I have a diverse backgound of education, training and experience (Electrical Engineering, MBA and Officer in the Navy). Now I am looking for a new challenge and the diversity and challenges of consultancy interest me. What are the levels of entry, what opportunities may exist for someone from a diverse backgound.

many people come from a diverse background. Consulting is a diverse industry. 1) what position do you have and in what sector 2) how old are you 3) what 'consulting do you want to do

I had an interview a couple of weeks ago where the interviewer was an ex-naval officer and left three years prior to move to a PMO consultant role in Central Government. I think you'd need to capitalise on the management (probably look to ops management) side of your background and use this to emphasise your abilities to work in a pressured environment etc.

MD, go the Officers Association on Pall Mall - they have a network of ex-military people working in industry, and quite a few in Consulting. They can give you contact details of people to talk to about what type on consulting you wish to do, which companies are looking, how to market yourself and, who knows, may be able to get you a foot in the door for that vital first interview. Good luck!

Thankyou all for your rapid responses. I am 29 and have just left the Navy as a Lieutenant (not quite a Greenie Admiral). I obviously spent a great deal of time within the Public Sector and also interfaced with the Communications Industry. I admit to being ignorant of many of the fields of consulting, hence I am searching for information from many sources. I became interested in pursuing consultancy when many of my peers (from the MBA) were consultants. I was impressed by their experiences and the diverse challenges. My great desire would be to align my technical training and experience with my business savvy. I will also take Greenie Admiral's advice - thanks

MD You are in a similar position to many service leavers, and one I found myself in a short while ago. What I would say is that you probably can make the transition, and the options are still fiarly open to you - consultancy is a large area of business and roles do vary. You need to work out 'what you see yourself doing', and how this matches to your skill set, from there it is possible to work out which consultancies might interest you, and also to make some practical decisions - geography, pay, life style. I'm very pleased with where I ended up - by a combination of planning and luck - I'd be happy to chat about it, if it would help.