At about the 3-year mark after entering consulting most consultants who matriculated directly from undergrad begin to seriously consider their next steps. For prospective and current consultants alike, I want to highlight the reflections and career pathways taken by such consultants. 1. Stay in Consulting and Maybe Shoot for the Partner Track In consulting, it […]
Category: Consulting
Consulting, like many other industries, is under threat from artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). AI refers to a range of technologies that allow computers (or robots) to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. ML plays an important part in building AI systems, and refers to the study of algorithms that improve with […]
When I talk to my friends in consulting (across all firms and types of consulting), it amuses me that the early career mistakes we have made and witnessed are eerily similar across the board. I want to share four of them to help you avoid the most common mistakes and possibly course correct if you […]
Applying for internships is a long process. You start with researching the companies you want to work for, followed by applying, conducting informational interviews, and going through multiple rounds of case interviews. If you do everything properly, with a little bit of luck, you will get an offer. If you really push forward, you might […]
As someone currently in management consulting who has previously done tech sales for a major software company, I was amused by Martin Keller’s article championing tech sales (sometimes known as consultative or customer success driven sales) over management consulting. Both are great career options and anyone starting their career or doing a career pivot would […]
Although a majority of people start their consulting career straight from undergraduate or graduate studies as their first full time profession, there is a substantial number of consultants who are experienced hires, coming from a prior career. For experienced hires, the dynamics of pivoting into consulting can be jarring, especially for the uninitiated. To better […]
For many ambitious university students, management consulting can seem like the ideal industry to start a successful and fulfilling career. But what happens when you realize it’s not the perfect fit for you? After completing several internships in strategy consulting and receiving multiple attractive offers, I became increasingly skeptical whether the job would match my […]
If you are looking to get into consulting, there are several ways to gain experience during your graduate studies. You can take classes, enroll in the graduate consulting club, or volunteer for pro-bono consulting projects. You can also participate in case competitions, which are in a league of their own. Each case competition is different […]
Many candidates spend numerous hours perfecting their resumes, preparing for case and technical interviews, and crafting their fit story. However, they often forget to research the company itself. Conducting due diligence on the company you are interviewing for will help you build rapport with the interviewer, learn the firm’s culture and values, and showcase that […]
You might have a picture-perfect resume. You might satisfy all the basic qualifications. Your credentials might even get past the robotic sorters looking through thousands of resumes for specific “buzz words”. But at the end of the day, if you are just a name on a job application, you might not get invited to that […]
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Alternative Case Interview Tips
When conducting a search for case interview tips on the internet, you will quickly find yourself drowning in information. There are articles giving tips on how to speak, what to say, how to say it, what to wear, and so on. This post is not intended to be just another one of those articles. Instead, […]
When you apply for consulting roles, your CV will be the first thing that the recruiters see. According to a 2018 study conducted by Ladders, recruiters spend an average of 7.4 seconds looking at the CV that might have taken you weeks to perfect. You need to make each of those 7 seconds count by […]
In nearly every consulting firm, sooner or later you’ll have to prioritize a specialty to formally begin establishing a focus area for your consulting career. Just to be clear, by specialty, I mean a specifically defined industry (e.g. industrials, pharma, etc.) or functional area (e.g. cost cutting, organizations, etc.) that the firm has built a […]
The greatest accomplishments will follow a focused person. Our society rewards specialists more than generalists, and the way to become a specialist is to remain focused on one area for a prolonged period. At all stages of our life there are times to explore and times to focus. When playing sports as a child exploring […]
While at university, the most basic form of assessment of new skills learned is through the completion of homework assignments. During lectures, students learn new formulas, memorize methods, or practice more advanced techniques. They then apply their newfound knowledge to a set of problems outside of the classroom. Once a solution is reached, the submission […]
Case coaching is an industry of its own. It seems like coaching is a necessary part of the consulting interview prep process and without it you don’t have a chance of getting an offer. It can be a tough decision as the price point for case coaching can be very high (10x more than the […]
Conducting market research is a key skill required in consulting. Consulting involves working on different assignments in completely different industries, hence knowing how to conduct market research is a fundamental skill all people who want to work in consulting need to have. In addition to doing market research, you need to know how to best […]
