Consulting to tech
Hi, I’m an ex-McKinsey consultant looking to transition to tech. I studied business/Econ in school so I don’t really have a strong technical background. If I’m not really looking to learn to code but just want to learn more of the industry jargon and how tech products work under the hood, are there any courses or books for that? My ultimate goal would be to get a tech product or strategy role.
What are you doing right now?
Currently have my own small consulting shop
Honestly, I can’t recommend too many books but I would recommend blogs - VC firm Andreessen Horowitz has s blog that covers a range of topics, so do blogs from other, famous VC firms. Look up a guy named Tomasz Tonguz. I would just follow the trail of blogs and you’ll uncover information, frameworks, etc.
There are a lot of consultancy kinda roles in tech too. Search in careers pages, you will find many under program management (more skewed to consultancy)
How do i move from tech to consultancy?
You sound a lot like me except you paid your dues at McKinsey and I at BCG lol. So I transitioned from consulting to product management at Facebook about a year ago. Like you, I had a econ background, not cs. I highly recommend you check out a book called Swipe to Unlock. It does a great job giving you a high level understanding of key tech concepts. Many of the top companies like Facebook don't ask you any actual coding questions however you do need to know how tech works and some industry lingo. This book is perfect for that. I'd also recommend reading cracking the pm interview for actual pm interview prep. Hope that helps!
This book looks like exactly what I’m looking for! Thanks so much
You weren’t asked any technical questions during your PM interviews at Facebook?
I’ve done both. I suggesting forgetting the typical recruitment process and just showing what value you can bring to them without having been hired yet. This strategy is proven to give you good bargaining power because it leaves no doubt as to the value you can bring. Try one of the following: - Find a startup with a product that you think your old clients would want. Then call them up and tell them “I have a list of contacts that I think would love your product. Give me a sales position so I can help you out.” They will train you on the tech and on the pitch, and you’ll get $$$$$ in commission when you sell. - Find a tech startup that is targeting your industry of focus from McKinsey. Show it to one of your old clients and get their feedback. Then shoot the startup’s CEO an email telling him how he can improve his product based on what you know about the industry and that if you made certain changes you know a few customers who would buy it. Then take the PM/director of product role that you just proved to them you are an awesome fit for. - Pretend that you’re still at McKinsey and pick a random company to be your client. Figure out how to improve their business. Then send the plan to their CEO; the McKinsey name on your resume will likely give them confidence that you can deliver. If you do, that makes you COO. Edit: Jobs, like everything else, are all about relationships. Just like with your own friends, if you make someone’s life better then they’ll want to keep you around.
What’s your background? Are you ex McKinsey?
Ask Sundar
What do you want to ask?
Oh hey Sundar what brings you to this app even though you're worth like $600 million and don't have time for it