As a consultant, you are a professional problem-solver. You parachute into companies, quickly diagnose their biggest challenges, and present brilliant solutions in beautifully crafted slide decks. You're a master of frameworks, data analysis, and working under pressure. But have you ever wondered what happens after your project team leaves? Who actually implements those great ideas? That’s where corporate strategy comes in. Moving from a consulting firm to an in-house strategy role is a popular and natural career path. You get to swap the road-warrior lifestyle for a chance to see your ideas come to life and have a lasting impact on a single company. The transition requires a shift in mindset, from being an external advisor to a hands-on owner. This guide will show you how to leverage your consulting toolkit to land a top corporate strategy job.

From Advisor to Owner: Translating Your Skills

In consulting, your main product is a recommendation. In corporate strategy, your product is a result. This is the biggest mindset shift you'll need to make. Your analytical skills, ability to structure problems, and comfort with presenting to executives are all highly valued. But now, you must add "execution" to your list of superpowers. It’s not enough to identify a new market to enter; you have to help build the plan to actually enter it, work with the teams on the ground, and stick around to see if it works. Start thinking about the "how" just as much as the "what" and "why."

Understanding How In-House Teams Operate

Corporate strategy teams are not just internal consulting groups. They are the connective tissue between the company's leadership and its business units. Their work often revolves around a yearly strategic planning cycle, evaluating major investments, and assessing potential mergers and acquisitions. Unlike consulting projects that have a clear start and end date, corporate strategy work is continuous. You’ll build deeper relationships with colleagues and gain a much more nuanced understanding of the company's culture and politics.

Choosing Your Industry and Company Stage

Your consulting experience has likely exposed you to multiple industries. Now it's time to choose where you want to plant your flag. Do you enjoy the fast-paced, high-growth environment of a tech startup, or the scale and complexity of a Fortune 500 company? A startup strategy role might involve more hands-on, scrappy work, while a role at a large corporation will be more focused on process and influencing a massive organization. Think about the projects you enjoyed most as a consultant and use that to guide your search.

Build Your Operator Credibility

The biggest critique of consultants is that they are "all theory, no action." To succeed in-house, you must demonstrate that you are an effective operator who can deliver results. In your consulting work, volunteer for projects that involve implementation or post-merger integration. When you interview, don't just discuss the strategy you developed; also talk about how you collaborated with the client's team to implement it and the challenges you overcame. This shows you can move beyond the slide deck and into the messy reality of execution.

Craft Your Resume to Show Results, Not Projects

Your consulting resume is probably a list of projects you've worked on. To attract a corporate role, you need to reframe it to highlight your impact. Instead of just saying you "developed a pricing strategy for a retail client," quantify the outcome. For example, "Developed and helped implement a new pricing strategy that led to a 5% increase in gross margin within six months." Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to transform your project descriptions into compelling stories of tangible business impact.

Prepare for a Different Kind of Interview

Corporate strategy interviews will feel familiar in some ways, with case studies and behavioral questions. However, the cases will be more specific to the company's actual business, and they will be testing your business judgment and cultural fit just as much as your analytical skills. Expect to get a take-home exercise where you might have a few days to analyze a problem and prepare a presentation. This is their way of seeing how you think and communicate, simulating a real work assignment.

Your First 90-Day Plan in Your New Role

Once you land the job, your first three months are crucial for setting yourself up for success. Spend the first 30 days in "listen and learn" mode. Meet with as many people as you can across different departments. Your goal is to understand the business, the culture, and the key challenges from their perspective. In the next 30 days, find a small, tangible way to add value. This could be improving a process or helping another team with a small project. In your final 30 days, you should be fully ramped up and taking ownership of your first major strategic initiative.