Let's say you want to focus on your love of biology while pursuing a job in consulting. Maybe you're a #premed student looking for some work experience before applying for medical school. While business analysts are staffed as needed on projects, one way to ensure that you can focus on an industry you want is to know which offices are located near #Pharma hubs. The following locations in the US have a significant pharma presence
1. Boston
2. New York/New Jersey
3. San Francisco/Bay Area
4. Some Midwest (Chicago/Indiana area)
5. San Diego
If you apply to these locations there is a very high probability you will get opportunities to work with clients in the Pharma space. In addition, you will demonstrate that you have chosen to apply to offices that align with your interests and have done your due diligence.
As an aside, there are also life science focused consulting firms (i.e. not management consulting) that work, paradoxically, with management at pharma companies across the spectrum to help them refine their portfolio strategy and review market opportunities. These firms usually hire people with science backgrounds (industry or schooling) but have a lower 'barrier to entry' than #MBB given the more specialized nature of the work.
A typical project at a specialized life sciences consultancy would be an assessment of late stage assets currently in development for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases to see if any of them would be a good fit for a client’s existing commercial structure or their future strategic plans (the latter might very well have been designed in conjunction with an MBB type consulting firm).
Firms in this category are varied, and include both companies which only do life sciences consulting and those who have a dedicated practice. A few notable names are L.E.K. Consulting, Huron Life Sciences (separate from their Healthcare practice, which is much larger), Clearview Healthcare Partners, Navigant, the #Big4, #Accenture, etc.