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Advice for a paralegal looking to move into Consulting

by | Jan 3, 2013 | Business, career, career path, consulting, management consulting, professional advice, transition | 0 comments

The email below is from a relatively recent college grad who currently works as a paralegal at a large law firm, but strongly desires to make a transition into management consulting. One complication for him is that he’s only been in his current job for about 6 months and isn’t sure how making a jump so soon into his job will affect the way that consulting firms will look at him.

Tough situation, right? Check out the text below to see the advice that I shared with him.

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JH wrote:

Hi Marquis,


I’ve graduated from the U. Va. in 2011. Then, I’ve interned in Congress for less than a year and got a job at a big law firm in Washington, DC in June 2012. Although I have been very gracious with this opportunity and learned a great deal through this job, I recently found my new passion in consulting, especially in management consulting. Through researching online, which is how I found you, and practicing case reviews, my interest in consulting has only grown.

I like my current job, but there are two factors I don’t like. First, my job is not really dynamic, what I do here is rather consistent with a few variant projects depending on attorneys. Second, I was initially shocked how the line is clearly drawn between attorneys and non-attorneys in terms of treatment. Last night, all the attorneys went to a big conference room in our firm and watched the election all day long socializing, but it was attorneys only. Attorneys mostly get along with themselves, and I seem to be out here by myself. No matter what and how well I do here, I won’t be an attorney unless I go to law school, which I don’t plan to do. I believe that a consulting job will fulfill these factors — fast-paced, dynamic projects, and teamwork.

I am concerned, however, if this is way too early to move on. My current job is actually my first full-time job out of college, and it has been only 5-6 months. I am not sure how that would reflect on my resume and leave a bad impression on people in this law firm. Thank you for reading my e-mail, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Regards,

JH

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My response:

Hi JH,

Thanks for reaching out to me with your question. If you’ve read through any of my past blog entries, you’ll know that it can sometimes take a while for me to respond to emails because of my busy schedule. I hope this message gets to you in time to be useful.

Your desire to move into management consulting isn’t unique for people at your career stage and I’m a big fan of people starting off their careers in business as a consultant. It really is the best learning lab that there is for business and having that as a professional foundation is never a bad thing. Plus, if you have any aspirations to attend business school, an undergrad degree from a great institution and a stint as a consultant are great components of an application.

As I read through your email, I saw 2 questions embedded in it, so I’ll address both of them separately:

  1. Do you have a chance to get into a management consulting firm? –> Based on what you’ve told me, I think you might have a good shot, but I must admit that your email doesn’t give me a lot to work from. You earned an undergrad degree from a top-tier university, which is a huge plus in your favor. Also, you scored an internship in Congress and a job at a large DC law firm, both of which were likely very competitive opportunities…that should also work in your favor. Unfortunately, as many young people have learned, those kind of pluses can sometimes not be enough in the current job market. I do believe that you’ve got a good starting point though.


    One thing that might help your chances of getting into a top firm is taking the GMAT or LSAT and earning a top score. Nowadays, with so many people trying to get into consulting, all of the firms are receiving tons of applications. One of the best way to differentiate the stars from a pool of candidates is to look at data and sparkling GMAT and/or LSAT are GREAT data points that can make you look like the kind of person that should be invited to interview. If that happens, your current case prep work should help you to be a rockstar in the interview process.

    Check out some of my past blog entries for more information for applying as an experienced hire. This is a topic that I’ve covered at length a few times before and you might get some insight from those old entries.

  2. Is now the right time to leave your job to make a run at consulting? –> In my opinion, NO. To be honest, as someone in his first job out of college, you shouldn’t be looking to make a jump after a few months, no matter how much you want to get out of there. Unless you get laid off, my recommendation is to spend at least 24 months in that role if you can and, if that’s too much, aim for something in the 12-18 month window before leaving. Jumping ship any earlier than that can give off the impression that you’re not dependable and can’t be counted on to stick around in a future role, which is something that can stick with you for years until you get into a job that you keep for an extended period. In this economy, the last thing you want to be seen as is a job hopper. I know that you’re not excited about your current job as a paralegal, but, for your own sake, try to stick it out a while longer. Unless you’re going to make the jump from that job into graduate school, then you’d be doing yourself a disservice by starting off your professional career with a really short stint in your first job.
My comments above probably aren’t the kind of thing you were hoping to see, but I wanted to give you my honest read on things. Try to keep your head up and know that more exciting work is waiting for you in the future. Good luck!

Marquis