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 […]
Category: Consulting
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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 […]
The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a rigorous program of study. While other typical MSc degrees require 30-40 credits, MBAs require 50-60 credits over the course of two years. To graduate from the Global MBA Program at The George Washington University you need 55 credits. That means the program is heavily loaded with classes, […]
When it comes to recruiting, consulting firms have a roster of schools’ from which they source the majority of their summer interns and full-time employees. This dedicated school-based hiring is generally referred to as “campus hiring”. Most firms also hire students from ‘non-core schools’, but these are usually a small minority of campus hires. Students […]
Due to COVID-19 and the lack of physical interaction the “virtual coffee chat” has become a thing. I receive 2-3 LinkedIn messages per day asking to schedule a call so that I can share my personal experience in consulting, answer recruiting-related questions, and sometimes even review a resume on the spot. However, due my busy […]
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Market Sizing Case Interview Questions
Market sizing is the test of a consultant’s mettle. It is a classic case interview question, in which a candidate is asked to make an estimate. A market sizing question literally asks a candidate to estimate the volume or the value of a something. This could be the size of a market or something from […]
You can generally tell whether you did well in an interview based on the connection you built with the interviewer. You have probably been in situations where an interview felt uneasy and awkward because of a lack of chemistry with the interviewer. Have you ever thought, “I just couldn’t click with the interviewer” following a […]
Making a shift into the consulting world may feel daunting, especially if you have no prior exposure to the industry. As such, learning how to be as confident as a consultant presents a conundrum. How are you supposed to be confident when you do not have a consulting background? Case interviews are synonymous with consulting […]
Everyone I know in consulting entered it in large part as a means of career advancement, be it through the ranks of the consulting industry or with the intention to pivot into a different career down the line. Yet, what does it mean to get the most out of the consulting experience for career advancement? […]
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Do’s and Don’ts of Case Interviewing
Interviews are difficult – they involve researching the company, preparing for informational interviews, and practicing behavioral questions. If you are aiming for a consulting internship or full-time job, there is also an unavoidable hurdle you will need to jump – case interviews. These evaluate a candidate’s thought process, business acumen, familiarity with frameworks, communication skills, […]
Thinking about consulting as a career? Thinking that an MBA program is a good place to start? Well, you’re on the right path! You are probably curious about HOW exactly an MBA program will support you with your transition to consulting. Maybe you’ve heard about school consulting projects, strong alumni networks, and classes that can […]
It’s been a while since we were distanced from the office, and it’s not looking to end anytime soon. Many tech companies such as Microsoft have announced that they plan to let employees work remote permanently. Working from home is the new normal. As much as people are tolerant of interruptions from a weak internet […]
With virtual internships emerging as the new normal for the foreseeable future, it may be best to examine how to successfully stay on top of your virtual internship and complete it as if you were doing it physically. To make the most out of your virtual internship, it matters what you put in. Aspects such […]
Employers think ex-consultants are the bees-knees. There are lots of reasons for this. Here are four of the best. 1. The Experience In principle, consulting provides an incredible grounding in business. A consultant who does two or three years is likely to be exposed to all sorts of industries and commercial situations. A consultant might […]
According to Business Insider, the odds of getting hired by McKinsey & Company are less than 1%, although this is not unique to McKinsey. To secure a final round interview at Bain, you would have to be in the top 3% of applicants for that office. No one enjoys being turned down, especially in the […]
There are various reasons why people decide to pursue an MBA including career advancement, career change, wanting to start a business, and professional networking. Most MBA programs teach the same core topics: finance, marketing, human resources, negotiations, strategy, consulting and organizational management. What really distinguishes a program from its peers are the students that the […]
Everyone was new once. For many of you, that first day is still to come. In this blog post, we will focus on three things that young analysts need to be aware of. Some mistakes are avoidable if you can get your head around them. Others you will probably notice yourself doing anyway. Hopefully you […]
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Coronavirus & Consulting Offers
The coronavirus epidemic has rattled the planet. Universities are shutting down or going to online learning, California has issued a mandatory lockdown for its 40 million residents. The UK has 3,500 known cases of the virus and London will probably be shut down in the next week, if not before. Commerce has ground to a […]
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Mental Models: Maps of Meaning
A mental model is simply a representation of reality. The world is complex, and so we cannot account for every moving part and keep all the details in our brains. In the words of the famous physicist Richard Feynman: “You only think you know, as a matter of fact. And most of your actions are […]
By no means do I pretend to see the future, but I think I can take an educated stab at how consulting life may change once the COVID crisis is over. Many prospective consulting candidates are probably keen to know what to expect. I want to highlight that I speak not only from my own […]
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Creating a Dashboard
