What does a career in management consulting look like?
What does management consulting actually involve and what can university students do now to prepare for a career in the field?
Arjun Kang and Josh Robins from Nous Group discuss careers in management consulting at St Catherine’s Curtin.
At a recent Campus to Corporate session at St Catherine’s Curtin, Arjun Kang and Josh Robins from Nous Group spoke about the projects that consultants work on, the different pathways into the profession and the capabilities worth developing while at university.
Session chair Lara Seidenabel with Nous Group consultants Arjun Kang and Josh Robins.
The conversation was chaired by Lara Seidenabel, an exchange student from WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany, who has a strong interest in consulting and has completed two internships with Deloitte.
Becoming a ‘T-shaped’ professional
Arjun and Josh introduced the idea of becoming a “T-shaped” professional. The horizontal part of the T represents breadth: being able to work across different disciplines, people and problems. The vertical part represents depth: developing strong expertise in a particular area. That balance is especially valuable in consulting, where people may move between industries and projects while still drawing on specialist knowledge and experience.
There is no single pathway into consulting
Arjun’s background spans technology, business and social impact. A UWA graduate in Business Law, Philosophy and Information Technology, his work includes digital transformation, data governance, stakeholder engagement and strategy, particularly supporting non-profit and community organisations.
Josh is a Consultant and registered Organisational Psychologist specialising in psychological safety, leadership and team development. His experience includes workforce planning, leadership assessment, onboarding and research into assessment, selection and the use of generative AI.
Together, their experience illustrated the range of pathways into consulting.
What can you start building at university?
Much of the discussion focused on how students can prepare now for a career in consulting. Arjun and Josh spoke about communication, curiosity, problem solving, working across disciplines and gaining experience beyond the classroom. For students early in their degree, there is no expectation to have everything mapped out. Building relevant skills, experience and expertise over time is part of the process.
A student perspective
Daniel reflects on the ideas that resonated with him from the session, including becoming a T-shaped professional and the value of asking people already working in the industry what is worth focusing on now.
Campus to Corporate brings students into direct conversation with people working in the fields they are considering, with the opportunity to ask practical questions about entering the profession.
Explore Campus to Corporate
Explore more Campus to Corporate conversations. Read From Campus to Corporate with Ellaby Hansen (Fr 2020), where a discussion on MedTech careers covered research placements, internships and pathways from university into industry.