Dear allI would appreciate your opinions on my problem. I am trying to get into MC. I am a postgraduate with an MSc (1) in Marketing Management, fluent German, Russian and 3 years sales experience.My BA however, was in humanities (English Literature, 2,1) and unfortunately both my unis are not Oxbridge.In my MSc studies my humanities background was an advantage because I did have a somewhat different perspective and didn't rely only on "frameworks."Is this valid for consultancy?My questions are:1) is there any chance to get into the top tier firms?2) If not, does it make sense to start lower?3) What is the more valuable selling point, languages or work experience? Granted, it was telesales to a large extent, but it did teach me a lot about how to negotiate, sell, persuade etc.Thank you very much

1) Not really (due to the economic environment and work experience more than the academic background/intellect I should mention)2) Yes, definitely, start in either a good but less well-known firm or in a back-office position in a top firm, and as you prove your abilities in consulting and as the economy picks up you will have more opportunities to move on and up.3) The work experience, although it isn't a great selling point, does at least show you have enough about yourself to work in a business environment and hold down a job. In reality, unless you are working in the trenches with a German or Russian company, the project team will be international and will revert to English as the business language. The language skills are a nice add-on to impress clients by greeting them in their native language but even when you're conducting interviews with them, they'll tend to slip back into English.

Linguist, Thank you very much for your response. Are you from a similar acad. background?I was also wondering how easy/possible at all is it to move from 2nd tier consultancy firms to 1st or into the industry, there seems to be a lot of almost "class" thinking in this forum. Does it happen that people from Capgemini or Acn move into McK? or for that matter into the industry.My initial interest in consulting was not only money (believe it or not) but the chance to see various industries within a short period. From many comment in this forum I gather that many regard consulting as a hollow job title that is "nothing tangible" on your CV. Do you have any comments on that?I would also appreciate other opinions. Thank you