Students intending to pursue careers in these leading firms must not only have strong scholastic records, but should also bring to the table a solid background in an industry or some other specialized skill. Students can also orient themselves towards consulting in more specialized niches within the consulting industry. Specialist firms provide more focused services in many areas, for instance in systems integration, information management, operations management, human resources, international marketing, or facilities planning. Pursuing a specialist track requires significant prior work experience as a functional specialist. Another career track is to target internal consulting.
Internal consultants work within a firm as advisors to senior management.
Many of the larger companies in the U.S. including such companies as American Express, Vanguard, Bankers Trust, Citicorp, and the United Nations maintain internal consultants on staff. Sometimes these consultants act as crisis managers and change agents. Often they also act as coordinators for the services provided by external consulting firms. Some companies maintain internal consulting staff as a way to reduce the expense of hiring outside consultants. Other companies systematically rotate individuals through an internal consulting function in order to give them the broadest possible exposure before moving them into line positions of their own choosing.