I am a recent graduate from a engineering undergraduate degree and thinking of getting into management consultancy. But I am a bit concerned with my lack of experience in any particular industry or function and wonder how much in-depth industry knowledge can a consultancy job offer for a fresh graduate (as what I understand is a lot of experienced consultants come from the industry they specialized in). And whether this will become a problem in my career in the long term. So I am weighting up between 2 options: 1. Apply for a consultancy firm straight away or 2. Apply for an engineering firm so to gain more exposure & in-depth industry and product knowledge first for a couple of years before I go for a consultancy role. I will really appreciate if someone can provide some advices/insight into this. Cheers!!

Hi James, consultants tend to be generalists at the start of their career and then focus in on a specific industry or area of expertise as they become more senior and experienced. So, I don't think you need to worry too much about getting in-depth experience in a particular field at this stage. In fact, many consultancies actually prefer to recruit grads that don't have any 'baggage' or 'bad habits' that they may have picked up elsewhere... so that would certainly go in your favour. Good luck!