Is it possible to join consulting early/mid-career without starting at the bottom? What sorts of backgrounds or skills would be looked for for a candidate like that?

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Consulting hierarchy is simple and straightforward. You can join as an experienced hire at a non selling role (manager at B4 or equivalent ) , on the back of your industry experience. You will need to pick up consulting skills as you go (and sales if you want a long career in consulting). But you can definitely find your footing as an industry SME

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I joined as an experienced hire 4 years into my career- I worked in SAP in industry at a very customized company but also had SAP experience from college. The jump to consulting was intimidating at first but as soon as i figured out everyone is making things up as they go it became much easier

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Agree - you will likely want to highlight communication skills (written and verbal) + general project management capabilities. Also hopefully you can spin your current role as beneficial to consulting in some way (e.g., industry experience, a certain relevant skill, etc.)

Best to start just before manager for higher success rate. Most experienced hires that hire above manager fail. May involve a pay cut at first but you can progress quickly and then it’s typically close to or above industry roles except for finance, trading, tech

If you know SAP, Oracle, or any of the connecting systems, you can use that experience to launch you in. It’s how I got in. I agree that it is best to come in just below manager level to learn the difference between consulting and industry, unless you have sales experience. I’m glad I got in that way - it gives me a lot more confidence in what I am doing.

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