<p>I hear from many people that most engineering majors at top schools tend to pursue careers not as pure engineers but as consultants at prestigious consulting firms like McKinsey. Is this really true? If so, why do these consulting firms recruit engineering majors? I guess it's one career path I might consider.</p>
<p>Yes it is true. Especially at the top schools like MIT, Stanford, etc.</p>
<p>Why do they do this? For the same reason they also hire people who studied English and Art History at Harvard and Yale. Top consulting firms are mostly looking for raw intellectual talent. That's why top consulting firms will recruit engineers from MIT but not engineers (or even bus-ad majors) from a no-name school. The fact is, the top schools tend to have students with the most raw intellectual talent. Consulting firms can teach anybody with the talent on what they need to know. The problem is finding people with the talent, because that's not teachable. </p>
<p>And of course there is the very strong 'brand-name' factor. The fact is, consulting is about selling services to clients. It's easier to land clients when the firm can say that it has a stable of consultants who graduated from places like Harvard, MIT, or Stanford rather than from a bunch of no-name places.</p>