I am a project management consultant with PRINCE2 practitioner qualified working in the engineering sector. I would like to change sector ideally to Banking, Management Consultancy, can anyone provide me with some suggestions? Many thanks

Denny - I am not sure what you mean by project management consultant. Are you a consultant that advises clients on project management or are you working for a consultancy and you manage projects. If it is the latter, be careful as nobody is fooled by this and you should be wary of calling yourself a consultant in relation to management consultancy.Changing sectors is largely down to luck. If your current employer likes you and you have a good track record in delivery and an opportunity comes up in a different sector and the new client is happy to take someone with no sector knowledge you are fine. Doesn’t happen that often as it is seen to be very risky. There are many people (mainly project managers) who say a project manager is a project manager. I have not met a single client who was prepared to take someone on for an important project when they didn’t have experience in the sector. One way of doing it is to get on a large, multi-disciplinary project and take on more responsibility out of your own area.

Thank you for your advice Anon.

Denny,Rightly or wrongly the banking sector (my sector) is one of the strictest in demanding previous experience within the industry. Worse, we are extremely narrow-minded about sub-sector experience. There is remarkably little transfer between investment banks, retail banks and insurers. Even within insurance, Life folks and GI folks regard each other as aliens. There are some exceptions to this, but not many; IT and risk to an extent.Having no banking experience, I suggest you would find it next to impossible to enter banking consulting, at a time when many banking experienced consultants are not in work. I would suggest a few years working for a bank (if you can swing it) would set you up to make the move to consulting in due course.Given I regularly wonder why I've wasted 20 years in a male-dominated, grey-suited, basement-living world, I have to ask why you are so keen on banking and consulting?None of my family even understand what I do.

Bruv, what is it you do again?

I facilitate the implementation of change previously roadmapped as part of strategic envisioning, in way that transforms businesses into new paradigms, based on intelligent use of information technology, lean processes, customer-focussed branding and “can-do” esprit de corps.My sister tells everyone that I “sell money to banks”. My dad tells everyone I’m a pornographer.

Got a job for your Mum son?

Hi Denny,Just to offer a counterpoint to some of the other posts. I started off life as a Pharmacist working in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing. From here I moved into consulting within the Pharma and Life Sciences sectors, a mixture of technical, PM and strategic assignments. I then moved into Management Consulting with a mix of public and private sector clients predominantly in Transport. Assignments included strategy development, performance improvement and large scale project and programme management.My latest move was into an Investment Bank as a Programme Manager.It can be done, and I know a number of others who have also moved across sectors. I did undertake an MBA in addition to the PINCE2, which has certainly helped. None of my clients/employers have been overly concerned about my lack of sector specific experience.

Hi mack - would you mind telling which bank you work for? I too have an MBA and PRINCE2 and would like to shift from Telco to IBank but so far have not been successful. Thank you

Mr Cool - I'm pretty sure you are jobless, or at best doing an internship somewhere!

Actually it is both. I was recently fired from my junior analyst position for incompetence (I tried to chat up the bosses wife but failed). Thankfully my youthful looks and a forged degree certificate have been enough to persuade Tower Hamlets Council that I am only twenty-two and they have provided me with a voluntary, non-salaried internship in their Tourism Office

I'm with BNP Paribas