Hey everybody,
Frequently visit this place quite a lot and just had a question about making the transition from Accounting to Consulting.I’m going to be working towards my CA designation with a Big 4 accounting firm starting in September here in Toronto.I’ll be working in the Audit practice.What I’ve come to realise is that the salaries in Accounting even though they are good, consulting’s even better.How easy is it to make the transition from Accounting to Consulting? Do consulting firms require a lot of CAs?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Re: Accounting to Consulting
Hey everybody,
Frequently visit this place quite a lot and just had a question about making the transition from Accounting to Consulting.I'm going to be working towards my CA designation with a Big 4 accounting firm starting in September here in Toronto.I'll be working in the Audit practice.What I've come to realise is that the salaries in Accounting even though they are good, consulting's even better.How easy is it to make the transition from Accounting to Consulting? Do consulting firms require a lot of CAs?
Any advice would be appreciated.
What type of consulting are you talking about? Are you interested in management consulting/strategic consulting at a top tier firm such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Bain or Monitor? If so, you need an MBA either from a top 10 US Business school or from INSEAD/LBS/Richard Ivey outside US, although Ivey is crap these days. INSEAD is the way to go outside USA as this school is not only very prestigious but also considered as MECCA of consulting. If you want to work for reasonably prestigious tier 2 management consulting firms such as AT Kearney, Booz Allen Hamilton, Accenture etc, you can probably transition to management consulting without going back to school for an MBA, although it would be hard. Your accounting background will not help you much at a management consulting firm.
Re: Accounting to Consulting
What type of consulting are you talking about? Are you interested in management consulting/strategic consulting at a top tier firm such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Bain or Monitor? If so, you need an MBA either from a top 10 US Business school or from INSEAD/LBS/Richard Ivey outside US, although Ivey is crap these days. INSEAD is the way to go outside USA as this school is not only very prestigious but also considered as MECCA of consulting. If you want to work for reasonably prestigious tier 2 management consulting firms such as AT Kearney, Booz Allen Hamilton, Accenture etc, you can probably transition to management consulting without going back to school for an MBA, although it would be hard. Your accounting background will not help you much at a management consulting firm.
I guess I should have been more specific, yes I am looking at strategic consulting but the specific consulting firm isn't a preference right now. I wanted to get a general idea about whether or not consulting firms do look for qualified CAs. I've always been under the impression that CA designation held a lot of weight and getting a job with a reasonably reputable consulting firm shouldn't be that hard.Maybe it's different in the States and I'm looking for a Canadian perspective here. I always did plan on doing my MBA once I have a few years of work experience under my belt. I guess in the end what I'm just looking for is knowing that I won't be stuck in accounting, internal control and all that BS forever.
Re: Accounting to Consulting
I guess I should have been more specific, yes I am looking at strategic consulting but the specific consulting firm isn't a preference right now. I wanted to get a general idea about whether or not consulting firms do look for qualified CAs. I've always been under the impression that CA designation held a lot of weight and getting a job with a reasonably reputable consulting firm shouldn't be that hard.Maybe it's different in the States and I'm looking for a Canadian perspective here. I always did plan on doing my MBA once I have a few years of work experience under my belt. I guess in the end what I'm just looking for is knowing that I won't be stuck in accounting, internal control and all that BS forever.
Honestly speaking, your best bet to join a management/strategic consulting firm would be to go back to school after earning a quality experience of few years and do your MBA from a top tier school. Unlike most of the industry firms, majority of the management consulting firms do not entertain resumes on their websites and they only recruit at selected business school campuses. If you want to stay in Canada, you should do your MBA either from Rotman or Ivey as most of the management consulting firms recruit at these campuses but let me also tell you that getting a job in a top tier management consulting firm from these two schools won’t be that easy. Although both of these programs are excellent programs, they are not considered among top 15 programs worldwide. Believe me or not but the management consulting world is extremely pedigree driven. Most of the top 10 management consulting firms hire kids from ultra-elite USA business schools (HBS/Wharton/Chicago/Columbia) for their Canadian offices.
By the way, I am referring to a top tier consulting firm again and again as your salary won’t be very high if you happen to join a third tier management consulting firm – may be even less than your accounting firm salary where your CA title would also be of real benefit and most importantly you will also enjoy an excellent work-life balance. I do no think that your CA title would be of any major help at a management consulting firm. Occasionally, your previous industry experience (especially in telecom, healthcare, energy) would provide you with some sort of leverage while recruiting at a management consulting firm but I have rarely heard someone telling me that a management consulting firm is targeting a CA in particular.