Making the move into management consultancy – advice for procurement and supply chain candidates
Pod Talent are a global recruitment specialist in procurement and supply chain and the preferred talent partner for some of the world’s most exciting brands, big and small. And whilst we cover every industry, we do a lot of work in the management consultancy space.
When we speak to candidates regarding vacancies in consulting, candidates are usually interested but don’t know how to break into consulting – or weren’t even aware that roles in procurement or supply chain even existed in this space. We sat down with one of our Associate Directors – Declan McElroy to find out a little more about consultancy and how procurement and supply chain professionals can make a move into this area.
What’s your role at Pod?
I’m Declan, an Associate Director at Pod Talent and I oversee our Procurement practice and I’m part of our Senior Leadership Team. I’ve been working in procurement and supply chain recruitment for nearly 13 years now – and over half of that time has been devoted to recruitment within the Management Consultancy space.
So, what are Management Consultancies and what do they do?
Management Consultancies are specialist firms that work with companies to help solve complex business problems, make them more efficient (or cost effective) and ultimately perform better. They do this by analysing a company’s current challenges (and opportunities) before designing and implementing solutions to drive efficiencies and improve performance. There are a lot of different types of consultancies!
Sounds interesting! What are the different types of consultancies?
Okay, so you have Strategy Consulting firms – these consultancies do a lot of the “blue sky thinking” and work with companies on a higher level to help design a corporate strategy or redesign a business model for example. They do more of the front-end piece and less of the actual implementation. You have Operational Consulting. These firms work with companies to find solutions to their day-to-day challenges. This can be anything from a production process, cost reduction, restructuring their operations or full supply chain management. Then you have Technology Consulting – these firms specialise in digital transformation and implementing the technology systems that businesses need to help them achieve their corporate strategies and day-to-day goals. You’ve also got Financial Advisory – or Professional Services firms. These consultancies work with companies on things like corporate finance, M&A, risk and accounting. And there are also Boutique Consultancies – these are consultancies that are highly specialist and have a particular expertise within a specific industry or business function for example. This is by no means an exhaustive list and It’s worth noting – there is a lot of cross over in this space and most consultancies cover a lot of different areas – especially the bigger firms.
So how do procurement and supply candidates fit into this?
Okay, lets take Boutique Consultancies as an example – there are specialist procurement and supply chain management consultancies that focus solely on these areas. A procurement consultancy might work with businesses to help them transform their procurement process or go into a business to run specific procurement projects on a particular category or spend area. Supply chain consultancies will look at all areas of the plan, source, make, deliver model – working with complex FMCG or Food businesses on improving their entire value chain from manufacturing, planning, logistics and procurement. These consultancies actively look to recruit procurement and supply chain professionals with deep technical knowledge in one (or all) of these areas. Having employees with backgrounds in procurement and supply chain gives the consultancies credibility and allows them to work with their clients through shared experiences and deep functional knowledge.
Sounds like there’s quite a few roles in consultancy for procurement and supply chain professionals, but the big question we always get is how do these candidates go about making a move into consultancy?
This can vary depending on the level and experience of the candidates but it’s relatively similar to making a move into any other industry. Consultancies regularly advertise vacancies or use the support of recruitment agencies like Pod to help them hire. The title of their roles will be slightly different and based on level – so you won’t typically see a Procurement or Supply Chain Manager. Instead, you might see an Analyst, Consultant or Management Consultant title at the junior to mid-level and Senior Manager, Director or Partner and the higher level.
Do your research – as I said, there are so many consultancies in the market it’s good practice to have a look at what consultancies you’re interested in. When you find one, be proactive and reach out to someone on LinkedIn or through their website – or speak to a recruiter who works in this space. Consultancies can look to recruit quite quickly as they might win a new client which requires additional headcount, so they’re more likely to be up for a coffee/chat if a good candidate gets in touch. Most consultants also like to network so take the time to attend consulting networking events or industry talks. If your current company is using a consultancy, speak to one of their consultants and ask for their advice. From my experience, it’s not difficult for good procurement and supply chain candidates to get interviews with these consultancies – the challenge is being successful in the interview process!
