Nurse Thinking About Management Consulting

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I have been an RN for 5 years in a large hospital system and currently completing an NP/PhD program.

After graduation, I was thinking about management consulting as a possible career to get insight into hospital CEO/CNO/COO roles. My goal is to be involved in hospital administration/systems/strategy and hopefully one day become a C-level exec so I can make a larger impact on a systems level.

I have been invited for on campus interviews for McKinsey & Co. and Boston Consulting Group in about 3-4 months.

1. Is this a feasible transition? RN>>Management Consulting>>Hospital Administration

2. Does anyone have experience working for management consulting firm as a health care provider?

3. Any general advice on how to be successful?

Thanks, I appreciate any feedback!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

The Nurse management consultants I know all have extensive experience in actual hands-on management/leadership, including roles at the strategic operational level.

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Hi HouTx,

I am not interviewing for a "nurse consultant" position, but rather, a "general associate/analyst" in a 'management consulting firm' (other interviewees are advance degree holders: PhD, MBA, JD, MD).

The firms already reviewed my resume and invited me for the typical 3-round case interview process.

But thanks for the reply, I appreciate your feedback on "nurse consultants".

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The Nurse management consultants I know all have extensive experience in actual hands-on management/leadership, including roles at the strategic operational level.

Ditto. I believe the point HouTx is making is that, even if hired into an "associate/analyst" position in a management consulting firm, you're not likely to move up into an actual consultant role without some significant amount of real-life nursing management experience.

Likewise, you're not likely to be able to parlay your experience with a consulting firm into an actual management position in a healthcare organization (without the aforementioned experience). Every nursing manager/administrator/executive I've known (and I was a hospital surveyor for my state and CMS for several years, so I went into every hospital in the state, and knew the nurse executives (and other "C-suite" executives) in all of them, in addition to having served in leadership clinical roles in a number of different medical centers in several different states over the years) worked her or his way up "through the ranks" in clinical settings.

I'm curious about why, if your goal is nursing administration, you are pursuing an NP degree rather than a management/leadership degree.

In any case, best wishes for your journey!

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Hi ElkPark,

I think you may have misinterpreted my post.

My resume has already been reviewed by the firms and I have been invited to interview for a consultant position. There is no health care experience necessary nor business experience for those firms (just a PhD, MD, JD, or MBA degree is required for associate, bachelor's for analysts http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/faqs/phds). But thanks for your input!

To answer your question about not wanting to go into to a clinical practice role or faculty position after I graduate in May, I want to explore other career options in health care that may be a better fit for my skill set and have a large systems impact.

Actually, the consulting to administration track was really a suggestion by my personal mentor who is a COO at a large hospital system. She just thought it was a good option for me to explore as well as possibly get an MBA in the future. I'm in my mid-twenties and still at the beginning of my career and would love any insight from anyone who has transitioned from nursing into management consulting regarding possible exit opportunities in health care.

Thanks for the replies!

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

If there is not health care or management experience needed- then what exactly does the job entail? I think leaving the hospital environment, and then expecting to transition into a c-suite position is engaging in magical thinking.

One progresses up the ranks (unit manager>> director>> administration) in the world of hospitals. One does not just appear on the scene with a PhD and 'consulting experience' and 'become' a CNO/COO/CEO.

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To answer your question about not wanting to go into to a clinical practice role or faculty position after I graduate in May, I want to explore other career options in health care that may be a better fit for my skill set and have a large systems impact.

I think your post was pretty clear about your professional goals and that I understood what you were asking. However, I'm still curious about why, when you state quite clearly that your goal is to move into administration, you're pursuing a graduate degree that prepares you to be a direct clinical provider, and not an MSN in mangement/leadership, which would actually help prepare you for what you say you want to do.

Best wishes.

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I am getting the MSN/PhD because my original thought was to practice in the APN and academic role, but have found that while I can live with being an NP and work in academia, the lifestyle and day-to-day is not the best fit for me.

What my mentor stated to me is to try management consulting at one of the MBB firms and get an MBA - 50% of consultants at MBB firms exit after 2 years and go to Stanford, Harvard, Penn for an MBA-which I would not mind since I am an alum from one of those schools and am familiar with the curriculum through many of my friends who have gone to those programs. And then go back to health systems admin position and work your way up to a C level position.

So that was a pretty detailed explanation of the convo I had with a mentor of mine.

Thanks again for all the input and I am glad to clarify anything else.

Is there anyone who has worked for an MBB consulting firm having a nursing background and later transitioned to administration? The goal of my original question is really to inquire about the experiences of those people.

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Hi MeanMaryJean,

To answer your question "what exactly does the job entail", here is the job description for a PhD candidate (see link). Most of the training is on the job and usually associates/analyst consultants at MBB consultant firms are recruited directly from undergrad or grad school (which is the most common route of entry, it is not as straightforward to get a job at an MBB firm as an experienced hire).

Thanks for your inquiry. Here is the link, hope this helps PhDs | Careers | McKinsey & Company

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first i think you need to realize that most staff nurses on this site have no clue who mckinsey is or bcg for that matter. your mentor is right. i think if you can get on with that caliber of a consulting firm then go for it. realize u are not just competing against lawyers and mba's. alot of times these firms go after freshly minted md's with impressive credentials.

the idea that taking an np degree and moving into management is possible but it will be a long hard fight to get there and take u 15-20 years. thats what people know and see and it resonates to them that its the way its done. if u join one of those two groups u discuss u will more than likely find doors opening down the road in major insurance companies, c-suite hospital positions, quality and safety, and on and on. what you re contemplating doing opens far more doors than being an np or middle manager with an np ever will.

just think if you went to mckinsey for two years with an np background you will probably touch more things at a c-suite level than u ever would have access to as an np.

your mentor is right. your strategy and thinking is spot on. the one thing u may not see is that the road u go down eventually should u choose this path will prob be a road u haven't even considered at this point. my advice would be to prepare your best for those interviews. those jobs open up entire new worlds for your career.

besides mckinsey associate starting salaries are closer to np experienced salaries. long run you make much more and have a plethora of opportunities and experience going the consulting route. the drawback is you wont be doing bedside care, but i think you made your peace with that already.

good luck on your interviews you will need it!

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Thanks Surething1,

I'm glad that you mention that it is a feasible path towards my goal. Very encouraging :)

And yes, I am preparing for those interviews extensively and will take the next 3 months off of work and writing my dissertation just to practice cases and the PST. I am so grateful to have a friend who is a former McK analyst and current MBA student at HBS practice with me...so hopefully I will get the hang of it.

But yes, you are absolutely right, it is a very difficult learning curve. I am just glad that you and my mentor have mentioned that if I were to work for an MBB firm, I would be able to accomplish my career goals. This affirmation encourages me to study longer and practice more. Thanks!

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