Hi
I am working as system engineer and have exposure/skills across multiple technologies ranging from Cloud, DBs, Linux - Ubuntu/Redhat, Windows- 7/8/9/2012/2016/2019, cisco Network switches/Routers, VDIs, Virtualization, L7 VPN technologies & end point security etc. Additionally i have sound knowledge of Cybersecurity,VAPTs etc & hold few good certificates.
I am actively applying for jobs in Delhi NCR location but not getting enough calls for interviews. Need suggestions please. YOE: 3
Thx.
Coach
You’ll be fine at mbb, but it won’t teach you to become an entrepreneur. It’ll teach you how to operate in huge orgs. If you want to be an entrepreneur you just have to do it.
Coach
Meh everything @AP1 mentioned is analysis based. You are going to be executing for the first several years I suspect.
Consulting analysis isn’t very valuable in a startup. It tends to be about optimization versus value creation from scratch. When was the last time a consultant came up with a great product? I’m sure there are instances but given the number of consultants those people are outliers.
I’m a simple guy. Great product, great marketing, great customer service. Figure out those things and the rest will take care of itself.
I’ll add yet another opinion here. Having gone from consulting to tech, I think consulting was absurdly overrated and I wish I started directly in tech. What do you do in consulting?
1. Analysis. Analysts spend a ton of time modeling things in excel to create business cases, forecasts, etc. At big tech at least, this doesn’t exist. Data science owns absurdly complex models and unless you’re a SQL / python wiz, excel is hardly relevant.
2. PPTs. Creating recommendations is a huge part of consulting. Everything lives in decks and PPT. I’ve found the structuring piece to the only transferable piece. Decks are rare in my org - far more is based around documents, posts, and emails laying out logic, market, requirements, and recommendations. N of 1 of course. Spending weeks making a recommendation is far too slow - decisions are made quickly based on shorter pieces of text and meeting pitches with some supporting graphics along the way.
3. Stakeholder Management. Biggest transferable skill. Everything I’ve seen in tech is around influence - getting buy in, making concessions, finding win win scenarios, advocating for the problem being solved, user, and vision. This happens in consulting - but my experience was partners and SMs had all those hard conversations and there was little space to learn. Nobody wants an analyst managing contentious meetings when fees are so high. You are expected to manage and fail in my experience in tech.
4. Research. In consulting all market research had to be quantifiable and support or disprove your hypothesis. In tech - research is customer based and you have specific people working on it that are experts. You will spend less time sizing markets through $50k industry reports - and infinitely more time interviewing users, experts, and creating logical personas from that. I didn’t find this piece transferable
5. Working with engineers. In consulting, I never once worked with an engineer and never once built anything besides a deck. In tech, I’ve worked with engineers constantly and have a better sense on software dev lifecycle, planning, pitfalls, etc.
All the above that tech wins on I think applies more to building a company from the ground up - particularly if it’s a software product. Consulting I felt more prepared to run an existing company.
Anyway. Just my experience and they’re both solid, with options to move around easily. Don’t stress and best of luck :)
Any examples of a low-tier tech company?
If you are early in your career (and usually even if you’re not), consulting is a huge help. A lot of posters here went from undergrad to consulting and don’t know anything different. I worked in a non-prestigious industry and role out of undergrad, got my MBA, then went into consulting. The learnings from consulting have been so important to my development. Even things as seemingly simple as running effective meetings, navigating politics and engaging stakeholders appropriately, etc. Practice presenting to senior execs. You’ll get polished and will learn how to tell a story. That is a critical skill for entrepreneurs when they’re pitching to investors or customers
General consensus is better WLB in FAANG compared to consulting. I don’t know that many consultants turned entrepreneurs as consultants generally tend to be the risk averse type. Nothing stopping you from pursuing that path though! You’ll learn a lot either way.
I only have consulting experience so am interested in tech to gain more specific hard skills. Consulting has been frustrating for me personally because you spend 75% of your time making and revising PowerPoint slides. Others may have different experiences!
Was at a FAANG before mba and now going to mbb. Eventually want to pursue something entrepreneurial. Based on my experience at FAANG and summer internship in consulting, none of these options are entrepreneurial but at least consulting is not as political and allows for bigger impact.
I worked in industry for many years from start up types to fortune 20. I have never been anywhere as political as consulting. The amount of networking alone to get on projects is astounding. You also deal with politics inside your client and inside the firm
Build the next letter in FAANG and hire me plz😬😬😬
But agree with M1 - WLB, good pay, no travel requirements, prestige, etc
I had also chosen MBB over FAANG (was a SWE intern, turned down a nice fat return bonus), and don’t regret it - the work is much more interesting and I feel more inspired by my coworkers (a bit more sharp imo and definitely more fun to work with)
Seems like OP should DM this poster...
💰 makes FAANG more desirable. If you have a FAANG offer, I think you made a mistake. I did the same too - when I joined Ey (staff2) instead of Microsoft (TAM) right after school. It was a stupid decision, and lost a lot of potential earnings. Oh well, back in FAANG now after 7 years in consulting and I love it.
*i know MBB is several times better than EY.
Damn you MSFT stock alone from 7 years ago would have made you a millionaire by now
Becoming partner is kinda like being entrepreneur but with much less risk. That’s probably you don’t see much entrepreneurs from consulting backgrounds. If you don’t care that much about WLB and actually have the drive, your best chance is becoming Partner.
I agree SM1, but owning a franchise is still entrepreneurship
Consultants need data to accept or reject their hypotheses and substantiate their recommendations. An entrepreneur is often creating something where the data doesn’t exist. Consulting will help you with some structuring skills to pitch to VCs, that’s about it. The rest of the skills don’t translate until your company scales a few years later. You want to be an Entrepreneur, go do it. In my experience, people who have career plans to be an entrepreneur usually aren’t the right people for it.
is concerning and making me question if I made the right choice. I chose consulting to develop business skills to compliment my technical background and eventually pivot to entrepreneurship, but now that I think about it, I haven’t talked to that many consultant turned entrepreneurs. Did I make the wrong choice? What makes FAANG so much more desirable than consulting for those who have worked a couple of years?
SM3, are you talking about me? I am the Harvard grad who didn't make it into Deloitte
Work/life balance is bad, pay is lower, analytical skills developed are not as rigorous and have lower market value
In my opinion, if you are thinking about entrepreneurship consulting is a good option. People love to move to FAANG to get into industry and stay there long term for better benefits and work life balance. They might not have any immediate entrepreneurial ventures in mind.
In the eyes of the folks in Corp dev roles at FAANG, often the “shiny ball” teams, it is much harder to get MBB offer than an entry level FAANG role. They will value the MBB brand, many of them are ex-MBB themselves and know what it takes to get an offer here
The WLB on those teams also suck. So that’s an important factor to take into account.
They are all the same... very different from entrepreneurship.
I think there is a ton of context building that you get in consulting that proves very helpful when you transition to an entrepreneurial venture. When you not only have to understand investors, market, competition, and positioning, but also what aspects make you acquirable and what type of business you want to build, the vast exposure proves invaluable. This is even more important if you enter a b2b space, as the understanding of large clients and how their budgeting and approval processes go is basically a key to how to sell to them.
BCG3 💯% with the first sentence of your first reply.
If OP is similarity from a technical background and wants to build up a business skill set I think consulting at a top firm checks that box and would be helpful if you wanted to get a MBA (which OP said elsewhere), or go to a start up or founder situation
Consulting teaches you how to hustle imho!