In this article
- Learn how to become a business consultant with the support of the top-ranked Kelley Direct Online MBA program, which can help you reframe your skills to start a new career in consulting.
- Hear what a longtime consultant and certified career coach has to say about how to maximize your online MBA experience and successfully transition into a career in consulting.
- Learn how Kelley Direct helps students prepare for consulting-specific experiences, such as case interviews.
The unprecedented challenges that businesses face today—generative AI, digital transformation, corporate sustainability, and post-pandemic consumer behavior—have created exciting opportunities for professionals to pivot their careers into business consulting.
If you’re wondering how to get into consulting, the path can be daunting and often requires professionals to reframe their skills and experiences specifically for the consulting industry.
That’s why the top-ranked Kelley Direct Online MBA program offers the tools and support to get you there. Whether you want to know how to become a consultant with no experience or are looking for the best online MBA for consulting, Kelley Direct is designed to set students up for successful careers.
Curious about how to be a consultant? You’re probably closer than you think
At Kelley Direct, we don’t offer a major specifically for consulting. Instead, our curriculum is designed to flex to fit your unique interests and goals and help aspiring consultants build the essential skills for any consulting setting, including critical thinking, problem-solving, process improvement, project management, and communication.
In their first year, Kelley Direct students take foundational courses in business skills and knowledge and then can choose a specialized major like business analytics, digital technology management, finance, or supply chain and operations. Once students have sharpened these skills and gained expertise in these areas, they can apply them to a range of business consulting settings.
Birgit Newman, a professional career coach who is dedicated to helping Kelley Direct students transition into new careers, says many of the students who enter the Kelley Direct Online MBA program are already well-poised to make a career switch into consulting.
“Many of our students start the Kelley Direct program with a number of transferable skills that are relevant to consulting,” says Newman. “Once they have those skills, the biggest challenge is to translate that experience into consulting industry-specific language. Early career MBA students—people with three to seven years of professional experience—can apply with the MBA entry-level cycle, which is a lot of MBA recruiting. People with more years or a higher level of experience may recruit as well as experienced hires. These are often senior consultant or sometimes manager-level positions that are recruited year-round. Many of our students fall into the range or could even go after both.”
Newman herself spent more than 15 years in the consulting industry and has provided career guidance for many Kelley Direct students who have been able to break into consulting. She first emphasizes the importance of having strong, broad baseline skills.
- Communication and client readiness: Effective communication is crucial for consultants to articulate ideas clearly, facilitate discussions, and build rapport with their clients.
- Analytical skills: Consultants need to be able to analyze and synthesize data and information to dissect complex business problems, identify the root cause of issues, and develop solutions. “Digital literacy is becoming more of a prerequisite,” says Newman. “Experience, or a major in business analytics, can become a leg up.”
- Broad knowledge: In combination with the business knowledge from an MBA, candidates with a background in engineering, the sciences (including MDs), and operations tend to fare well if they can demonstrate the desired soft skills such as communication, executive presence, and adaptability, says Newman. Professional work experience, even if only a few years, is a must—and a Fortune 500 or the military as an employer on your resume can help you stand out.
- Industry-specific expertise when it matters: Management and strategy consultants don’t need to specialize—unless they want to go into a specialized consulting sector or the digital consulting space or AI, says Newman. “If you want to be a consultant in supply chain management, then work experience in supply chain management is key. If you want to do management consulting or strategy consulting at a firm like Deloitte Consulting, an MBB, or a Slalom, Oliver Wyman, or L.E.K., they put more emphasis on broad expertise and learning agility,” she explains.
- Adaptability: In a world of complex and rapidly changing market landscapes, consultants must be adaptable in changing circumstances, quick to learn new concepts, and flexible in their approach to problem-solving and change management.
- Ambition: Consulting has similarities to being an entrepreneur. Even though you’re on a contract with a fixed salary, it’s up to you to make sure you’re doing interesting work and are requested for those sought-after assignments in which the client chooses who they staff. Consultants must be proactive to get staffed on the projects that interest them.
