions tied for first, each drawing 21 percent. “We do see student demand for internal consulting,” Stephen Pidgeon, associate director of career development at Tuck, told Business Because, in part because internal roles allow greater work-life balance than positions with consulting firms.
Tony Somers, director of HEC Paris’s Career Management Center, reports that many corporations are now hiring MBAs for internal consulting roles at that school, including Unilever, Schneider Electric and Siemens.
Company demand, student desire for greater flexibility and a migration away from traditional financial services roles since the financial crisis have all contributed to this new trend toward internal consulting, according to the Business Because article.
Meanwhile, traditional management consulting firms are still luring lots of MBA grads, and the “Big Four” professional services groups have also expanded into advisory work, hiring more MBAs in consulting roles.
“As they rebuild and expand their strategy practices, they are increasingly looking to top-tier business schools for their staffing needs,” Pidgeon told Business Because.
