Good Afternoon,I am to start my graduate position at KPMG (regional office) in October. The position is for Management Consulting - Operational Transformation. I understand that KPMG is not a top tier Advisory firm, especially with regards to Strategy. My question is regarding my potential options following my CIMA qualification.Having been a regular lurker here for a few months now, I've come to realise details are pertinent to an honest response!My background is in Biological Chemistry (Aston University) achieving a 2:1, I then completed the Graduate Diploma in Law. My hope is to move into Strategy Consulting following my CIMA qualification, although I'm not expecting to be poached from the top tier firm due to my less than stellar (although adequate) education. Is the move to Strategy Consulting a fairly straightforward process moving from OT?I am also prepared to move into the City if this is likely to improve my chances, and of course I understand that client work, opportunities and my ability to network will have an impact on which doors will open for me.I appreciate any information and look forward to your (brutally) honest responses.

I don’t know much about KPMG OT, but here are a few general thoughts.Points to consider:1. Looking for your exit before you even started isn’t necessarily a good thing. Make sure you make the best of your new role. Don’t take it for granted. Operational consulting is not a bad thing.2. Pure strategy consulting roles aren’t as common as you may think. Reality is that a lot of strategy consultants are doing both strategy and ops work. This isn’t a bad thing, especially if you’re working on operational strategy. A lot of the strategy consulting skill set can be developed here.3. I doubt the CIMA will help much. In fact I think it’s a very minor part of your profile that would help you get into strategy consulting. 4. I think for you, the key to moving into more strategy work or another firm is building a portfolio of engagements that align to a strategy consulting. It’s better to say you have delivered X number of engagements that required Y type of capability and produced Z client outcomes that are all relevant to strategy consulting. This is much better than saying you have a CIMA designation. You really need to understand what type of skill sets make a good strategy consultant (at the junior level)... e.g. if you’ve only done pure accounting work or say project management work, this won’t cut it. That being said, you could:1. Stay in KPMG and look for strategy work or groups (which may mean moving to the City) later on.2. Look for non-MBB strategy firms, but you better have a strong profile (e.g. superstar at KPMG) and history of projects as they’re aren’t easy to get into

Thank you for that information.My apologies, I wasn't clear with regards to the CIMA qualification information, I'm aware that this isn't something that would open strategy doors for me, instead it was reference as to the time frame. I'd like to complete this qualification and after the 3 year course, look at my options again.I'm definitely looking forward to OT, I was just wondering if the option to move into strategy was still available with the skillset I'd (hope to) gain over the next few years. Having said that, the option to do both strategy and ops work is something I'd like.Again, thanks for the response.