An Important Note
Career Interest Patterns are provided for two groups of management consulting experience: those with one to five years of experience and those with six to over twenty years experience. This differentiation is made because many young business professionals choose Management Consulting as an initial "platform" in their careers with the clear intention of moving on within a few years to positions as managers in operating companies or to careers in areas such as financial services. This transition usually tales place sometime within the first five years of experience at a management consulting firm. The majority of management consultants who remain in that industry for six or more years, on the other hand, are on a "partner track" and typically view management consulting as their career of choice. It is quite informative to review the differences in the BCII Career Interest Patterns of these two groups.

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The early career group contains many individuals who have basic interests in the management role and who will ultimately pursue careers as managers in operating companies. Their presence in the sample elevates the Managing People and Relationships business core function score in the pattern. The early career group also contains individuals who will later choose to pursue careers in the financial services area (venture capital, leveraged buy-out, investment banking, investment management, etc.). Their presence in the sample elevates the Quantitative Analysis business core function score in the pattern. In the interest pattern of more senior management consultants, many of those who have chosen to pursue management careers in operating companies or careers in financial services have left. As a result, the score elevations on both Managing People and Relationships and Quantitative Analysis decrease in the senior consultant group. Those who remain in the industry retain high Enterprise Control scores, but also have an interest in Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking that is much higher than that of the early career group. The interest in conceptual "big picture" problem solving emerges as a dominant feature of the career consultant, surpassing interest in actual management and in business finance.

Abbreviation	Meaning	Abbreviation	Meaning
AT	Application of Technology	CS	Counseling/Mentoring
QA	Quantitative Analysis	MP	Managing People and Relationships
TH	Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking	EC	Enterprise Control
CR	Creative Production	IN	Influence Through Language and Ideas
N	Number of sample	394

Highlights of the Early Career Management Consulting Profile:

• High interest in Enterprise Control
  
• High interest in Quantitative Analysis
  
• Moderately High interest in Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking
  
• High interest in Managing People and Relationships
  

Abbreviation	Meaning	Abbreviation	Meaning
AT	Application of Technology	CS	Counseling/Mentoring
QA	Quantitative Analysis	MP	Managing People and Relationships
TH	Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking	EC	Enterprise Control
CR	Creative Production	IN	Influence Through Language and Ideas
N	Number of sample	38
Age	Average age of sample	39

Highlights of the Senior Management Consulting BCII Career Interest Pattern:

• High interest in Enterprise Control
  
• High interest in Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking
  

Differences between the Senior Management Consultant and other Career Interest Patterns:

• The General Manager profile has lower interest in Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking and higher interest in Managing People and Relationships.
  
• The Investment Banker profile has higher interest in Quantitative Analysis and lower interest in Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking.
  
• The Entrepreneur profile has higher interest in Creative Production and lower interest in Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking.
  
• The Marketing Manager profile has moderately higher interest in Creative Production and higher interest in Influence Through Language and Ideas.
  
• The Finance Professionals in corporate settings profile has much higher interest in Quantitative Analysis and lower interest in Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking.
  
• The Production and Operations Manager profile has higher interest in Application of Technology and higher interest in Quantitative Analysis.
  
• The Strategic Planning and Business Development profile is very similar to the early career Management Consultant profile.
  

Summary: