Hi all,I'd like to ask for some advise from some of the people on this forum on pursuing a career in a consultancy. After 10 years in the Aerospace & Defence industry, working on some fantastic and lucrative projects, it is time for me to move on and use my skills in a more consultive role. There are loads of projects/pgrammes that consultancies have or bidding for contracts in the A&D industry, and I'd feel with my background I'm able to bring a more to the party. I've contacted PA, who have given me a telephone interview. Not sure who else is in the marketplace. Cheers.

I had a similar query, what makes the difference of working in a consultancy firm

Variety, diversity and more client focus for starters. I've worked for companies which inhibit those values that I feel that consultancies can offer. Maybe consultancies are not environments that I would like to transition into, but one thing is for sure, the knowledge and experience would substantially benefit consultancies who strive for new business and niches in marketplaces. Maybe consultancies are not for me, maybe what I am searching for is not in consultancies, or maybe that consultancies are not what they say they are and deliver. Its worth exploring nontheless, right? After all, I am my own critic. Anyway, I'm after constructive advice not smart-ars comments. Thanks all the same.

Did i miss something on this thread?Who gave a smart ass comment?

It came across as one. Anyway, don't want to dwell on this point. Seeking constuctive advise, please.

Um... Maybe if everyone skips the 3rd post then we can all be happy?

Korn,I think the majority of people on this forum will give you constructive feedback. I have found it to be extremely heplful, sometimes brutally honest, but always in a well meaning way!With the upmost respect, maybe telling the only person who replied to you that they gave a smart ass comment wasn't the best thing to do. People will only ever help if they think it will be greatfully recieved.I'm just trying to be helpful.

Don't get me wrong Confused! I'm not branding everyone on here as "smart-ars". I've been following the comments from all the threads and they are useful, given insight into consultancies, proactive and constructive. Based on this I posted my side and asked for advise. Maybe this thread has turned slightly hostile, that was not the intent. Hope we can move on. The good news is that I have approached some consultancies and the feedback is positive. Have an interview with PA and Accenture.

Korn,You can't take anything too seriously on this site. Access is neither controlled nor moderated.Any one and indeed this includes 'little Johnny down the lane' can post here.HOWEVER, occasionally there is a nugget that rings true and therein lies the rub.For me the following holds true. You can either be a bought-in body-shop style 'consultant' or you can be bought for a particular skill that a company might want to buy but not own.You sound like you might be in the second category. In which case you should investigate which consultancies serve this market.PA have signed up Mike Jackson recently but who knows if this will result in the type of activitiy that you are looking for. But then again (and here is the second truth) if you truly have the capability to succeed here then you'll make your own opportunity no matter where you go.Korn...obviously not though

Thanks Korn! :)Other than PA and Accenture, are there any other consultancies that you can recommend that may benefit from my experience?Just so you know, over the past 2 years I've steered away from a pure engineering role and currently a PM/BA for implementing an ERP s/w to the global org. The opportunity has given me an insight into IT, Finance (what a minefield!!), Business Processes, Stakeholder management etc. Still learning, which is great, but (and yes there is a but) I feel that I'm now at that stage its time for me to move onto something more challenging that manufacturing companies cannot offer.

Indeed there are, In fact it should be remembered that both the Aerospace and defense market, although the later is shrinking especially in Europe is a relatively untapped market for consultancies. I myself did 5 years in a large defense company and decided to make the jump over to consultancy. Im in one of the big 5 and to be honest im being utilised constantly for Business Development work. Its a real biggy at the moment. Im more commercial focused i.e. procurement. though

That's comforting to hear someone has made that transition :)I've got to attend an assessment day with PA. Its been awhile since I've been to one of these, any advise would be appreciated?Yet to hear from Accn. Any other recommended companies?

There was a few aviation consultancies named in this week’s Economist (which you can read online if you can’t be bothered to get one). I know that’s not what you asked for, but I don’t know how much crossover there is in these industries.

Didn't get the chance to read the list of aviation consultancies in the Economist :(ACCN got back to me and they feel 'my skills are not suitable for any positions at the moment'. Applied to Detica, they too felt the same. Two rejections is hard to swallow, hoping PA and EDS don't do the same! I'm being optimistic. Spoke to a friend in ACCN and he couldn't believe that they rejected me. Based on my 10year industrial experience, exposed to all facets of product lifecycle, of which, 4 years as a Project Manager. The last two as a PM on a global SAP implementation. (shrugs)Just don't know where I am going wrong.

Just be persistent.

Yeah, we’ve gathered you’ve got lots of experience, just run a spelling check before clicking ‘Submit’.

Just a quick update. Had interviews with some consultancies (EDS, PA and Detica). PA and Detica have informed me they are not going to take my application further :(

Where do you currently work? A&D Industry, e.g. BAE Systems or similar?What was the EDS interview like? What are they offering? I know they have A&D clients.

Yes, similar to BAe Systems. The interview was very relaxed. Questions like: Where you would like to be in 5 years? Describe were you have shown improvements in a project? How many people have you managed? Project budgets?..

Another update. EDS have just informed me that they too will not be taking my application any further :(I'm totally, totally gutted. The only constructive feedback I got (which was from PA) the only reason why my application did not proceed was because of my reasoning test scores, which just fell short of what they were expecting.Understandable, last time I did such tests was over a decade ago, but I did practice before I did them with PA, EDS and Accenture. The only learning point taken away from this is that I need to improve on my reasoning tests. Surely this isn't the sole reason(s)?