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Two By Two Fri, 28 Mar 25 |
An abridged, narrative version of the latest episode of Two by Two, The Ken’s premium weekly business podcast. |
Should you invest the first two years of your career in strategy consulting?. Perhaps consulting firms can be seen as finishing schools—places that ready you for a career, but where you’re unlikely to spend most of it
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Have you seen this video on Youtube by Good Work titled I went to business school? There’s a segment where the goofy host asks a bunch of MBA students what they intend to do after their MBA.
“Consulting,” says everyone. And what skills has their MBA set them up with to ace a career in consulting? Most answers fall somewhere between ‘pretending to know what you’re doing’ and ‘never giving a definitive answer’.
It’s funny, and it’s obviously supposed to be a joke, but it’s also something people who don’t really understand how the job works believe.
A career in consulting pays, especially if you land a position in one of the Big Three (McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, and Boston Consulting Group). But it is grueling, demanding, difficult, and often involves “low-value work” like making presentations, data analysis, and sending requests for proposals to really annoying clients. At least, in the first two years.
Despite all that, it remains one of the most popular choices for business students looking to kickstart an ambitious career. The expectation is that all the work and difficulties will pay off in the long run, because starting as a consultant gives you a broad view into how businesses operate and succeed. Consulting’s biggest draw? Content. Credentials. Community.
Well, at least it used to be.
Things are changing now.
In the latest episode of Two by Two, hosts Praveen Gopal Krishnan and Rohin Dharmakumar discuss why consulting in the first two years probably isn’t the best way to build an ambitious business career. Our two guests for the week are Rahul Chaudhary, co-founder of Treebo, ex-McKinsey & Company, and Pragya Batra, co-founder of Quirksmith, ex-Bain & Company.
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A finishing school?
Quite early in the discussion, Praveen asked a question: “Why would anyone want to spend their first two years in consulting?”
Apprenticeship. Exposure. Great pay.
Sure.
But as Rahul pointed out, there are other opportunities that offer many of the same benefits—“Big tech is one. But also, some of these very well-funded startups probably pay only a shade lower than consulting firms.”
Instead, the biggest draw for starting your career with consulting has been the same for a while: you do not have to make it your entire career.
Rahul: I have always seen consulting as a finishing school. That’s how MBBs have advertised it, as well.
This is a place where you likely are not going to spend your career. Unilever doesn’t say that.
Rohin: I have batch mates from 2001 who are still with Procter & Gamble, heading countries, et cetera.
Rahul: Absolutely. Think about it.
When they attract you, most firms say you’re going to have a very long, fulfilling career here. You’ll love it here for 25 years. Consulting doesn’t say that.
But is it really the best way to start your career? And is it even worth the trouble any more?
The problem with entry-level consulting jobs
Rahul: The consulting entry job is probably at its worst place today… worse than it’s ever been.
[…]
(Earlier) teams were small. You did quality work. You served clients that didn’t have that talent. So, there was arbitrage. You added real value.
That changed, though, once startups and then older companies started hiring people for in-house strategic roles. And then, AI entered the conversation. If a lot of an early-career consultant’s work can be replicated by AI, will companies even need as many young consultants anymore?
How should a graduating student think about all this?
Pragya: If you’re a 20-something graduating out of college, how do you decide what you will do with your life from here?
The answer will be different for different people. One is, like a good consultant, you assign weightage to what is more important to you.
Then, put your feelings into it, because feelings form a greater part of decision-making and are not just rational.
[…]
Money is one aspect. A network of people, perhaps, is another. As is what you will be learning from it.
Consulting as a career is still a great place to start. But the simple truth is that it’s not the greatest place to start. It hasn’t been for a while. As Pragya put it, “If action is what you seek, then certainly not consulting.”
Please tune into the full episode for more insights on consulting as a career option. I’ve already listened to it five times by now—partly because it’s my job, but mostly because it’s a really fun discussion.
Do write to [email protected] with your thoughts about the episode. I’ll be back in your inbox next week.
Regards,
Hari Krishna
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Hari works as a producer and researcher on Two by Two and First Principles. He’s from a “little village in Kerala where nothing much happens”, enjoys reading books (although he loves buying them even more), and appreciates films—be it on Netflix or Criterion.
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