84% of top Indian B-School Students prefer Consulting as a career: TCS-AMCF Survey

Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) in collaboration with the Association of Management Consulting Firms (AMCF) has released survey results about the perception of the consulting profession among Indian business school students. According to the survey carried out by TCS’ Global Consulting Practice, a majority of the respondents across age groups, gender, and with different levels of experience want to pursue a career in consulting.

The online survey carried out during November-December 2012 was completed by 979 students from India’s top 10 B-schools. They were asked about their interest in consulting as a career, what influenced their opinions about consulting, and their perceptions about specific issues, including work-life balance, and career options post-consulting. Key findings include the following:

    • 8 out of 10 students surveyed would like to take up consulting as a career. 79.2% of the surveyed have a positive opinion of consulting.
    • 20% of the respondents were women. 63% of the women view consulting as a favorable career choice.
    • 52% of the respondents are of the opinion that consulting companies provide global engagement opportunities.
    • 64% of the students were of the view that the location of the consulting company was not an important influencer.
    • 41.3% students with prior experience in IT or consulting are more interested in consulting.
    • Indian B-school students are more likely to choose consulting if an internship is offered by consulting companies. Excellent mentoring programs also attract students to consulting.
    • 54.37% respondents looking at consulting as a career are interested in strategy consulting.
    • 28% of the students view consulting as a potential long-term career and 30% view it as a stepping stone to leadership positions in industry outside consulting.
    • 83% of the respondents are of the opinion that job independence is a very important factor for choosing consulting.

“We spend a lot of time in the US thinking about ways to make consulting more interesting to women as a profession so it’s heartening to see that according to the results of the survey Indian women view it as a very attractive career option,” said John F Furth, President and CEO, AMCF, highlighting one of the differences between perceptions in the two countries.

Commenting on the survey, J Rajagopal, EVP and Head, TCS’ Global Consulting Practice, said,  “The insights from this study will be invaluable in helping the consulting profession increase its appeal to high-caliber MBA students in India, an important source of global talent.”

Source:TCS

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