What to do with life now? Any management consultants here?

Dr House

Dr House

Dr House

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I don't know if I should post this really or not, but I sometimes get some good advice here.

So I am 33, my wife (been together 11 years) has decided she wants a Divorce, I am not happy but I have to move on.

I have never really been in paid employment but I do have a Medical degree and I have run and owned a number of different businesses but we have come to the stage where one has been sold, the other is loss making and the other is about to be sold.

Now basically I am unemployed, without a wife and sort of home less (wife is in the house) so at the age of 33 I am living with my parents which cant go on as I don’t get along with my mum.

I am simply lost as to what to do now, I thought about doing a MBA but they are bloody expensive! I have no work experience so other than going to work as a Junior doctor I cant see my self getting a job anywhere.

I did a bit of googling and came up with the idea of becoming a management consultant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_consulting

Reading the job description it sounds right up my street so does anyone here know anything about the job? Or have any other amazing ideas?

Would I be better to do a MBA first or try and get a job and do a MBA after?
 
I started my career as one for a very large global one. Was really enjoyable, excellent work/life balance and changing of roles was appealing.

I left after two years (as money in industry was a lot more), but a lot of the soft skills I learnt was invaluable. Almost went back last year as well.

Not sure if you would be able to get into a high grade though
 
We had a few service delivery,management roles at our place. If you don't mind dealing with problems and are good at meetings and speaking to top level people to explain situation then it seems easy in many ways. The guy was always travelling between sites and having meetings with clients. Guy who got the job was doing all sorts of non related jobs jn the past so I don't think there is any strict career path to it. Well depend on the role and industry.
 
AFAIK MBA programs like to see some experience and I'm guessing as you're 33 and have run several businesses then you'd probably tick the boxes.

I can't comment any more on MBAs as I don't have one, I don't have experience of management consultancy specifically but I do have some experience/knowledge of consultancy...

The key thing is them being able to sell you and getting those billable hours in, an MBA might well help with that as far as management consultancy is concerned (it is more technical skill set, domain knowledge and experience at my place but that is professional services consultants within the fintech industry so a bit different).

The basic premis though is that you're a bod they can sell to work on X project at a client, as long as you're credible and don't make a complete mess of it then they'll be comfortable sending you on more projects and letting you have more responsibility. When you've got more experience and are taking more responsibility then the amount you're billed for goes up and your pay/bonus with it. Eventually if you want to become senior you'll turn more into a salesperson and your job then is to bring in new projects/revenue rather than actually doing or leading the consulting work.
 
Sorry to hear about your situation, I hope you can get yourself back on track.

I presume you're not keen to give doctoring another go? What stage did you get to? After so many years I couldn't imagine doing an office job now.
 
Thanks a lot to all 3 of you for posting, very helpful.

I expect to start at the bottom but problem solving and networking are the two things I am best at which is what attracted me to this sort of work.
 
tom_nieto said:
Sorry to hear about your situation, I hope you can get yourself back on track.

I presume you're not keen to give doctoring another go? What stage did you get to? After so many years I couldn't imagine doing an office job now.
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Thanks Tom.

I am not keen at all but will do it if I have to. Its not that I need the money but I need to do something with my self. I only got to FY2 so nothing really.
 
Sucks to hear that Doc :(
Seen a few of your threads/posts on the motors sub forum and admired them greatly. Hope things turn around for you :)

To help with your situation, project management is taking off massively at the moment. Was at a day at Microsoft recently where they were saying the demand is too high for the amount of good project managers available! May be something to look into?
 
skaif said:
Sucks to hear that Doc :(
Seen a few of your threads/posts on the motors sub forum and admired them greatly. Hope things turn around for you :)

To help with your situation, project management is taking off massively at the moment. Was at a day at Microsoft recently where they were saying the demand is too high for the amount of good project managers available! May be something to look into?
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Thanks, I will do some research. It sucks to be in this situation especially after I spent 4 years building our house only to move out within 6 months.

The only upside is that I will move back to Prague for the summer and spend some time meeting as many Czech girls as I can :D
 
Assuming you get through the (very) rigorous on-boarding process, you will have to start at the bottom, doing all of the grunt work. This sort of work is NOT fun or rewarding in anyway. You will probably have to report into someone younger than you.

Given your age, you will be more confident than the average 21-24 year old so will probably rise up more quickly.

it's doable, but its going to be a massive hit to the ego. Oh, and most people are arrogant douchbags that get a kick out of messing with you and will give you zero exposure unless you are 'liked' in the most superficial way possible.

If I was you, I would look for any exposure to the consultancy / change arm of regulatory/risk based area within the financial sector, because this area is absolutely booming.
 
He won't have to start at the bottom, he has experience running businesses so he'll probably be put in as a Consultant grade, rather than Junior or Graduate level. Will probably report to someone younger than you though yes, but that shouldn't be an issue.
 
How can you consult on something you've never done before? You'd not expect to jump straight in from Med school as a Consultant in a hospital for example, so is a position that allows you to effectively do just that in another field not rather stretching the definition of consultant? In non-medical settings consultant appears to be quickly becoming an abused and meaningless job title.

Frankly it would seem a huge waste not to make something of that medical degree. You have significant earning potential there and if you don't use it you kinda wasted all that time?
 
Big question, many answers possible, probably not something one can cover here. Happy to have a chat over that coffee if it helps. I am in London tomorrow and Friday, busy tomorrow but could find some time Friday, alternatively I'll be in London Wed-Fri next week. I have connections into many of the big consultancy firms so might be able to give you some food for thought if that helps?
 
[TW]Fox;27826703 said:
In non-medical settings consultant appears to be quickly becoming an abused and meaningless job title.
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Pretty much the case, consultant and management consultant both have stigmas attached to them and you really need to bring skills and knowledge, current skills and knowledge that people are willing to pay for. Until you are clear on what you bring you won't get very far. Remember, most people in business who struggle to get a new job create a consultancy to make their profile look continuous.
 
Sorry to hear what has happened must genuinely suck. I can fully understand you not wanting to go back to medicine I am the same.

You will however have skills in spades that other people won't have. The work ethic and the ability to work under pressure, the ability to deal with all manner of people, etc. These are very valuable skills that are highly transferable and relevant everywhere.

Backslick said:
I'm a VP at Accenture and what I really want is to hire a management consultant who's never had a proper job yet has a medical degree.

Jesus Christ.
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May want to re-read the OP and note his experience running businesses. :rolleyes:
 
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