Consider early career in management consulting.
Prior to being a product manager I was in consulting. I wondered if it was worth it.
Managment consulting gets a bad rap, especially in product and tech circles.
Jokes abound.
(A consultant borrows your watch and tells you the time and then bills you for it)
Apart from the high billing rates, consultants get a bad rap because :
– They are not accountable for results
– They don’t “create” anything
– Reliance on fancy frameworks and powerpoints
– Sense of elitism.
All true.
I worked as a management consultant for over 15 years in boutique and Big 5 firms. I won’t get into whether they are justifiable or not. (I’ll give an MBA answer – it depends)
But in 2009 I started my product management journey, and those consulting projects really helped me in the transition. It was like a paid MBA.
How did it help?
Strategic mindset and analytical orientation
You are required to gather and synthesize information from a variety of sources and present a strategic point of view to the client. And you have to do it fast.
Industry research, market dynamics
When starting a new project, you have to quickly learn about the clients industry and the market dynamics. If you do 4 projects in a year, you can learn about 4 industries. No MBA is going to teach that.
Business customer motivations
You get to learn what is driving the motivations of B2B. What do they care? What do they fear? How they decide?
This helped me immensely as a B2B PM. When I think of personas, motivations, I always visualize my clients. I think about how they would react. Business customers are inherently risk averse. They don’t want to rock the boat. Now when I think of products, this is uppermost in my mind, how to risk proof solutions.
Executive communication
Even as a junior consultant, you will be thrust into a meeting with a client executive. I was 24 when I was in a meeting with the CFO of a public company and present a plan. You learn what is critical and get to the point without getting into detail.
Stakeholder alignment
Not only you have to align your consulting team but also the client stakeholders. You will encounter a client who disapproves of the consultants, but you still need them on your side. There is in infighting within clients. In fact, I have played arbiter and judge amongst client stakeholders.
Project management
That’s a given. You have to project manage relentlessly. Your realization rate depends on it. Realization means profitability. If you don’t manage the client engagement, you will spend more hours without getting paid, which impacts your profitability. Your bonus are tied to realization rates.
Presentation skills
You present a lot. It’s likely your primary deliverable. You learn how to present succinctly to varying audience. It becomes second nature.
Problem solving
Clients hire consultants for problem solving. Understanding the problem, finding root causes, creating options and making decisions. All valuable skills for a PM.
Influencing
One PM challenge is influencing without authority. Well, as a consultant you have to influence clients and you are not even their employee. You learn how to persuade people based on what is important to them. Negotiation is another skill you learn while influencing.
One added perk is traveling. I travelled a lot in my Big 5 days. Travel helps a ton by exposing you to situations, experiences and getting to know people and cultures.
It does take a toll on family. So I stopped.
If you are trying to break into a PM role, then consider management consulting as an interim step. Especially if you are early in your career. You will learn a ton.
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