I am hoping to move from industry (9 years Finance experience in FMCG/Pharmaceuticals) to Strategy Consulting. I am 31 years old.It is my understanding that an MBA is key in order to progress within a major Strategy Consulting (SC) firm.What are the pro's and con's of:A) obtaining the MBA first, and then applying to major SC firm;B) applying to major SC firm first, and then leaving after 2/3 years to do an MBA.My major concerns are:A) my age: will it be too late to do MBA 2/3 years from now?B) my chances of getting into top MBA programme before/after having experience in major SC firm.I would appreciate your input on any of the above queries/concerns.

I dont think the MBA is key but it helps - and is a good way to get your foot in the door - particularly if you lack enough experience - although you sound as though you have a fair bit of experience that some firms might be interested in.Personally I found the MBA was helpful but I value my consulting experience more highly these days - my MBA course had a range of ages 20's 30's 40's 50's - I think thats fairly normal. Age 31 or 34 would be fairly average perhaps marginally over at BS.Note they are not the exclusive preserve of 20-something wannabe consultants and in fact many people argue that its best to do an MBA when you have experience to relate it to. SC would help you get into a top school, but only to some extent - high GMAT score would probably be more desireable to them.That said if you had a role with a top SC firm you might not want to leave and do an MBA. They would be able to advise you best - once inside - as indeed would a BS about getting into an SC firm. If you do an MBA try and get into a decent school (look at the FT rankings). Also bear in mind that now is a good recruitment market in consulting, whereas 3 years down the line it might not be (who knows for sure?). Might be an idea to test the market and see what the feedback is. Given the choice Id take a job at BCG over a place at LBS but each to their own.

hardhat, thank you for your excellent perspective/advice.Testing the SC market first (as you suggested) seems like the right next step. If not successful, then I will consider plan B - pursuing the MBA route. I'm considering writing the GMAT first - hopefully a good score will help in both instances and will also ensure that I'm ready to implement plan B quite quickly!

OK. Glad it was of some help.Look into the GMAT before sitting it if you have time. You might well be able to get a slightly better score if you take some practice questions first and get an idea of what it entails. We even had people that had paid for 'GMAT tutors' ahead of sitting it, but I reckon that is a bit OTT and potentially very expensive.