Providing exposure to important business tools and concepts, an MBA can be the launch pad for a career in consultancy.
Professor Richard Petty, associate dean (international) at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM), says while there are no particular specialisations in the MBA that are geared to consulting, graduates are frequently recruited by consulting firms.
'The consulting sector, being comprehensive and broad, requires people with many different types of knowledge, skills and talents,' says Petty. 'However, some students do an MBA with the aim of transitioning from their present non-consulting role into a role in the consulting sector.'
For example, candidates looking to consult in specific fields, such as in finance or accounting, would ordinarily possess a professional qualification in that field, in addition to an MBA.
The professor says that most top-flight MBAs, such as the MBA offered by MGSM, have the potential to assist someone who is looking to enter the consulting sector, particularly those seeking to enter management consulting or strategy consulting.
'The better MBA programmes comprise core subjects in strategy and in general management that provide useful skills and training. Additionally, they offer electives in a variety of subject areas that help students with an interest in a career in consulting, to tailor their MBA towards developing a particular range of skills and particular types of knowledge that will assist them in developing their consulting capabilities,' says Petty.
With a client list ranging from international brands to local firms from both the consumer and corporate sectors, Hong Kong-based Kiri Sinclair, director at public relations (PR) firm Sinclair Communications, says her MBA experience helps her to remain current with terms of business structures, techniques and methods,