How to get into consulting: five career routes and what they offer

Want to know how to get into consulting? You’re in the right place.

In this guide, we outline five consulting career routes you could go into and explain what they offer:

1. Management consultancy
2. Strategy consultancy
3. Recruitment and HR consultancy
4. Research consultancy
5. Technology consultancy

Management consultants advise companies how to implement strategic decisions. They also advise on how to improve an organisation’s performance and its operational efficiency.

Businesses, governments and public sector organisations all use management consultants.

Working in management consulting, you'll need to grapple with every aspect of how an organisation works – whatever sector it operates in.

Management consultancy is perfect for inquisitive minds who like thinking about how businesses work.

To thrive, you'll need to enjoy working with others and have strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Management consultancy typically offers solid starting salaries.

Some roles will involve travel (within the UK and internationally), which is a plus for some.

As management consultancy involves working on different projects, it exposes you to a variety of clients. The experience you’ll gain and training you’ll receive in an entry-level management consultancy role will help you climb the consulting career ladder.

Most management consultants will work for a consulting firm or a professional services business with a consulting department.

Some of the leading consulting employers hiring graduates include:

• PwC
• Accenture
• Deloitte
• KPMG
• EY
• Oliver Wyman

If you’d like to get into management consulting, you’ll usually need a degree and relevant transferable skills (like problem-solving and good teamworking abilities). Your degree can be in any discipline. However, studying a business-related topic (like finance, business management or business analytics) will give you an advantage. Some consulting firms look favourably on those with STEM degrees.

Taking on an internship in the sector is a popular way of gaining experience.

Look out for management consulting grad jobs and schemes, too. They’re a popular entry route into the career path.

Strategy consulting is often considered a type of management consultancy, but it’s still a specialism.

As a strategy consultant, you focus on the decisions taken at the very highest level of an organisation. For example, it’s the strategy consultants who advise a CEO on whether they should increase marketing spend or lower the company’s debt burden.

You’ll make a great strategy consultant if you’re ambitious and analytical. As the job title suggests, you’ll also need a strategic mindset.

You'll enjoy conducting meticulous research and working under pressure. There's work on different projects across sectors, so strategy consultancy appeals to those who like variety.

If you go into strategy consulting, you'll receive first-rate training and develop important transferable skills that future employers will value – whether you stay in the sector or not.

The salaries and rewards can also be appealing, particularly as you progress through your consulting career.

Two top employers in the area are:

• OC&C Strategy Consultants
• McKinsey & Company

So, you want to know how to get into strategy consulting?

Like most consulting areas, you’ll typically need at least an undergraduate degree. It’s helpful if it’s business-related, but it’s not essential if you have other relevant business-focused experience.

It’s even better if you’ve got a master’s, but again, it’s not compulsory.

Internships and grad schemes are good places to begin your strategy consulting career. As strategy consulting is usually even more competitive than management consultancy, you’ll need to make sure your applications stand out.

Some strategy consultants begin as general management consultants and then specialise in higher-level decisions once they’ve gained the relevant experience.

Recruitment consultants and human resources (HR) consultants focus on the people within a business. Employees are one of a business’s most important resources. Recruitment and HR consultants look at how to maximise their value for the company, while considering how to keep staff happy (and therefore retain them).

While recruitment consultants and HR consultants share some focus areas, they're distinct job roles.

Human resources consultants advise on pay structure, culture and internal communication.

Recruitment consultants source new employees, including temporary staff and C-suite executives. Recruitment consultants also advise organisations on their general recruitment strategies.

Both types of consultants require in-depth knowledge about the company and its industry.

HR and recruitment consulting suits those who like dealing with and meeting new people.

A lot of recruitment consultants are great networkers. If you already have a good network and enjoy growing it, recruitment consulting could be a great route for you.

HR and recruitment consultancy roles usually come with good starting salaries. In recruitment specifically, you’ll likely have the chance to earn bonuses too.

Money aside, most companies will offer training that will be valuable for building your consulting career.

Plus, the nature of your role being people-focused can be a perk. In an HR or recruitment consulting job, you’ll get to know lots of people – including influential connections.

The employers within HR and recruitment consulting that will appeal to you depends on the sector you want to specialise in. For example, do you want to advise on recruitment in finance? Or do you fancy supporting a public sector organisation in retaining its staff?

One of the top graduate schemes offered in professional services recruitment is PageGroup.