Ever since I started my undergraduate degree, I was keen on securing a job in strategy consulting. It is not difficult to see why the job is so attractive to young overachievers. You get the opportunity to work in a fast-paced environment surrounding yourself with smart people and learning about business problems in a variety […]
There is no denying that the Corona pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we work. Home office and video conferences have become the norm, and some say they are here to stay. While the “new normal” can be convenient in many ways, it also presents an unprecedented challenge for new starters. Six months ago, I […]
Consulting case interviews require lots of preparation. On average probably 1-2 months. Although you will hear of some geniuses who aced their cases after only one week of preparation, this is probably not true for us mere mortals. Consequently, if you want to be well prepared for your case interview, you will probably have to […]
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Gardner’s Eight Intelligences
Howard Gardner, an American developmental psychologist and Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, proposed the theory of multiple intelligences in 1983 in a book called Frames of Mind. The theory challenges the idea that intelligence can be estimated using a single measure such as IQ. According to Gardner, each type of […]
Looking back to consulting recruiting in graduate school, I always think about how interesting it was that so much of the conversation among candidates was about getting an offer from a top consulting firm. Yet, I don’t remember many conversations about succeeding within a consulting firm after joining. I want to shed some light on […]
As a regular mentor to new consultants, I regularly find myself addressing some challenges of consulting life by simply recommending gear acquisitions based upon my personal experience. After much extensive feedback about how helpful my recommendations have been, I thought it would be helpful to share the wealth with a wider audience. For those who […]
Often, individuals rush to study degrees with the hope that after graduating, they can transfer that knowledge to the respective fields they will be working in. This isn’t entirely false, but it isn’t entirely true either. The wealth of knowledge one gains while studying a three or four-year degree cannot automatically be transferred within an […]
Launching a management consulting career is a daunting task due to the competitive nature of the profession. Applying for a job entails completing online questionnaires, writing cover letters, and undergoing psychometric assessments before you are even invited for an interview. There is also a large pool of applicants for managing consulting jobs in the developing […]
Whenever you hear people speaking of the “imposter syndrome”, you will hear them say things like “I don’t belong”, “I am not worthy”, “did I make the right choice?”. Whenever you find yourself questioning why you belong in the spaces you are in, immediately block those feelings out. If you are sitting on your own, […]
As I’ve progressed further along in my career, the importance of being able to manage upward has become clearer to me. If you think your relationship with your manager is a one-way street with the manager doing all the delegating and you doing all the following, think again. At its core, managing up isn’t just […]
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3 Tips for Your Consulting Internship
The biggest difference between an internship at a consultancy and a “normal” internship is that, at the end of a consulting internship, if you perform well, you can expect a job offer. Pretty awesome, right? However, whether or not you get an offer depends on various factors. Below, I list three important points of advice that […]
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Consulting: Blazing your own trail
Apart from the rigorous selection process that consulting firms use to assess their potential candidates, securing a job and thriving within the consulting industry is not easy. The most frequently asked questions that consultants are asked by students include: “what is consulting”, “what do consultants do” and “what are the minimum requirements needed to get […]
Many management consultants hardly complete two or three years in their jobs before they realize that there’s more to life than consulting. Consultants are called upon to do problem-solving on behalf of their clients, but they are forced to move on and find solutions to the next client’s difficulties before being able to see what […]
Deciding whether to obtain an MBA can be difficult. It is a rewarding experience that can allow you to improve your job prospects, expand your network, and learn all about business. But, you also need to study for the GMAT, leave your current job, and possibly relocate to a new state. If you decide to […]
The question of when to leave your first or second job is intimate and messy. Especially if your first job is management consulting as you will be presented with many opportunities to jump into industry. But no matter what the circumstance is, it requires you to consider an endless number of factors, ride through a […]
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How to Approach Experiential Questions
“Tell me a time where you…” Inevitably in any job, internship, or graduate school interview, you will hear these words. You are sitting in a chair facing a recruiter, manager, or professor asking you to share an experience where you displayed a particular emotion, dealt with a problem, or overcame a challenge. Consequently, these types […]
