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“The objective is to put students in real-life situations as much as possible so they can quickly acquire the right reflexes“. David MONTENS teaches the “Consulting Skills” course within the Master’s cycle of the Grande École Program. He applies this educational philosophy through close collaboration with key players in the consulting sector to prepare his students for all scenarios.

Consulting Skills: getting ready for the challenges of the profession

David is a professor of Strategy and Sustainable Development at IÉSEG. He designed the “Consulting Skills” course with a vision to move beyond the traditional academic approach and anchor learning in practice. Consequently, four class sessions are dedicated to interventions from partner companies.

“The most important thing for future consultants today is developing their ‘people skills,’ and this is especially true in the age of AI. The focus is really on developing interpersonal relationships with clients; it is a key skill in the sector“, he emphasizes. In a world where artificial intelligence can process data, the ability to build relationships and adapt to one’s interlocutor makes all the difference.

Opening up to the diversity of the sector

To introduce his students to the diversity of consulting careers and offer them a concrete, global vision of the profession and its evolutions, David MONTENS organized a round table. It brought together consultants with different levels of experience – juniors, intermediates, and seniors – from firms of varying sizes specialized in diverse sectors (banking/finance, sustainable development, luxury, change management, etc.). This year, the course welcomed Julhiet Sterwen, Square Management, Arthur D. Little and CGI.

This variety of profiles illustrated possible career trajectories, associated work contexts, and key stages of professional growth. Discussions also covered the skills needed to enter the sector and progress through the grades, as well as the main challenges of the profession, particularly regarding work-life balance.

“Often, our students have the ‘Big Four’ (KPMG, EY, Deloitte, PwC) in mind, or prestigious firms like McKinsey, BCG, and Bain. But actually, there are many specialized firms – often on a more human scale – in specific sectors or missions where the job can be completely different and just as interesting. The goal is to broaden their perspectives and allow everyone to find their own path“, David explains.

Understanding AI as a source of added value

To complement the round table, two consultants from BearingPoint Luxembourg spoke in the course to address the impact of AI on the consulting profession and the industry’s transformation. Their intervention highlighted the role of AI as a way to enhance skills rather than a substitute.

“While AI improves operational efficiency and automates certain tasks, particularly those related to data processing, it does not challenge the value of the consultant. On the contrary, it helps free up time for higher value-added activities, especially client relationships and strategic support. AI is, above all, a tool at the service of human expertise“, David explains.

The speakers also emphasized that this evolution redefines expectations for junior profiles and poses major ethical challenges regarding the responsible use of AI in consulting practices.

Real-life situations to prepare for professional realities

As a follow-up to the course, Colombus Consulting, HR Path, DXC, and KPMG worked with students to prepare them for job interviews by presenting several case studies.

“This type of exercise is a key step in a typical recruitment process in the consulting field. It is often in the second stage, after meeting with the company’s human resources manager, that a case study is presented to the candidate“, explains David. The students worked on client cases that had been handled by the firms in the past, in order to confront the demands of interviews, but also the daily life of a consultant and real-life situations of interaction with clients.

The aim was to assess how they approached and structured their reasoning rather than the relevance of the content: reformulating questions, taking notes, understanding the issues, structuring their analysis, and the clarity of their oral presentation. The speakers provided detailed feedback on best practices expected in interview situations, enabling students to better understand recruiters’ expectations and acquire the essential reflexes to succeed in this type of exercise.

“I want them to acquire reflexes that will be useful for their future interviews. For example, taking notes to avoid making a client repeat three times… It might seem basic, but it makes all the difference during an interview“.

Learning to persuade through AI-generated simulation

Finally, Akor Consulting offered students an innovative teaching tool based on the use of a conversational avatar. This immersive tool allowed them to practice real-life negotiation situations through a simulation that mirrored real-world scenarios. The students took on the role of consultants assigned by a company’s CEO and had to interact with an avatar representing an employee who was initially reluctant to have consultants involved in his production lines.

The exercise required them to practice active listening, non-directive consulting postures, and persuasive argumentation. These simulations provide immediate feedback, combining self-assessment and AI analysis, allowing students to measure their progress concretely.

A complementary course at the heart of a comprehensive education

The “Consulting Skills” course is part of a broader educational framework. “It is a generalist course that complements other courses in the General Management and Strategy Consulting major, such as Sustainability Consulting, Consulting Process, and Advanced Corporate Strategy,” David explains.

The ultimate goal is to help students make the right career choices by providing a broad view of the industry and preparing them to be adaptable and operational regardless of the firm they join. “The scenarios we do in class are situations they will likely face within six months, a year, or even later“, concludes David MONTENS.