Hi everybody,I have 2 years experience in project management and business strategy in medical product development and want to get into management consulting. Total work experience 3 years after a MSc.I have been finding it difficult to identify what position to apply for.eg- Applied for a consultant position in Deloitte and got rejected for no relevant experience. Have applied for a Assocaite role now?Can any of you experienced people recommend what roles should I apply for?

Because I am as bored as a pyromaniac on the day the Great Fire of London broke out after a eye operation left me tempiorarily blinded, I'll respond to this.Jas, what is 'project management' and 'business strategy' in reference to 'medical product development' exactly? I suspect Deloitte don't know hence they declined you. I suspect you don't know either. I certainly don't. Do you mean you work in product design for insulin level testing kits? Are you the one responsible for putting silver in plasters? Do you mean you are in the lab, working on a cure for cancer? Or developing service products for the NHS?If you want to get into MC your only options would be either concentrate on smaller healthcare focused firms who might see some benefit and relevance in your experience, or start from scratch and apply to the graduate intake.

Mars...No offence meant, neither am I a friend of Jas nor someone in the 'medical product development' sector...but please don't sound so cocky. The poor guy asked for some straight advice and there is no harm if you can't give any...atleast have respect for his genuine doubt!Perhaps you have not heard about the Biomedical engineering sector...check out Medtronic, Mabis, Zeiss and Siemens... all have invested billions in 'Medical product develoment'. Though its a very generic term...the meaning is quite apparent. You don't expect people to decribe their entire job portfolio in a thread...do you??? Recover well man....more importantly recover better!

Firstly- Thanks very much guys for posting.Mars A Day- understand your situation. Many jobs, too many people.Tort- Thanks for giving this a direction.By Project Management and Business strategy in product development, I meant - developing a business case to justify the market, user need, scientific backing and project plan for developing (R&D and manufacturing) a new consumer medical Product (Blood pressure monitors, Heart rate monitors, body fat analysers etc fall in this category). I am involved in monitoring the project and ensuring the development goes as per plan, also doing algorithm engineering, sourcing external skills, controlling budgets and advising direction / strategy at each development stage etc etc etc.Basically - Jack of all trades and master of none. I understand that MC is not hiring for 'growing the firm' and not interested in my soft skills and my experience is not exactly relevant in some cases, but was hoping to see if someone with similar / comaprable situation can give any advise.Yes - I understand that I can apply to a relevant job in another company /continue here but the point of posting was to see if my dynamic and varied experience could be of interest in MC. Certainly I think so - its a case of convincing the recruiter.

why specifically do you want to join an MC firm?

JasMuch better - at least we now have an understanding of what you have been doing.For the record I have not had an eye operation, rather the hypothetical pyromaniac.When you break it down your skills are relevant to MC - very much so. What may be lacking is an awareness of MC frameworks and methodologies, so perhaps a qualification in project management, TQM or whatever would help to give it some MC 'flavour', and also it would be as well to look at what you are doing and try to convey it in MC 'language'. Jack of all trades master of none is actually a common lament among MCs no matter how experienced - which does not mean you have no skills, but you have to understand them more laterally in terms of enterprise level, assurance vrs execution. A good chat with a friendly recruiter or HH - or even better an MC - would quickly enable you to rephrase what you do in a way which makes the 'fit' more apparent.As for potential destinations, first stop could be specialist healthcare or pharma market MC firms and practices, like ZS, IMS, LEK used to have a good pharma practice (still does), Capgemini etc. Also your innovations type spin on it might interest firms in that space such as Edengene or Inzenka for example.

Mars A Day- Thanks, I got the eye op bit earlier ;)You nailed it. My current role is much similar to a consultants role, the application being very specific. I managed to get a PRINCE2 under my belt last year too. I have 'applied' to various positions but I am underqualified in some and overqualified in others (grad role, out of desperation last week)I have, through networking, managed to land my CV at the recruiters at ATKearney and BearingPoint -but no relevant roles as yet.I think I need some motivation here maybe- I am struggling to to find a fit- Obviously my lack of relevant experience comes in the way of joining as a consultant, and I don't want to join as a grad after 2+ years solid experience after a MSc. The junior consultant / senior assocaite type roles that I am looking at are either not exisitng (taken by juniors in the company) or are less advertised.Need to get hold of a HH - can anybody advice any please?Mars A Day- thanks for the list, hadn't though of ZS and LEK. Will look into it.

Jas you might need to bite that bullet and go in with the grad intake. I know you have the MSc and 2 years experience, but sometimes a route in is better than none. Even grad intake is ferociously competitive, with many now joining postgrad rather than straight from their undergrad degree, and your 2 years experience will help differentiate you. Once in with a good firm you should find it straightforward to apply what you have learned from your experience so far and fast track.Yes you could keep applying for roles at consultant level, but in reality the 'junior consultant' role' you refer to is probably on the cusp of analyst/consultant and doesnt really exist as a distinct role in itself. I suspect you come across as a motivated and capable chap: put this to good use by applying at a level you CAN get in.

Thanks Mars A Day,I am more and more tending to agree with you as each day passes and I face the situation that the roles at the cusp of analyst/consultant don't really exist.Funny enough- Most people I have spoken to think I have good 'soft skills', although that is not enough.Crisis time- Need to go back to ground zero i.e. back to CV to check if it is truly communicating so.Thanks very much. All the information is extremely useful.

JasDon't tweak your CV - people tend to do this and what happens is that one leads to tweak ad infinitum and the message gets lost because you lose objectivity.If your CV needs a re-write start from scratch and remember the drill: problem/your contribution/solution/outcome for each project or piece of work.

Jas, depending on where you see your career going you might want to look at PA Consulting.PA has a large (and successful) practice focussed amongst other things on medical product development and innovation - for more info see the "technology and innovation" section on paconsulting.com PA might provide you with a good segway into Consultancy whilst enabling you to build on your existing skills. From what you put in your post, entry point to an Analyst grade or Consultant Analyst (at a push) might be achievable.Good luck.

Mars A Day- I have experienced the same. I went about changing my CV and after a week comapred where I started and finished- the result was surprising in a good and bad way.PA Lurker- thanks a lot for the information. PA Consulting is definitely on the list. You know PA's involvement well enough. Would appreciate if I can get to speak to someone about my interest internally. Tried taking the HR route and ended in sheer dissapointment. No wonder the folks refuse to entertain, given that they deal with a few hundred of us each day.

PA Lurker - if I'd known PA provided Segways for its staff I'd have applied long ago. In this in lieu of a season ticket loan and car allowance?

DVD - nice one. Yet another value-adding insightful contribution to a serious question/response.We are all grateful you took time out of running a FTSE 100 company to contribute.

I'm sorry. In future all my posts will be serious in intent but will contain amusing spelling errors / malapropisms.

DCF - just useful would do.

Segways - seriously? That's cool.Sure, we can talk about careers and strategies all night but Segways, though a stupid contraption (worse even that my C5), are more interesting that process engineering and flow charts.