I’m coming from a background that feels pretty far removed from consulting, and honestly, my network is basically non-existent. I don’t have obvious alumni connections to reach out to, most of my LinkedIn connections are from my current job, and I genuinely don’t know where to start building the kind of network that actually translates into referrals and opportunities.
I know everyone says networking is critical for breaking in, and I believe it, but ‘go network’ is useless advice when you’re starting from scratch. Like, who do I reach out to first? How do I approach someone when I don’t have a warm intro? Do I just start commenting on consulting articles and hope someone notices? Do I find alumni from my school who work in consulting and cold-message them? Is there an actual system to this or is it just throwing spaghetti at the wall until something sticks?
I’m genuinely trying to understand the mechanics of converting ‘zero network’ into ‘pipeline of actual consulting opportunities’ over like a six-month window. What would you actually do differently if you were starting from absolute square one?
cold outreach works fine if youre not weird about it. literally lean on any connection that exists. went to same school? mention it. worked at same company? obviously mention it. if you have zero shared context, network through your actual friends first—see if anyone knows anyone in consulting, get intros that way. then from those conversations, you meet more people. its not glamorous networking architecture, its actually just talking to humans who know consulting people.
also stop overthinking cold messages. people expect them. frame it honest: ‘im exploring consulting, saw you did x, would you have 15 mins to talk about what the job’s actually like?’ nobodys offended by that.
omg i love that honest approach!! like if ur straightforward about it ppl seem chill w it???
also friendof friends is defo the way maybe!! like asking people u know if they can make intros
Starting from zero network requires a deliberate sequencing approach. First, audit your existing connections—classmates, former colleagues, family contacts—and identify anyone tangentially connected to professional services or strategy. These become your first-degree outreach. Second, map second-degree connections through those people and request warm introductions with specific context about who you’re hoping to meet and why. Third, conduct targeted primary research: identify consulting firms relevant to your interests, use LinkedIn to locate recent hires or mid-level consultants from non-target backgrounds (signals they’re open to diverse recruiting), and reach out acknowledging their specific background. Fourth, establish consistent activity—set a goal of 5-10 quality outreach attempts per week, prioritizing conversations over callbacks initially. The conversion mechanism is different from warm networks: your goal in early conversations is demonstrating genuine interest and intellectual fit, not immediately requesting referrals. After 15-20 substantive conversations, you’ll typically have 2-3 people actively supporting your candidacy. This timeline aligns with a realistic six-month pipeline build.
Starting from zero is actually an advantage—you get to be intentional! Every conversation you have will matter. You’ve got this!
Honest, direct outreach works. People appreciate genuine interest. Build your network authentically and doors will open!
I basically did this five years ago when I was trying to transition into strategy consulting with zero relevant network. I started by asking everyone I knew—old roommates, parents’ friends, colleagues—if they knew anyone in consulting or strategy roles. I ended up getting coffee with three people that way, and each of them introduced me to someone else. By month three I had a genuine little network going just from asking for second-degree intros. The magic was admitting I had no connections and being cool about it instead of pretending I had it figured out.
Network-building from zero baseline typically requires 20-30 meaningful first conversations to generate 2-3 active advocates. Conversion mechanics indicate that warm introductions—even tertiary warm intros—outperform cold outreach by 4:1 in terms of conversation quality and eventual referral likelihood. Direct outreach to identified targets should follow pattern: specific value proposition or curiosity trigger in opening, bounded ask (15-min conversation), authentic willingness to help them identify. Research suggests targeting recently promoted mid-level consultants (2-4 years in) yields higher engagement than partner-level or analyst-level outreach.
Timeline expectations: weeks 1-8 focus on first-degree and warm second-degree exhaustion, yielding approximately 5-8 conversations. Weeks 9-16 leverage referrals from those conversations plus targeted cold outreach, typically generating 8-12 additional conversations. Weeks 17-24 involve deepening relationships with most receptive contacts while maintaining referral pipeline. This cadence produces adequate relationship depth and pipeline diversity by month six. Consistent weekly outreach (minimum 5 attempts) correlates with 2.5x higher ultimate conversion rates.