Consultants are strategic thinkers and careful analysts. They identify business growth opportunities and solve complex challenges.
Develop and refine your critical thinking and communication skills as you work toward launching or advancing your consulting career. At Johnson, you’ll learn theoretical frameworks, complete real-world projects, and build your network of industry professionals.
“I made it a mission of mine to find an industry and company that valued a culture of continuous learning and candidates with unconventional work experience. Consulting stood out to me from the outset because it provided the opportunity to work in various industries while experiencing something similar to an extension of business school where I can work in small teams and continue to develop both hard and soft skills.”
Sophia Marseille, Two-Year MBA ’20. Sophia chose a position in private equity and commercial due diligence at EY-Parthenon.
Real-world consulting projects
The best way to build your consulting portfolio is to work on actual business projects—from start to finish.
Work directly with clients who represent real organizations. Sharpen your consulting skills as you analyze business challenges, develop recommendations, present your ideas, and measure results. Below are a few hands-on course examples.
Ithaca-based MBA Programs
Management Consulting
Complete projects that focus on strategy, operations, finance, and marketing for Fortune 500 companies from a wide range of industries.
MPS in Management
Consulting Practicum
Explore consulting as a career option. You’ll hear about the industry from real consultants, learn frameworks, and dive into hands-on work.
Executive MBA Americas
Consulting Project
Identify a problem or opportunity within an organization and devise an action plan. EMBAs often choose to complete this project for their full-time employers.
Plan your recruiting strategy
Take advantage of direct career support and exploration opportunities within Johnson’s consulting network.
Peer mentoring through MBA Career Work Groups
Interview preparation and case bootcamps in various industries
Company information sessions and networking events
Treks and company visits in major cities
Expert career management staff who can help you plan your consulting recruitment strategy
Consulting career coaches for experienced executive MBA candidates
Engaged alumni who participate in case practice, interview preparation, and recruitment
“As I had not previously worked in consulting, my experience in the Management Practicum course—where I was a consultant for a medical device company—helped me convey to interviewers when I was job searching that I understood the roles I was applying for and that I had developed skills that would enable me to succeed.”
Chad Kurylo, PhD ’19 (Weill Cornell), MBA ’20
Consulting career outcomes
Whether you’re a career switcher or career advancer, Johnson will position you for success in your consulting path.
Johnson MBA and MPS graduates enter into roles at top-tier firms in the consulting industry, in addition to consulting functions within organizations and corporations. Executive MBA students work in a variety of full-time consulting roles as they complete their academic programs.
30%
of all Johnson grads enter consulting
90%
of MBAs receive signing bonuses
$11,577
average monthly MBA intern salary
80%
of MPS (accounting) grads work in consulting
$142,430
average starting salary for MBAs
10%
of EMBA students work in consulting
86%
of all MPS grads become consultants
$31,746
average signing bonus for MBAs
Johnson’s top consulting employers
The companies below typically hire Johnson graduates, either in consulting functions or within the industry at large.
Academic and co-curricular consulting options
Connect outside of the classroom, practice cases, or focus your academic path on consulting coursework.
Johnson’s student clubs and programming can help you build your portfolio of consulting knowledge as you learn how to “ace the case,” go on treks and company visits, or (as a Two-Year MBA student) follow an academic plan specifically for future consultants.
Consulting Program for Two-Year MBAs
Completed in addition to your immersion, this academic course of study includes highly structured training sessions, real and simulated consulting opportunities, extensive case analyses, and exposure to industry leaders and firms.
BRC is a nonprofit, student-run firm that provides strategic consulting services to established local businesses. Previous clients have included the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport and the Ithaca Fire Department. Any Cornell grad student may apply.
The Consulting Club for MBAs hosts company informational meetings, boutique career fairs, and on-site visits; industry-specific casing practice; special networking events for diverse consulting candidates; and peer-to-peer interview prep sessions.
Dive into courses taught by faculty who have decades of experience as consulting practitioners.
Johnson’s consulting course offerings are rigorous and invaluable. Faculty will show you the ins and outs of the industry based on their own experiences and walk you through consulting cases and projects. Learn more about a few of Johnson’s consulting experts below.
Lecturer of strategy and management
Previously a partner and managing director at BCG, Balnaves has led 100+ consulting projects and advised boards on issues of strategy, operations, organization, technology implementation, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, and cost reduction.
Senior lecturer of management and consultant in residence
Allen spent more than 22 years with Deloitte focusing on consumer business in the retail, distribution, consumer goods, and apparel manufacturing industries. She focuses her teaching on marketing, global implications, technology, and strategy.
Visiting senior lecturer of management and organizations
Saenz has worked at Bain & Company for more than 20 years. Specializing in corporate transformations, full-potential programs, operational turnarounds, and scale-change efforts, he has completed 100+ assignments across various industry sectors.
Find courses to support your ambitions—from business strategy and management to consulting theory and practice.
You’ll have the opportunity to take consulting courses and electives across Johnson’s academic programs. Explore a sampling of consulting offerings below.
Learn conceptual models, analytical tools, and financial methods to formulate, implement, refine, and evaluate business strategy. This class will build your skills in consulting and general management.
Develop and refine skills for analyzing, formulating, and implementing business strategies. Learn the strategy process, tools for strategic analysis, frameworks for strategy formulation, strategy implementation, decision-driven design models, a methodology for change management, turbulence and the digital revolution, and full potential transformations.
Open to all Johnson students
Examine companies in different strategic situations—such as in an emerging industry, mature industry, transforming industry, network effect industry, etc.—and develop and evaluate appropriate strategies in these varied situations. Build your skills in formulating, refining, and evaluating strategy.
Open to all Johnson students
Work through a simulated project that includes problem definition and project planning, data collection, analysis, developing conclusions and recommendations, and final presentations. Hear from consulting professionals and prepare for your consulting career.
Explore the financial technology landscape, analyze past moves, discuss current trends, and identify future opportunities. You’ll examine real problems and solutions at startups, traditional financial services firms, and the VC and consulting communities that serve them. The intensive includes a group-based field project in NYC.
Build case-cracking skills, understand the CEO perspective, and develop and defend a fact-based point of view.
Open to first-year students in the Two-Year MBA program
Explore Johnson's Academic Programs
Johnson offers several graduate degree programs for candidates with a range of experiences, academic backgrounds, and interests. See which program is your best fit as you plan to launch or advance a career in consulting.
