What It's Like To Work As An Intern On Management Consulting Projects

The world of a top-tier consulting firm can sometimes seem like a strange and challenging place. It’s a world populated almost entirely by those who are exceptionally talented, analytically capable, and determined to produce an excellent product for their team and clients. Being surrounded by people with such determination, discipline, and talent can certainly have a positive effect on you, but sometimes it can feel overwhelming, and the challenges seem insurmountable.

Working as an Intern on Management Consulting Projects

It helps then, to get a look into what the world of being an intern for management consulting firms is like. It’s a new environment for most interns, as many have never had true professional experience before, and their first taste is going to demand a lot of effort, a lot of learning, and a great mindset towards challenges.

We here at Beacon have assembled these insights to help not only our own students but anyone who’s considering the world of consulting, so they can understand the workload, the expectations, and ultimately, why the reward is so great.

Communicating With your Team

Communication is one of the key elements of making a great team able to produce great work in any industry, but in the world of management consulting, the importance is multiplied.

As an intern, you’ll likely be working as a part of a large team across several modules or projects. This means that it’s very easy for details to get lost in the weeds and tasks to slip through the cracks if communication is not open, honest, and continuous.

There’s going to be so much information flying around that being organized is going to become critical to staying on top of your work. We recommend not only keeping your own projects and tasks organized by project and by delivery date but also sharing these notes openly with your team so everyone knows where you are in your projects and if they have resources or information that may be helpful.

Beyond simply staying organized, an intern should be prepared to put in extra hours outside of the traditional schedule (when possible) in order to stay ahead of the game. Using your evenings and mornings to organize your tasks, complete bookkeeping assignments, and send out all your communication messages can make each workday that much smoother, and provide the consultants with a clear perception that you are on top of your game and ready to tackle the day.

Collaborating

The world of consulting means more than just a lot of work. It also means a lot of different kinds of work. This is because consulting is spread out across countless different industries and requires expertise from many different sectors. All of this adds up to collaboration being a key element of success.

The key responsibilities of the interns in the world of management consulting are usually going to be focused on compiling and putting together the nuts and bolts of the presentations. This means Google Sheets or, more often, PowerPoint (yes, PowerPoint) This means working with your teammates to understand all the different facets of data and getting their take on the different angles of analysis before everything gets finalized.

This close collaboration reinforces the need for constant communication. Communicating with your team about different edits to presentations and making sure everyone understands how the story fits together is crucial for ultimately creating a top-notch product.

In situations where there are multiple teams working on the same project, communication becomes even more important. When there are multiple entities making changes and bringing different insights to the project, making sure you know where your expertise can be flexed and making sure the rest of the teams know that as well is what makes projects run smoothly.

Working Under Project Leaders

Beyond collaboration with your teammates and with other teams, collaborating and learning from the experts you’ll be working under is even more valuable.

The project leads of management consulting firms such as McKinsey or Bain will have at least a few years of experience under their belts and know how to navigate the challenges of management consulting. The fact that they’re often providing you with real-time evaluations and feedback on your work lets you always be creating the best possible product, and learn the best ways to self-evaluate. Their understanding of the process, managing deadlines, and the ins and outs of editing and storylining are what make them such a valuable asset.

The key thing to look for and take note of, is not necessarily how they make plans, but how they change them and adapt to new information. The world of consulting is based on adjusting preconceived ideas based on new data. Take notes on this leadership, as this ability is invaluable.

Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

Stepping outside your comfort zone and experiencing new lines of work, new tasks, and new people is of course one of the biggest and most exciting draws of the management consulting industry. However, it’s also one of the biggest challenges.

The world of consulting means becoming knowledgeable in an industry you might be unfamiliar with very fast. Not only do you have to become familiar with the industry, but provide insights that people who have been working in it during their whole careers might not have discovered. It sounds like a daunting task, but there’s a long record of examples that show just such an exploration can make for not only great projects but newfound passions.

Developing Evergreen Skills

Beyond the specific industry insights you’ll gain, and the valuable knowledge you’ll learn from project leaders, the “evergreen skills” you’ll pick up will be valuable for your entire career.

Evergreen means skills that are always valuable or are constantly in need. Sometimes it’s the most simple skills that end up being the most valuable. Excel is always going to be a valuable skill. If you think spreadsheets are old fashioned or out of date, thinking about them and understanding them lets you see why they are irreplaceable and essential in business and in the administration of any organization. Knowing how to find an intriguing story in a world of numbers will never not be valuable in the world of business. And for early-career people, spreadsheet skills are an area where they can become top-notch relatively quickly. You can’t become truly an expert at an industry in a few months, but you can be well on your way towards Excel expertise in a few months. You can’t become an expert in the summer, but you’ll build the momentum you need.

Beyond Excel, the skill of putting a deck of slides together in a cohesive and compelling way is something that will always set you apart from others. The numbers will always be the numbers, but a presentation that tells a clear story and makes data-backed recommendations is what creates success. Ensuring you cultivate and build those skills are among the most important in your internship, and they will continue to be valuable long afterward.

About Beacon

The connections and habits that Beacon provides go a long way in creating strong professional networks and valuable analytical skills.

Beacon alumni are hired by elite firms every single year. Even as we continue to recover from a pandemic, the world of consulting continues to grow, and smart, capable students are in high demand. It’s widely known that firms are very particular about how they select. 

If you found these tips helpful and would like to explore more about The Beacon Fellowship, contact us today for more information on how to advance your career.