Career Paths after CA – Management Consulting

CA students often feel that the most testing time for them is before the Final exams. Although, in reality, it is after they clear Final exams and think about career opportunities ahead. There is generally a fair bit of confusion among many graduating students regarding some of the popular and more conventional career paths followed by most graduates. They often want to understand what the actual work entails or what the potential growth paths would be.  We attempt to share our two cents on some of the more aspired career options available to CA graduates and also explore some of the lesser known opportunities.

Management Consulting

Popular Firms

• McKinsey, BCG, Bain (“MBB”)
• Parthenon, L.E.K.
• Oliver Wyman, Roland Berger
• Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC (Big4)

Recruitment

• Some firms like McK and BCG have a structured recruiting cycle for CAs which is typically after every exam cycle or two exam cycles.
• They have their internal methodology for shortlisting candidates but have historically preferred candidates with exceptional academic records (AIR in either of CA Inter or Final exams) and holistic well-rounded personalities.
• Other firms which do not recruit structurally, can be targeted by networking directly with the team or the HR at these firms. All consulting firms generally prefer candidates with strong resumes and good culture fit given higher performance expectations and generally demanding work environment.
• Interviews across consulting firms is based on case solving. Most firms have practice cases on their website and there are ample online resources to help prepare for consulting cases as well (E.g. – Watch Victor Cheng videos on YouTube as a good starting point on how to approach case interviews)
• The interview process varies from firm to firm but generally involves a couple of networking sessions with the firm to understand the work and culture, 3-4 rounds of case interviews followed by partner interviews.
• Some firms also assign buddies to shortlisted candidates to help navigate the recruiting process and to practice cases.

Typical Work

• Work is client focused who spans across different industries. The fundamental objective of consulting cases is to solve a business problem for a client (generally id to large private or public sector enterprises).
• The problem statement varies from case to case and could focuses on different aspects like revenue enhancement, market entry, product strategy, operations improvement, competitive landscaping, post-merger integration, digital strategy implementation etc.
• Cases are generally complicated, and time bound with focus on generating insights for the client and adding value. Teams generally work out of the client’s office leading to high travel frequency for team members.
• Case length and duration varies by client but could be anything from a week project for a private equity firm to a 12 months post integration work for a high profile corporate.

Growth and Mobility

• Growth is usually vertical within the firm. High performing candidates from the CA stream are put on a track role where one is expected to grow into a partner in the near future.
• Most common exit from consulting remains joining clients or other corporates in their strategy teams. Lateral movement to other consulting firms is generally limited as most firms prefer to promote talent from within rather than hiring laterally.
• Many start-ups also prefer to hire consultants to lead operational roles.
• Pre-MBA candidates (typically CA or undergrads from target schools) may ether choose to continue in the firm or take a break to go to business school. Many Pre-MBAs also exit to Private Equity roles before heading to business school after spending 2-3 years in consulting.