Management Consultancy - Beyond the Obvious

A more specialist field, economic consultancy firms recruiting at Oxford hire students studying economics and are particularly interested in masters and D.Phil candidates who combine a strong foundation in economic theory with good research and analytical skills. For some positions, knowledge of Stata, R, Python or Excel can be helpful.

• Oxford based firms such as Oxera (also in London and Europe).
• Specialist firms like Cornerstone Research, Frontier Economics, NERA, RBB Economics.
• Larger firms with a strong economic consulting practice, such as FTI Consulting, Charles River Associates.

Strategy roles exist internally in some ‘blue chip’ companies. Working as an internal consultant you might find yourself in a business, general management, procurement or other commercial team. Nearly all graduate schemes in commercial organisations with a rotational element or ‘leadership’ focus will require you to think strategically to grow their business. Read the ‘Other Graduate Jobs in Business and Strategy’ advice below.

Aside from commercial graduate schemes, there are some specific in-house schemes available to graduates. In some cases, schemes are only open to MBA candidates from selected schools, but if you do your research, you will find companies who recruit applicants from undergraduate degree programmes or postgraduate courses. Search individual company websites to see if they offer a scheme or trainee programme, such as Mercedes-Benz Management Consulting – who offer a trainee programme which involves developing new strategies and analysis. Websites such as TARGETjobs, Milkround and Bright Network may help your search.

Read this FT article about in-house consulting which was written in 2015 but remains highly relevant. 

Consultancy is sometimes described as an ‘apprenticeship in business’. Consider other avenues to gain key business skills – such as rotational graduate schemes across supply chain management/operations, marketing, HR, finance and customer service. Schemes in Fast Moving Consumer Goods companies (FMCGs) and the TMT sector (technology, media and telecomms), such as the Samsung Rotational graduate programme, offer experience across a number of these key areas and, ultimately, these are the clients for consultants bidding for projects! There are lots of examples of these and many offer fast track progression into leadership opportunities, and/or international placements too, such as the Business Strategy Rotational Graduate programme at Sky, the Management Trainee programme at Kraft Heinz and the Swire Management programme with frequent job rotations and extensive training. 

Consider gaining other industry experience before moving into a boutique consultancy or specialist area in a larger consulting firm - not all consultants have been hired straight from University:

• Who are the clients that ultimately support the top strategy firms? Read the case examples on consultancy websites and you’ll see everything from financial services to retail to healthcare.
• Look at senior consultants' profiles on LinkedIn and talk to alumni to see where people have worked before and map your own career path, e.g. Financial Analyst at P&G and now Senior Consultant at BCG, Nokia trainee and now Consultant at McKinsey.

Energy consultancy is a significantly growing area and a number of firms do not require specific degree disciplines or experience for their graduate programmes. Read the Energy careers sector page and consider your interests in the global energy transition and renewables sector. Learn more about example energy consulting graduate schemes such as those offered by Aurora Energy Research and EON. The latter has its own in-house consulting team, ECON, of around 115 consultants, involved in E.ON’s key projects and strategy challenges.

Many advertising agencies and brand consultancies look for creative, strategic thinkers (job titles include ‘Account Planner’, ‘Account Manager’ or ‘Strategic Planner’), and a number of ad agencies often run graduate schemes e.g. Ogilvy, Karmarama (part of Accenture), Wunderman Thompson Catalyst Academy (18 month rotation in UK, German and the Netherlands). Read the Advertising careers sector page for more information about jobs and experience needed for a career in advertising.

If, in addition to having problem-solving skills, you are people focused and have strong interpersonal skills, you might like to consider HR graduate schemes. You could contribute to a company’s learning and development transformation, resourcing and recruitment strategies, performance management and recognition models. Prospects offers great advice on top schemes in these areas, many of which are based in large businesses and well-known organisations, e.g. Nestle and BAE Systems.

Entrepreneurship might suit you if you like being in charge, influencing others, taking risks and making things happen. If this is your case, read our advice on Working for Yourself.

If you like the idea of working with clients and building and maintaining strong stakeholder relationships, client management and business development graduate programmes might be another option to consider. You can learn how firms manage client relationships, find new clients and support client activities.

To generate more graduate scheme ideas:

• Read the Oxford Careers fair booklet
• Read our Business and Management Careers Briefing
• Visit Milkround‘s website
• Research the Guardian Top 300 (copies available at the Careers Service).

Amélie Bages, Head of Mental Health Delivery- NHS England & NHS Improvement

What: I work at NHS England, the organisation that leads the NHS in England. My role involves defining the strategy for mental health and then supporting planning and delivery across local health systems. I love my current role as it’s very varied and involves strategy, financial modelling, team work, programme management and working with ministers. It feels stretching and meaningful on a daily basis!

Why: I decided early on in my career that I wanted to do something to enhance access to universal healthcare. The NHS is a tremendous place to do this: it’s a great feeling to be part of a team of more than 1 million staff all working to achieve something we really believe in. You can also project yourself working in the NHS for an entire career: you can work anywhere in England, and move across a wide variety of roles ranging from finance and strategy to policy, operations and digital.

Career Path: After graduating, I went travelling, and then applied to management consultancies so I could learn a broad range of skills quickly. I first got a job in a niche consultancy mostly working with the NHS and then joined NHS England.

Getting In: Joining the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme, but also a more general management consulting experience, can be great ways to fast-track your career in the NHS. The NHS management is also full of people with diverse backgrounds from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, so you can succeed here with any past experience or start with an entry-level job.

Tom Spearman, House Staff Management Trainee at Swire

What: After a fantastic 4 week induction program in Hong Kong alongside 11 other new starters, I was immediately seconded to the shipping division in Singapore. As a management trainee, my role currently involves learning as much as I can about the organisation, focused mainly on the commercial side of things. My work involves several small projects within the company, such as working closely with executives to monitor the performance of different trade regions, managing relationships with some key partners and as part of our current push to be more digital, I am developing data reports that are being used across the whole organisation. Training also included visiting our largest market, Papua New Guinea, and returning to Singapore by a 2 week sea passage on board a container ship.

Why: It is a unique opportunity to get posted around Asia (and the world) from day one of graduation. I’m developing business and leadership skills on the job, and learning about Asian economies from a unique perspective. As a market leader in several smaller countries, I can see what is going in and out and really understand how these countries work. While there are certainly disadvantages to being so far from home, it is great fun and every minute is a learning opportunity.

During university I thought I wanted to work in management consulting, though once I received a few offers I decided it wasn’t for me. I wanted to work for a company that had a longer term outlook, with a really positive ethos where I am seen as a long term project to nurture, rather than a resource to extract for a few years. I wanted to be in a role that would allow me to have an opinion, and to be a position to influence the company.

As a Chemist, I also wanted to understand how things really work and felt that an in –depth exposure to a particular industry was more satisfactory that scratching the surface in consulting.