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?
Best of luck to you. It is about time these consulting firms start acknowledging the input from nurses as they consult for healthcare systems. Can you please keep us updated about your experience at the interview?
I think a lot of people here are assuming you (the OP) is seeking to be a Vice President of Nursing someday -- or some other, similar NURSING leadership position. While it is extremely difficult to earn the support of nurses without actual experience in the field, it might be possible for a nurse to secure other high positions without that experience. Hospitals NEED people with expertise in data analysis, etc. as well as a familiarity with health care. Such jobs do not require personnel management and the years of experience in actual practice that a nursing administrator needs.
Hey Pancakes113! I hope your prep for the PST is going well. I got an interview as well. Preparing for the PST can be overwhelming. Any tips you have or resources to share? :-)
I passed round 1 PST and group interviews last week and will move on to round 2 interviews in a month. Here is what I did on the PST and the group cases in round1:
1) I did all 3 PSTs on their website and looked for PATTERNS in the questions. There are patterns that will help you. For example, there always 13 logic and 13 math questions (so I focused on answering logic questions and getting them 100% correct). I also noticed that there is usually at least 1 growth question, so I memorized compounded annual growth for 5 years, 15 years, and 10 years.
2) I read all the questions in the first section first and label them "MATH" or "LOGIC". I usually skip the math questions that require precise answers (rather than estimation)....for example, if the options are a) 10% b) 20% c) 30% d) 40%, I will attempt that questions rather than a question that has answer choices a) $5,000 b) $5,001 c) $5,002 d) $5,003. I skip that latter and leave it for the end.
3) I practiced GMAT IR questions (there are some free ones at Manhatten GMAT)
4) I also practiced cases for the group interview (with my universities consulting club and former McK associates) and was very familiar with the "profit framework" and "business situation framework". Also for the group cases, STRUCTURE your answers and try to segment whenever possible.
...Although they stated that the group cases were "non-evaluative", I think they factor in somehow. I noticed that some of the people who were not invited to 2nd round interviews did not prepare for the case portion and were very unstructured when answering questions.
Update: Just interviewed with BCG for a consultant role (2 cases/2 fit interviews unrelated to health care), passed the 2nd round of McKinsey (2 cases/2 fit interviews unrelated to health care) with a final round McKinsey interview next month.
It is an arduous process that involves daily practice of cases. Luckily, my consulting club (mostly PhD and MBA students) have been very supportive in practicing 2-3 times per week.
Update: Just interviewed with BCG for a consultant role (2 cases/2 fit interviews unrelated to health care), passed the 2nd round of McKinsey (2 cases/2 fit interviews unrelated to health care) with a final round McKinsey interview next month.
It is an arduous process that involves daily practice of cases. Luckily, my consulting club (mostly PhD and MBA students) have been very supportive in practicing 2-3 times per week.
Hi there, I came across your post and wanted to gain some insight into how you managed to score interviews at some of these big name consulting firms. I'm in my early 20s and just starting out my career as a floor nurse in ICU. I'd like to consider working for a management consulting firm after gaining experience in the healthcare industry. I've been told by multiple instructors that where you go to get your bachelors, masters, PHD does not matter but I know these consulting firms have "target schools" they recruit at. I know most nurses don't transition into this type of role but i find the strategic work found in consulting very appealing. As I'm thinking about applying to graduate school later, I'd love to hear how you got to where you are and if I should invest in a bigger named school like Penn to do my graduate work.
Both BCG and McK held info sessions at my university (I am a PhD student). Thereafter, I just applied online and was notified of my interview. I did go to Penn.
If you're in your 20's and want to go into consulting, don't bother with any more nursing degrees or PhD and go straight for an MBA. You don't need industry-specific experience to go into consulting. However, you definitely need to get into a top-tier MBA program or it's very unlikely that you'll get into consulting. BCG and McK pretty much only hire from top 10 (if not top 5) schools. Less prominent consulting firms might hire outside of top 10 but you still have to excel academically and in standardized tests. If your grades are good and you can hit very high on the GMAT, I think you have a good chance because your ICU experience will really set you apart from the typical B-school applicant pool (i.e. finance, accounting, IT, engineers).
However, I don't believe consultants can easily move into hospital c-level jobs. Top leadership positions in hospitals are held by MD's (they can easily get an MBA too); CNOs generally come through the ranks (RN->nurse manager->Director of Nursing etc.).
I'm a RN with 9 years of experience and just graduated with Master of Public Administration. My experience includes care coordination/management, global health, cardiac step down and etc. I'm interested in transitioning my role from healthcare organization to management consulting as well. I actually submitted my resume and setup a phone interview at McKinsey and Company for healthcare related role. I don't know anyone with similar experience or background and would love to speak with you. It seems like you did really well with your interviews. Are you currently working at a firm? Do you have any advices on how to prepare for interviews?
RN009
3 Posts
Hey Pancakes113,
Best of luck to you. It is about time these consulting firms start acknowledging the input from nurses as they consult for healthcare systems. Can you please keep us updated about your experience at the interview?