Ok I thought I'd kick back some life into this thread by posting a little bit about Strat consulting..
What is strat consulting?Basically advicing companies on their strategy. Usually very specific to a certain area, HR, outsourcing, M&A; and so on. The higher you go the more the companies need to pay. So its usually a case of swoop in , understand the mess, give sum data backed gyaan on how to clean the mess, actually clean the mess if the company asks you to and finally charge 200 dollars an hour while doing it

Who works there?Contrary to popular perception, you don't necessarily need an MBA to work for a strat consulting firm. Every consulting firm has a divison of analysts working to back the consultants with specific data and also to provide a research backing in the form of syndicated research on specific markets/industries . A good proportion of analysts are engineers in addition to the regular MBAs. Also graduates from well known colleges also stand a good chance in the support category.
What do they do?I am sure none of the MBA's are reading this so let me address the better half of the population- the engineers

. You will have to analyse data. Simple no?? Not really. Very few engineering colleges in India have a hard problem solving approach to teaching and so not everyone will find the job of making some sense out of a bunch of data easy or appealing. Also it is my personal experience that other than students from colleges which test your problem solving ability others find it tough to get through the case studies. The thrill of the job lies in the challenge that you face every day trying to give some structure to some arcane piece of unstructured data. Of course there is a great deal of searching involved. In google we trust. But at the end of the day there is a certain degree of mental satisfaction involved like the one you get after solving medium level SUDOKU

What's the life like?Pretty good actually. Most consulting firms are US based and do believe in concepts like a 10 hour workday and free weekends. Moreover the lifestyle is good because of added perks (healthclub, golf, theatre) The pay is good. The good thing about the pay is that they give you you what they claim and the bonuses are extremely performance oriented..and u get what u deserve.
So the BIG question; How do you get in?India is on the verge of becoming a research hub (in the consulting context). The cheap cost of an Indian analyst is a major factor apart from our brilliant engineers. Most consulting firms take pride in the number of engineers they hire and India has abundant talent. Unfortuantely they are also very elitist because consulting firms byt default operate on a league mentality. So bein an IITian(the top 3) or a BITSian helps. I know a good number of Stephanians also in the hunt. You need a capability to analyse. Try the case studies at
www.mckinsey.com or
www.bcg.com .
www.vault.com is an international portal for MBAs. and they have some really good articles and goodies for consulting jobs. try out the case studies. Get the ability to give shape to any form of unstructured data. Example: How many marriages happen every year in Delhi? Think about it.
I have put in a few points which I felt were of basic nature. Please note that the above points need not be relevant to IT consulting or operations consulting. And anyone who wants further info please use the thread to post questions. Will be helpful to all.I am also on the look out for a few research analysts (1-2) you have to fit in all the above qualities and so do pm me only after confirming this.