Apologies to anyone who feels graduate questions on this forum are 'under the table' etc.. but I have a question as to the consultancy career path rather than the format of an assessment centre etc...Consultancy is marketed to us grads as an excellent start to a career with the nature and variety of the role and the exposure analysts and consultants experience early on in their careers. However, I'm curious to know from you consultants out there where they go if they want to leave the 'consultancy industry' as such, not spend ever waking hour travelling and work in industry as such. Graduate websites go on and on about how consultancy can tee you up for a prosperous career etc.. but doing what?

hi there, try checking out the Alumni sections of the firm's website to get an idea of where people go after consulting. i know that lots of management consultants move into all kinds of business, NGOs, charities, even law school and politics. William Hague was an ex-Mckinsey man. being a recent graduate myself, i can't really help more than that, however, the alumni sections have been quite useful. hope this helps, cheers, fred.

Perfectly reasonable question! :-) I can only speak from the strategy consultancy perspective, but the flippant answer is: pretty much whatever they want to do! More specifically, and I'll try to get this in approximate decreasing order, I've seen lots of people move into: corporate strategy roles (perhaps unsurprisingly), banking, corporate line/exec roles, private equity, fund management, and their own entrepreneurial ventures, plus a smattering of charities/NGOs, public sector management, civil service, and teaching. I would strongly agree that consultancy can be an excellent training for future careers, but I'd never advise anyone to do it for that reason alone, unless they also thought they would enjoy the experience itself. Life's too short (IMO).