You’ve raised a couple of things we should unpack – let’s start with the level and experience of the candidates and how that effects their ability to move into consultancy
Like any industry, as you become more experienced in management consultancy, your role evolves and you gain additional responsibilities. The difference with consulting is that it’s very difficult to gain this experience without already working at a consultancy – so it can be challenging for more experienced procurement and supply chain professionals to make a move into a Senior Manager or Director level role.
If you break down what a Director might be doing in a management consultancy it makes more sense. They’ll be the main point of contact for one or more client engagements – designing the strategy, overseeing project delivery with their team and getting involved in business development and sales activity to bring in more clients for their specific function or practice area. If you haven’t worked in a consultancy before you won’t have a track record of business development or sales and this can be the main blocker – even for extremely impressive candidates already at a Director or Head Of level in their respective industries. Most Directors will have a sales target (typically in the millions) – it can be too much of a risk to bring industry candidates in at this level. It’s not impossible - especially in the boutique consultancies - but the ability to sell will need to be evident at interview.
Okay so that’s a nice segway into my second question. You mentioned that the interview seemed to be the main stumbling block for candidates. What does it typically entail and what are the interviewers looking for?
The interview process is usually 2-3 stages up to Manager level and can be more at Director and above. The technical procurement and supply chain knowledge is a non-negotiable and will be assessed similar to industry roles through CV run through and technical interview. But the competency interview is looking for slightly different skills and attributes:
- Process improvement and/or transformation – consultants are there to provide solutions and help their clients improve their performance. It’s not enough just to run through the savings you achieved or how much you improved the accuracy of your forecasting model, consultancies are looking for candidates who can demonstrate the experience and ability to identify challenges and blockers, proactively design solutions to improve these processes and ultimately transform their function’s ways of working
- Stakeholder management and communication style – stakeholder management will come up in any procurement or supply chain interview but for consultancy it’s even more relevant. Companies pay big money for consultants to come in, so they need consultants who are excellent communicators capable of breaking down complex issues into easy to understand problems. They need to be credible around their functional specialism and be confident when presenting or working with C-Suite level stakeholders. They also need to be comfortable pushing back and helping clients to see their point of view
- Ability to solve problems – consultancies want candidates who are naturally inquisitive and analytical. They want candidates who will question the way procurement/supply chain is being run and look at the finer details to identify opportunities. They want to see how candidates approach challenges and design solutions in their current roles
- Motivations for joining a consultancy – consultancy isn’t for everyone. Typically, you will travel more in a consultancy role, you’ll work to strict deadlines with demanding clients and your role is different in a consultancy. In industry you have control over the procurement or supply chain process and you’ll get to see the project through from start to finish. You won’t always have that in a consulting role and might just get the opportunity to work on one specific area of the process. This can become frustrating for some candidates – so it’s important to be sure about why you want to work in consultancy and be able to articulate that in your answers
The other common processes you are likely to complete when interviewing for a consultancy role are numerical/verbal reasoning tests – typically more for junior roles such as Analyst and Consultant level. And a case study.
The case study can vary quite a bit and is down to personal preference within the consultancies. Typically, you will get a problem associated to your specific functional area and dummy information to help with your assessment. You’ll have time to prepare and then will be asked to present back to the interviewers as if they were the client. Other times you might get a problem which has nothing to do with your area of expertise. In both cases, the consultancies are looking for something similar. They want to see how you approach a problem, break it down, think on your feet and come up with a solution. It doesn’t matter if the outcome is the same but if you are able to demonstrate a credible answer and able to articulate it clearly to the “client” that is more important.
That does seem different to a lot of industry style interviews, I’m sure candidates will find it very useful! Anything else you think would be helpful for candidates to know?
I think consultancy is a great industry for procurement and supply chain candidates to get into. Maybe I’m biased, but their skills and experience naturally lend themselves well to what consultancies look for, so it can be an easy transition. Also, from a career point of view, candidates with a consultancy background can be attractive to future employers and don’t forget, management consultancy can be a very high paying industry. If you take all these and factor in the opportunity to work with some of the world’s most interesting companies on their complex business problems, it’s a great industry to get into!
If you are interested in making a move into management consultancy and want some advice on how to do it or find out about the consultancy roles we’re working on – get in touch with Declan now at declan@pod-talent.com