Hi all,I am new to consulting and considering entering this tough “men’s world” area.Normally people would enter consulting after graduation or as experienced industry hires. In my case I’m no longer graduate but at the same time don’t have solid industry experience. My applicable experience for a consulting role would be: Master’s in Strategic Management, 6m internship in L’Oreal (headquarters), about 1.5 y of setting up and running my own small retail business. The rest of the experience I have would be irrelevant (it has more to do with arts).Could anybody give me some advise please on if I still should enter as a graduate (which feels a bit intimidating since I’m 29) or do you think there is a chance to enter as an experienced hire. Just to mention I don’t mind really to start with an entry position. Also which companies would you recommend for somebody like me to apply to? E.g. I was looking at E&Y, advisory sector. I think my areas of expertise will be mainly in retail industry, customer service and change management. Thank you.

Without knowing the detail its hard to comment, although I would suspect you have some fairly large gaps on your CV, given you are 29 and have 2yrs of working experience + 1 yr Master's.How you explain these gaps will be key at both entry and experienced level. Also be clear on what type of "consulting" you wish to work in - from the outside its easy to see it as relatively homogenous. The reality is that somebody working in SAP in 'testing' has a v.different skill setvs. somebody working in strategy etc.