Pre-MBA Employment: International Marketing Manager, Sara Lee, Netherlands
Post-MBA Employment: Consultant, Boston Consulting Group, Melbourne, Australia

The primary reason that I undertook an MBA was to equip me with a qualification and additional skills that would enhance my ability to make a career move from fast moving consumer goods. More specifically, my short-term career goal was to secure a role with a top tier management consultancy which would then provide a springboard to realising my medium term goal of undertaking an entrepreneurial venture some three to five years post-MBA.

There were a number of ways in which Saïd Business School staff assisted me to achieve my short term career goal.  Firstly, the careers team worked with me to refine my career objectives and secondly they helped ensure that I was sufficiently well prepared to interview with confidence. The preparation consisted of an array of services including on campus presentations and networking opportunities with the leading management consultancy firms, one-on-one sessions to tailor my CV and covering letter, mock interview sessions with sector consultants and putting me in contact with alumni who had secured positions with the firms that I sought to interview with.  The upshot was that I interviewed with a number of firms both in industry and in consulting and in the end accepted a Consultant position with the Boston Consulting Group in Melbourne.

There are a number of reasons why consulting appealed to me but chief amongst them, and the reason why I'm generally excited by my job, is the challenge of working on interesting projects in industries that I would otherwise have not been exposed to. Each case that I have been staffed on thus far has challenged me to get up to speed on understanding the dynamics and economics of different sectors, which I have found stimulating. The added bonus is that typically we're working on projects that will really make a difference to our client, and seeing their reaction when we've exceeded their expectations, is satisfying.
 
For anyone thinking of making a transition to management consultancy, I'd encourage you to take full advantage of the many services that the School provides. Be clear about why you want to make the move into consulting and be able to clearly articulate that reason when you get to interview with firms. I'd also encourage you to try and speak with people from different management consultancies to get a flavour of whether or not that firm would be a good fit for you - remember that the interview process is as much about you working out whether you'd like to work for a specific firm as it is for them to determine whether or not you're a good fit.