- Networking: Networking is important for every industry, Newman says, but it’s especially important in consulting because you must sell yourself onto projects. “There’s an expectation that you are good at networking for the sake of client readiness,” Newman says. “Plus, when you go into consulting, as you rise in the ranks, you are expected to also up-sell and cross-sell. Networking and account management are a part of that, too.”
“Many of our students start the Kelley Direct program with a number of transferable skills that are relevant to consulting. Once they have those skills, we need to translate that experience into consulting industry-specific language.”
– Birgit Newman, Associate Director of Career Coaching, Kelley Direct Online MBA Program
How to get into consulting with support from Kelley Direct
Kelley Direct provides extensive support for students who want to transition into a career in business consulting—with tailored course content focused on case interview prep, business consulting-oriented immersion experiences, professional career coaching, peer-led student groups, and hands-on support from alumni who have transitioned into careers in consulting themselves.
Professional coaching
Every Kelley Direct student has access to a team of career coaches for one-on-one support as they navigate career and networking opportunities. With the support of a career coach, students can explore industries of interest, narrow in on career goals, and prepare for case interviews—all of which contribute to becoming a business consultant.
While traditional career coaching might focus only on finding a new job or editing resumes, Kelley Direct Career Advancement & Performance Coaching focuses on growing into the type of person you need to be for the job you are seeking.
“As career coaches at Kelley Direct, we work more broadly on performance and professional development throughout a student’s career,” Newman says. “A lot of people want to make the move from individual contributor to manager, and if you want to do that well you have to understand things like how you relate to people in your communication style. Because we’re certified coaches, we can talk beyond needing to change your resume.”
Gary Tong, MBA‘24, switched from a career in engineering and manufacturing to a role at a global consulting firm after working with a Kelley Direct career coach. Tong is serving as senior vice president for AlixPartners.
“In my first two semesters with Kelley Direct, I learned frameworks to solve business problems and gained predictive analytical skills to enhance my data analysis,” Tong shares. “In both my case and job interviews, I used what I learned in the classroom to frame answers with industry specifics. Now I apply these advanced business skills in my current work on real-world consulting cases. I’m using my newly gained skills to assist C-suite executives with complex and high-value opportunities.”
Case interview preparation
If you don’t yet have experience in the consulting industry, you may not know that case interviews are part of the job application process. Case interviewing or solving a real-world business problem in an interview setting, is the most common way that consulting firms evaluate potential talent.
Case interviews require consulting candidates to analyze and solve a complex business problem, called a case study. The cases are designed to mimic the kinds of scenarios consultants work with daily—but you are expected to solve the business problem on your own without additional support from a team.
“Case interviewing is an involved process,” Newman explains. “Interviewees are given a business case that they work on, not unlike the cases that they do on campus, but it’s a one-on-one interview. There’s no team, you can’t do research, and a seasoned business consultant is the one assessing your problem-solving skills.”
To help with that preparation, Newman teaches a course specifically designed to help Kelley Direct students develop their case interview skills, Case Interview Preparation (BUKD-X 575). The rigorous course introduces case interview frameworks, helps students exercise their critical thinking skills, and helps students communicate their solutions more effectively.
“The exciting reality is that many of the students who go through the course who want to do consulting end up actually going into consulting,” says Newman. “Alumni from this course are all over the map—at BCG, AlixPartners, Deloitte Consulting, or boutique firms. There is also a fair number of alumni who go into corporate strategy, which is often likened to internal consulting.”
This was the case for Richard Trietley, an August 2023 graduate of Kelley Direct who recently received and accepted an offer in strategy consulting.
“There is no way I would’ve been able to do so without BUKD-X 575,” Trietley shares. “I had two case interviews and aced both. In fact, the open-ended style one went so well that the interviewer said it was the best-case interview he’d ever given, and my solution was so robust he’d offer me a job on the spot if he was the hiring manager. I followed your taught frameworks to a tee and practiced the Kelley cases over and over to prepare.”
Kelley Direct alumni network
Networking is important for any professional setting, but especially so in consulting. Established LinkedIn groups give Kelley Direct students and alumni the opportunity to network, look for mock interview case study partners, and see consulting job opportunities shared within the network.
