A career in consulting!

[IvyBoy]

Hello everyone,

I recently obtained a position as a research associate at a top-20 consulting firm (i actually graduated recently) and I plan to continue for my Ph.D. in economics next fall. I am an international student and the company is actually sponsoring me (h1). Now, since a career in consulting is one of the options I hope to have after completing my ph.d., I am wondering if the Ph.D. is not the most efficient way to go about it. Or is a master's in econ more appropriate? I was considering an MBA, but then again, I am interested in the research aspect of consulting and the MBA is not a research degree. Please guys, I need some guidance.

Thanks.
IVYBOY!

[user_name]

It depends on what kind of consulting you were talking about. If it's economic consulting, then a PhD in econ would be ideal. If it's management consulting, you'd be better off with an MBA. I don't know much about IT consulting, but I guess that field must be dominated by computer scientists.

[IvyBoy]

If it is economic consulting, how much do you think the ranking of the institution you get your ph.d. from matters in securing a decent job at a consulting firm. Second, which subfields of economics do you think are most in demand. I am just asking out of curiosity.

[user_name]

Originally Posted by IvyBoy

If it is economic consulting, how much do you think the ranking of the institution you get your ph.d. from matters in securing a decent job at a consulting firm. Second, which subfields of economics do you think are most in demand. I am just asking out of curiosity.

I think it could actually be pretty important that you get your degree from a prestigious institution. For example, if you look at the vitas of NERA experts, the vast majority of them graduated from some top-30 institution, and many people holds degrees from Harvard, MIT, Berkeley etc.

Industrial organization is definitely the most common background for economic consultants.