Citation:

Mahanara Pradya Rizaldi. "Consulting-Based Projects: A Path for Millennials and PostMillennials to Enter the Consulting Industry" International Research Journal of Economics and Management Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 246-252, 2025.

Abstract:

The management consultant profession has become a central topic of discussion among management practitioners with regard to the impact and the evolution of its role in modern business society, yet the study of its preparation stage remains unclear and overlooked compared to other professional advisory services. In most cases, the path to the profession comes through a management education program; however, the program has faced numerous challenges in preparing graduates for the consulting role. Management education has evolved as experiential learning has been introduced to the learning module in some form. Yet, the initiative's impact remains underexplored, particularly in management consulting. The study examines how involvement in consulting-based projects, as a form of experiential learning, enhances the acquisition of foundational consulting skills in university years. A quantitative method approach was employed to gather the data of individuals with exposure to similar experiences of consulting-based projects and its impact on the development of foundational consulting skills. The data were analyzed using Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) to assess the relationship and impact of involvement in the project on the skill acquisition outcomes. The study shows that consulting engagement experience in university has impacted foundational consulting skills such as problem-solving and communication for further management consultant career readiness. This study emphasizes the importance of developing exposure for future aspiring management consultant professionals through experiential project learning to provide real-world experiences that emulate the real context of management consultant engagement.

References:

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Keywords:

Experiential Learning Theory, Consulting-Based Project, Consulting Skills, Management Consultant.