“At Kelley, we have many alumni in the big consulting firms and also in boutique consulting firms, and in the Kelley Direct program, we now have a substantial alumni base in consulting,” Newman says.
Kelley Direct’s network includes more than 130,000 Kelley alumni in 50 states and 33 countries, and boasts a “culture of paying it forward,” says Newman.
Connecting with professionals in the field who are invested in helping students can give you a leg up to learn about job opportunities before they are posted online. And networking with current consultants can be a great way to learn about the industry, find out more about a firm’s culture, and identify the skills they value in candidates.
“It’s not unusual that a student reaches out to an alum on LinkedIn. They will have a conversation about the lines of work that they do or the firm that they’re working at, and sometimes the alum will offer to do a mock case with the student, which is a big-time investment. Our alumni are committed to giving back,” says Newman.
Student associations
Student associations elevate the Kelley Direct experience with quarterly meetups, guest speakers, and professional development opportunities. The Kelley Direct Student Leadership Association (KDSLA) consulting group gives Kelley Direct students interested in consulting the chance to meet with other students on the same path and network with classmates who are already in the industry. Regular speaker events bring in Kelley Direct alumni who work in consulting for ample networking and learning opportunities.
In-person experiences and immersions
While most of the Kelley Direct Online MBA program is online, some of the most impactful, memorable aspects of the degree include in-person experiences and immersions. Kelley Direct students make valuable personal connections and build skills for becoming a consultant in two required in-person courses:
Kelley On Campus (BUKD-X 503), a required intensive introduction to the Kelley Direct program and MBA coursework that’s held on Indiana University’s Bloomington campus, gives students the opportunity to work in teams to develop a solution to a business challenge faced by a real company while learning critical business concepts that address the needs of their clients.
Kelley On Location (BUKD-X 513) gives students the opportunity to dive into an industry, geographic region, or emerging challenge that’s shaping today’s business landscape. As part of Kelley On Location, students are immersed into a specific business context with a modern business topic, which allows them to gain broad and industry-specific knowledge. Kelley On Location is uniquely designed by a faculty member each year for second-year students who have completed their foundational prerequisite courses.
Kelley Direct’s global and domestic immersion experiences offer students a chance to gain real-world consulting experience. Many of the in-person immersion experiences are specifically designed for students to get real-world business experience that can be invaluable on a resume.
In these immersions, students develop their executive leadership skills, quickly adapt business knowledge, and make decisions to deliver solutions to complex challenges—while navigating unfamiliar locales and cultures. Students who participate in immersions build skills in innovative thinking and entrepreneurship, project management, and clear communication.
Newman strongly advises Kelley Direct students who are interested in consulting to participate in an immersion with a consulting focus.
“The immersion is something to add to your resume, especially if you have less work experience or not enough relevant work experience,” Newman explains.
Many of the in-person experiences give groups of Kelley Direct students the opportunity to work specifically with one or two companies in the city that they visit, completing a consulting project as a way to pair their previous business knowledge with a new understanding of the country’s culture.
In 2022, a group of Kelley Direct students traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they visited companies from a variety of industries and completed a consulting project. Students gave a presentation to a medical provider that wanted to expand not only in Brazil but also to other countries within South America. After only a few days, students offered suggestions on where the provider should expand based on factors like culture, number of doctors, and business opportunities.
Tatiana Kolovou, a teaching professor in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at the Kelley School, explains that global immersions help students gain skills like adaptability, expertise, and networking.
“All of our business professionals may have a strong acumen of business analytics, business operations, or any other of their specialty areas, but they may not have seen this in action on a different continent,” Kolovou says. “We help them learn how to ‘read the room’ when they go to a different culture and interact not only with professionals or students of their own years, but most importantly, people who are in the industry and are in a professional program.”
Looking for the best online MBA for consulting?
Because we manage every aspect of the Kelley Direct program in-house instead of outsourcing to external program managers, we can invest every tuition dollar back into the program to create experiences that are invaluable to students—including our pioneering faculty and dedicated professional, performance, and life coaching staff.
See why the best online MBA for consulting is Kelley Direct. Learn more about the Kelley Direct Online MBA today.