I tried sending a mail to you at ssen@zenesys.in. Message was failed, Domain name not found.:(
Please suggest.

Those are good questions and no doubt intrigues host of other people starting out. Consultancy is a $300B market globally so clearly there is a need. And whats even stranger is that 80% of the work is delivered by non experts in the field. Consultants are hired primarily for their problem solving ability and not knowledge alone. The advice here is to cultivate an analytical mind through questioning the status quo instead of accepting the norm. Some experience is of course essential but everyone has to make a start. I did too when i started out. This article hopefully gives you some tips on how to get a head start.

As for big consulting companies – they check your problem solving abilities by conducting case interviews. Just google this term and you will get tons of information on it. You start out as research analysts (or junior consultant) and then move on to full consultant role. Typically in one to two years time.

i have one question in my mind about consulting.i m keen to have a excellent career in this field coz i believe that i have very good in Analising the situation.i am an electronics engg graduate.so in which branch i should pursue my mba?????

devesh

we have a need for consultants.

so if an engineer wants to be a consultant where does he start? given that he believes he has the abilities mentioned and has learned business administration.

who would want to seek his advise when advise is always seeked from the experienced rather than someone with unproven analytical abilities on large businessess.

Secondly how do big consulting firms check problem solving or analytical skills (if they do recruit newbies) and further what role do they play in a consulting project(inview of gaining exposure).

Glad you found it interesting. Both points are in the same sentence. Meaning the two qualities I refereed to for frameworks are 1) Client Acceptance and 2) Viable and Practical.

The first quality is well addressed in the "solution development" approach taken in the motor manufacturer example I gave in the beginning.

The second quality is to do with appropriateness of using frameworks in a particular situation. By viable and practical I mean that we need to assess the situation given the size of the problem, resource availability and time limitations. For instance we would spend a lot more time and energy going deep into applying Porters 5 forces for a Semiconductor start up versus analyzing market entry parameters for a say a hot dog stand

Hope this clarifies.

Saibal Sen

I read your article "How engineers can break into Management Consulting" which I found very interesting. I have a question:

In paragraph 12, you state: "A good framework has two important qualities." Then you proceed to mention one of these qualities, which is: The solution you develop using a framework should have 'client acceptance' and that it is 'viable and practical'.

So, which is the second important quality of good frameworks?

Best,

Luis R. Villegas H.