I know this is gonna sound corny, but apply for jobs at any of the big 4 to learn the industry, and after a couple years you’ll know the companies you want to work for and have connections through co-workers who have left. Consulting is all about politics and connections, so thinking those aren’t directly correlated to wealth is naive.

Do you see this industry loosening its expectations for an MBA? That is nearly $1m of opportunity cost to some of the technologists who might be interested in growing a management consulting career.

I wouldn't say an MBA is a requirement, but to advance beyond an associate / consultant level you do need a good general understanding of finance, marketing and ops. There's definitely an inflection point where you become more of an expert in your clients' business than any specific technology. Eventually your skills trend towards sales and the business of consulting (staffing projects, managing margin, building capabilities) but that's not much different than the kind of leadership roles (estimating, hiring, mentoring, speaking at conferences, etc.) that senior ICs have to do to make that kind of money.

A good MBA program will help you develop those exact connections the parent comment mentions

My experience has been that it’s a lot more gatekeeping than networking to the extent that I’ve seen banks move away from requiring it.

As with anything, it is what you make of it. HN has a stereotype of MBA students that doesn't always hold up to the real world (though not all stereotypes are wrong).

Help me understand why MBA graduates placing into technology companies as, eg, PMs see little leveling benefits for their efforts versus graduates from the same schools placing at consulting firms? Is the network really that much more essential to a consulting career than a PM career? And is the hours-adjusted total income of a consulting career that much better for wealth building than an extra million bucks pre-tax at age 30?

> Is the network really that much more essential to a consulting career than a PM career?

Yes. I sell projects to my former classmates all the time, and if I ever find myself out of a job, I could have a half dozen interviews within a month. The network is absolutely amazing if you go to one of the top 20 or so schools and have some people skills. You can't really make use of the network if you're a PM.

> And is the hours-adjusted total income of a consulting career that much better for wealth building than an extra million bucks pre-tax at age 30?

Lifetime income for a partner at a consulting company can easily top $30 million -- with the benefit of being able to blow the escape hatch and land in a VP role in industry if you burn out on the consulting work.