Month: May 2009

Networking 101: We Spill The Beans On How To Network Your Way Into Any Job. It’s Finally Live!

Remember this post, where we agreed to record a live discussion answering your networking questions? It's finished. I think you'll agree it was more than worth the wait. You can download the audio clip right here: Download the MP3 [44 Minutes | 21 MB] Now it's not short at 44 minutes. And we only got…

How a Berkeley Undergrad Secured Fulltime Offers at Navigant and FTI Consulting

The Life as a Consultant series is back! We have several great interviews queued up from firms including McKinsey, Oliver Wyman, and more. Our guest today is an undergraduate student at a large state university. He managed to land 2 fulltime job offers: at FTI Consulting within their Restructuring Practice, and at Navigant Consulting within their…

The thought of applying directly to the McKinsey New York office from Sydney never crossed my mind. Is this possible?

The broader question here is the feasibility of applying to international consulting offices. Short answer is possible but tough. Long answer is it comes down to a variety of factors - such as if you're a good fit for that region (language expertise? local work experience?); the quality of their local recruiting class. Typically if…

Are there some firms that do their recruiting in Winter and Spring?

Most on-campus recruiting occurs in a concentrated time-frame (typically Fall for full-time, late-Fall and Winter for summer/internships). I do not have a specific breakdown of how firms recruit, but many will do recruiting on a rolling basis as well. Your best bet is to contact your school's career services office, as well as HR/recruiting contacts…

Is the nature of pre-MBA experience important?

Definitely. Working at a brand name firm and being successful on the job (as shown by promotions, accomplishments, references) makes a huge difference in MBA recruiting (and consulting recruiting as well).

How important is undergrad GPA for MBA consulting recruitment?

Not my area of expertise, Marquis talks about MBA recruitment issues at length. My guess is that undergrad GPA plus a variety of academic factors (eg, major, transcript, etc) play a large role in the admissions process. A 730 GMAT helps but won't completely factor out the 3.2 GPA the first two years. The best…

What’s wrong with not including interests on your resume/CV?

There's nothing explicitly wrong. Including interests has no downside, and plenty of upside. So why wouldn't you do it? It gives resume readers and interviewers an opportunity to understand you better, and there's always the chance your interests will overlap with theirs. If that happens, it's a huge boost to your chances (for instance, if…

Will attending a top business school make it much easier to get into management consulting?

Definitely. Target business schools provide a level of access that you don't get anywhere else. Given how selective the recruiting process is, your best chances of breaking into consulting happen in-school. If you don't have that luxury but want to break into consulting, consider the following two elements when debating career paths: prestige and skill-development.…

Are thank you letters necessary?

While in finance, they can be optional - I'd strongly recommend writing one in consulting. Why? Because decision-making timeframes are typically longer in consulting; consultants have blackberries and continuous access to email; most interviewers appreciate the gesture and at the very least, it'll keep your name in their minds for longer.

How do you find boutique consulting firms to see if they’re a good fit for you?

Tough question. Unlike investment banking, there is no centralized database of boutique consulting firms. They're tough to define (since there are countless one-man consulting shops). The Vault Guide to the Top 50 Management and Strategy Consulting Firms, 2009 Edition is a good start. Google Search is another resource. Finally, there are many forums where you…