At the most basic level a consulting engagement (or any strategic project) will typically contain three-phases: Structure and propose a strategy Implement and execute on the strategy Track the performance of the strategy Phase 1 and 2 are where the consultants spend most of their time, but phase 3 is also an essential part of […]
As someone who does volunteer career coaching, I have unexpectedly been fielding some questions from prospective consulting candidates about how best to manage a second job while attending to a consulting career. The people I talked to wanted to continue doing something they were passionate about, things like running a start-up or bartending. I’m sure […]
What is essential for successful marketing mix modeling? Regardless of method, MMM can be successful only if accurate and highly specific data are available upon which the modeling can be based. The greatest barrier to successful modeling is always a lack of relevant, specific, accurate data. So, the first step in any modeling effort is […]
When you walk into an interview, even before you speak, shake hands or talk through your resume, something else is doing a lot of talking in your behalf: your appearance. Even though your clothes do not speak, they communicate a lot about you. Whether you like it or not, physical appearance has an effect on […]
Most consultants reckon that about 70 percent of projects fail to meet their objectives. Reasons for this are wide-ranging. Many issues are project specific. They may relate to specific management issues or special situations that limit consultants’ effectiveness. Some of the problems with consulting projects happen ALL the time. 1. Non-implementation The first problem is […]
Dear University Student Seeking to Enter Consulting, Let’s be honest. Due to the global economic and health impacts of COVID-19, getting any job offer just got a lot harder. The consulting industry at large has scaled back hiring, and so securing a consulting opportunity will be difficult. For many of you, the realistic challenge is […]
There’s a lot more to being a great intern than being intelligent and producing high-quality work. It can be summed up in one word — professionalism. Professionalism is an ambiguous concept. It was only a few years ago that I began to realize its importance. To have a decent chance of receiving a return offer, […]
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A Note to University Seniors
Dear university seniors, I really sympathize with the senior year recruiting grind. It’s not easy, and I would argue that for many of you this will be one of the most challenging points in your career. Why? I’m going to painfully lay out your situation. You have no full-time work experience except university, which has […]
I don’t remember anyone talking about it back when I was recruiting for consulting, but I have noticed that one major contributing factor to consulting workplace satisfaction is having friends at the firm. By friends, I don’t mean the typical “workplace friends” that you get along with at work, get coffee with, and maybe go […]
Networking is a normal part of student life. The term networking nowadays usually connotes interacting with business people with the goal of achieving a professional outcome, and this becomes increasingly important as the academic journey comes to an end. In the consulting industry networking is more than just gaining a few names and LinkedIn contacts, […]
As a volunteer graduate school advisor, I often get asked if acquiring an additional graduate degree in addition to an MBA as a dual degree student improves consulting recruiting opportunities. As a dual degree myself (MBA and MPP) who has encountered numerous MBA dual degrees in consulting of all types, I thought it would be […]
As a consultant you’ll have plenty of things to think about as you build your career. This article looks at some of the key questions to consider as you pursue a career in the management consulting industry. Is consulting for you? Probably a good question to ask upfront. When wondering whether consulting is for you, […]
Every year strategy consulting firms and agencies that specialise in executive business management and the “maximising shareholder value” approach receive billions of dollars for their services (Management Consulting, 2020). Are consulting firms about more than just advising management? What else do consultants accomplish for a business? To understand what value is offered by consultants, we […]
Are you interested in pursuing a career in management consulting? It can be difficult and time consuming to figure out which firms to target in your journey to break into the industry. To help you get started, we have prepared a number of guidebooks, which list many of the top consulting firms. The guidebooks give […]
In my previous article, I shared my thoughts on mentorship and how to become a more effective mentor. However, that article only highlights one side of the mentorship journey; mentees play an equally important role in determining whether that relationship becomes valuable and long-lasting. While there is no “perfect” mentor, finding a mentor who is […]
Although COVID-19 has created new problems and obstacles for many of us, the situation has also brought out the best in all of us in terms of our willingness to help others. Over the past few weeks, I have observed people giving back to their communities by supporting local businesses, creating services to help job […]
Negotiating is something we do every day, with everyone, for everything. We started negotiating as babies when we cried to get what we wanted and gradually built up our negotiation tactics to negotiate dinner locations, job offers, problems with partners, and basically anything that life throws at us. Knowing how to negotiate successfully for whatever […]
As I’ve watched the COVID-19 situation unfold, like many of you, I’ve been fearful for the future of the economy and the well-being of individuals around the world. Quite honestly, however, during the first few weeks of the crisis I hadn’t focused on how it would impact my own situation or how it would disrupt […]
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The Intern Guide
Insights from 2 years of Successes and Failures in Internships During university I had the opportunity to do five different 4-month co-ops (internships) in capital markets, management consulting, and strategy. Let me begin by saying that I was not a superstar intern. I made mistakes and always had room for improvement. I was constantly learning, […]