How Much Experience Do You Need To Be A Management Consultant?

Lots of consultancies like McKinsey and even Accenture hire graduates to do management consultancy. They often have no practical industry experience. Of course both of these companies also hire experienced people. Has your organisation ever had management consultants in and could you tell the ones with experience to the ones without? Or are you, or did you used to be a consultant and is industry experience important, and if so how much? I am 29 and i am hoping to get into management consultancy after i turn 31, is this too young or too old? I have a BA(Hons), MBA, PRINCE2 and ITIL and i am working in internal change management and transformation for a British blue chip in London. I have friends who went into consulting in the mid-twenties and some have found it tough with credibility with clients - they are basically taught a model and role it out at each client site. I want some practical experience before i do it, but i don’t want to be too old or too young. Advice please?

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