A job can be defined as a group of tasks and responsibilities that are assigned to one person. We have all had some type of job where we had to do a certain set of tasks in order to help the group or organization be successful. How we perceived the tasks that made up the […]
If you are interested in consulting you have probably heard of the case interview. It is a key component of the consulting interview to test how you approach problems. Practicing cases can teach you how to think like a consultant, yet they can also be a large source of stress and anxiety for candidates. It’s […]
A management consultant is someone who is consulted on difficult business issues. In other words, senior managers come to consultants for information and advice. Whilst not untrue, this is a fairly unremarkable description of what a consultant does. It is a description that, actually, doesn’t describe all that much at all. For instance, how, or […]
One of the most mentioned career paths after graduating from Harvard is consulting. It is one of the few industries, apart from investment banking, that is a stereotype for every graduating class, and people start preparing for it from freshman year through joining multiple consulting clubs on campus. But what is it about consulting that […]
For any student aspiring to a professional career, whether it be in management consulting or otherwise, the value of summer employment is often hugely underestimated. The benefits of a good summer job extend greatly beyond simply alleviating the financial pressures involved with studying. This article explains how taking the right approach to summer employment will […]
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3 Types of Consulting Work
Consulting is an exciting career opportunity that offers graduates the chance to use their critical thinking skills, creativity, and past knowledge. It is demanding, but immensely rewarding. When looking at consulting as a potential career, it is worth exploring the specific types of consulting available. While working as a consultant means that you will be […]
As most aspiring consultants know, one of the major hurdles in landing a job offer is the case interview. Given a strict time limit and a small amount of information, applicants are expected to ask poignant questions to steer the interview in a direction where they can provide a clear and concise recommendation. Whether it […]
When one thinks of management consultants, one inevitably thinks of highly efficient workers. This is because an efficient way of working is essential as a management consultant. Only those who work efficiently are able to complete all tasks within the limited time available, satisfy their supervisors as well as clients, and get enough sleep on […]
This is a question that you will inevitably receive when interviewing with a consulting firm. It provides you with an excellent way to demonstrate your interest in the firm, how it fits with your goals, and show that you’ve done your homework. Your goal should be to stand out from other applicants – this is […]
Not all schools have a consulting club, extensive alumni networks in consulting firms, or recruiters that come to their campus looking for top applicants. If you are at one of these schools you may find yourself at a disadvantage (to be honest you probably are) but people do still get into firms from non-target schools. […]
If you get rejected from a job application, you may question why you got declined. Have you ever thought that a lack of self-awareness could be the reason? Recruiters want to hire candidates with strong self-awareness because people who understand their own strengths and weaknesses are likely to cause less trouble in a team environment. […]
One of the most difficult tasks in a case interview is to ask the right questions at the beginning of the case. Many candidates ask questions that are too generic. As a result, this don’t really help them to solve the case. Sometimes candidates even ask questions just for the sake of asking questions to […]
For all those seeking a career in the consultancy sector, the obscenely competitive nature of MBB applications is hardly news. Candidates are highly aware of the acceptance rates which never exceed a few percent, yet still try their fortunes with consulting, often not despite, but because of this. Nevertheless, these ambitious careerists are exactly the […]
Finding a job as a young professional is a challenging task in any climate, however, by following these four tips you can increase your chances of kickstarting your career. 1. Do something you’re passionate about An individual is likely to spend significantly more time and energy on tasks they’re passionate about relative to other tasks. […]
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Merry Christmas!
This year was a challenging year for many of us. Some of you may have lost your livelihoods, and you may know people who even lost their lives. For those of us lucky enough to be healthy and hard at work during 2020, we had to navigate a new and challenging environment; a loss of […]
During the MBA experience, meditation was one of those words that I constantly heard of, read about and wanted to practice but never actually did. I kept hearing about its benefits from the people practicing it, and it still kept being an item on my long want-to-try list. Whenever I would set the alarm for […]
In graduate school, I had a classmate who had previously worked at a boutique firm. She enthusiastically advocated that everyone interested in consulting should only go for boutique firms. Today, having acquired more perspectives from friends and colleagues with boutique firm experience, I have a greater appreciation of what it means to start a consulting […]