Getting into recruitment or HR consultancy is usually a little different from other consulting pathways. Again, having a degree will almost always be beneficial. However, there’s more importance placed on having experience in HR and recruitment fields.

For some roles, you’ll also need industry qualifications like SHRM and CIPD certifications in HR or one from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC).

To gain initial experience, apply for internships in HR and recruitment internships. Once you’ve got a feel for the sector, you’ll be better placed for industry placements and consulting-related grad roles.

Research consulting involves conducting specialised research on behalf of clients.

Research consultants are normally experts in a particular field (sometimes scientific).

For example, a pharmaceutical company may hire a consultant to conduct research into human biology who’ll then report back on their findings. Meanwhile, the company's in-house scientists will continue to focus on refining pharma products.

Another example is a client using the services of a marketing research consultant to produce reports so it can make informed strategy decisions.

Because you’ll need to be an expert in a particular area, research consulting is great for those who want to specialise.

As the job title suggests, you’ll need research skills. If you like digging into data, uncovering patterns and studying within your specialised area, you’ll go far.

Once you become an expert in a field, you can carve out your career path. As a specialist, you could be in demand. You might even find yourself becoming the go-to person for the press when issues come up in your area of expertise.

It can also be a rewarding role, particularly if you do scientific research.

For market research, some popular employers are:

• GfK
• Ipsos
• Kantar

If it’s scientific research you’re interested in, look out for opportunities at pharmaceutical companies and charities like:

• Cancer Research UK
• GSK

Your route into research consultancy will depend on your desired specialism.

If you want to work in market research, a degree in marketing, statistics or another related field will help you impress employers when applying for related internships, placements and grad roles. You could start in an agency role (where you’ll work on various clients) or in-house (where you’ll be part of an organisation’s internal team). It’s OK to go between the two throughout your career.

To be a scientific research consultant, you’ll need a science-related degree. For some roles, you might need a master’s or even a PhD. Getting experience in research roles is crucial here, too. Look out for science and research industrial placements to get your start in the sector.

For science, it’s also worth speaking to your university to find out if they know of any relevant research opportunities. Sometimes, they’ll have connections to pharma firms and charities.

Technology consultancy is about giving strategic advice on the implementation and growth of technology, IT systems and infrastructures used within an organisation. The aim is to help the client achieve their goals through tech.

Technology consulting suits logical graduates with good numerical skills.

While a STEM degree isn’t always a requirement, it’ll give you a good head start. Whatever you’ve studied at uni, a strong interest in technology will certainly be beneficial. It’s great if you’re an early adopter of the latest tech.

Technology consulting tends to offer good starting salaries, so you’ll be rewarded financially.

As technology is constantly changing, an IT consultant is always evolving their specialities throughout their career. So, you’ll usually receive regular training and get the chance to keep learning while you’re earning.

Working in tech also means you work at the heart of where so much of our future lies. You'll develop a coveted technical skill set, meaning you'll probably be in high demand for the rest of your career (whether that’s in consultancy or not) – and that's no bad thing.

Some top employers in technology consultancy include:

• PwC
• Accenture
• Deloitte
• KPMG
• EY
• IBM
• Capgemini

In addition, there are lots of smaller consultancies looking for specialist technology consultants.

While you don’t need a science degree to work in technology consulting, a STEM degree relating to tech (such as cybersecurity or software development) will help you break into the sector. If you haven’t studied a related subject at uni, build up your skills through your hobbies or work experience. Maybe you could join a coding society at uni or help a local charity set up an online shop.

If tech consulting sounds like a good route for you, it’s worth looking for opportunities at technology-centric organisations (eg. Google, Meta and Qubit). In tech companies, there are many exciting and diverse roles. Once you’ve gained the right tech experience, you can specialise in technology consulting roles.

Look through our listings for technology and IT jobs, internships and schemes to find your break.

There are various exciting careers in the consulting industry.

If you want to know how to get into consulting, you first need to think about what area you’d like to specialise in.

Management, strategy, recruitment and HR, research (including market and scientific) and technology consultancy are distinct areas of consulting.

Your exact route into consulting will depend on the path you want to follow. However, generally, having a degree is a good place to start. It’s then a matter of getting some entry-level experience (like an internship), so that you’ll stand out when it comes to full-time job applications.

For more advice on the different areas in the sector, including transport consultancy, visit our guide to different types of consulting.

Whatever route you go down, we wish you the best of luck climbing the consulting career ladder.