The future of consulting in China

I can't seem to wonder whether the business model of strategy or management consultancies is actually going to last in China. Recalling that management consultancies like McKinsey, BCG and such were once founded in order to offer firms advice, as well as to save costs by not having to hire a bunch of highly qualified people permanently, but by only taking them on for one project, more and more companies seem to have realised that this equation does not always pay out.
This is even obvious in the West, were many firms have, quite successful, set up their own in-house consultancies (i.e. Siemens Management Consulting).
In China the situation is even more severe, because the rates top consultancies charge are, relative to the cost structures in China, even more extreme. Consultancies have thus often focused on international firms in China, rather than local firms. On top of that Chinese firms are generally skeptical as to whether or not a US or European led consultancy does really know how to do business in China.
It will therefore be interesting to see what the future brings for these firms and if a Chinese management consultancy will make it to the ranks of the international elite.

Mckinsey, BCG, Bain and co

When I was at business school, many of my fellow students were interested in pursuing a career with one of the big generalist brands. I was one of them and I attended several recruitment events at which McKinsey, Bain and co visited our campus.
The first thing I realised was that the people working for these firms are not the 'Masters of Universe' their websites want to make us believe! At one event, for instance a range of consultancies had sent people to give recruitment speeches. We were all looking forward to hearing what they had to say and were particularly exited in anticipation of the McKinsey presentation.
The McKinsey guy however gave a mediocre presentation at best. Things he said about the McKinsey career path ran contrary to his own career path he had described before and overall he was not such a great presenter. We all felt that a legend had fallen.
Regardless of that I am convinced that the people at McKinsey are excellent at what they do and that McKinsey is one of the best consultancies in the world. However, they are also just human beings.
Finally I would like to give some advice when applying to these big names in consulting:
Take a good look at your CV, in my experience what they care about most are top grades at all stages of your education, including high school. If your performance was not outstanding at every institution you visited, or you have studied at an ivy league type of university, don't bother applying. Second thing they look for is work experience. I you haven't completed an internship with a big consultancy (assuming you are applying for an entrance level/analyst position) things might be very difficult as well.
All the other stuff they mention at their websites, diversity, languages, studies abroad. Good if you got that covered, but in my experience not as important as the other aspects.