A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with another blog contributor to the SpencerTom community, Jason Oh, to share our experiences about the consulting recruiting process. More specifically, we were able to go over a few common questions about the differences in recruiting at a ‘target university’ and a ‘non-target university’ for management consulting. Fortunately, I can share my views from the target university perspective and Jason can provide complimentary insights from the non-target university perspective.
Before we begin, we wanted to define a “target university” as one in which a large number of consulting firms organize on-campus recruiting and are regularly involved with university student events.
Why did you decide to pursue management consulting? In university, what inspired you to take this path?
Jeff: I had little idea about management consulting until my second year at university. That was when I participated in my first formal case competition and had the opportunity to speak with industry representatives and recent graduates about their career choices in consulting. Afterwards, my curiosity grew and I took the initiative to participate in other case competitions and business plan competitions. I also volunteered as a pro-bono consultant to build my business acumen and apply my consulting skills to real-world problems. In hindsight, there were a couple of reasons why management consulting stood out to me as an ideal career choice:
- As a junior, you are placed in a generalist role in which you gain exposure to different industries and functional areas. You’ll work with different clients and you’ll discover your area of interest.
- In consulting, you’ll have to challenge yourself and regularly interact with clients. Oftentimes, this involves the opportunity to speak with senior leaders and hear their perspectives on business, social and economic issues.
- The work environment is extremely fast-paced and challenging, especially for graduates without much formal work experience. However, you’ll grow your knowledge base much faster than most industry jobs.
Jason: After finishing one year of university I joined the army to serve my country for two years, and while in the army I came across a book called the ‘McKinsey Way’. I had never heard of firms like McKinsey or BCG, not to mention the term ‘management consulting’. But the book defines, to some extent, management consultants as doctors for the most prominent corporations to solve their business problems and this sounded very cool. So coming back to school, I immediately joined the school’s management consulting club to learn more about the job and the process to become one. I also exposed myself to various case competitions.
How is recruiting done at your school?
Jeff: There are many advantages of campus recruiting at a target school. From my experience, the biggest difference and advantage of being a student at a target university is that large companies actively visit campus and have multiple touchpoints with students.
At the start of the school year, companies from a variety of industries visit campus and offer information and networking sessions before application deadlines. Many students attend these events to reconnect with industry representatives or to gain more information about companies or about specific industries.
Throughout the year, companies continue to interact with students. For example, many large companies sponsor campus events such as conferences, speaker panels, and case competitions. These events give students an opportunity to learn more about a specific industry and give companies the chance to observe top-performing and enthusiastic students. This past year, both Jason and I had the opportunity to participate as judges in a case competition at a local university and developed professional relationships with many of the participants. In addition, companies offer tours of their major offices to get students interested in them.
Jason: One main disadvantage of a non-target school is that there are limited resources available and the number of alumni who work in the consulting industry is small, so you have to be more initiative driven. But joining the consulting club provided me with three great values:
- It surrounded me with people with similar aspirations.
- It allowed me to participate in various case competitions.
- It provided me with the opportunity to start a pro-bono consulting program by connecting students with startups and engaging consultants as advisors. This exposed students to real consulting projects and even gave tremendous opportunity to build connections. Once this was on the ground running, it was easier to obtain sponsorships and invite consultant judges to various events that I further organized.
There are three paths students can take to join a management consulting firm out of school:
- Co-op: A co-op is like an internship where you work at a company for four months during the school-year (note: number and duration of co-ops can differ based on school and program). Since my university has the largest co-op program in the world, there are hundreds of companies that participate, including a few consulting firms, and it is relatively easy to convert the co-op into a full-time offer.
- On-campus recruiting (OCR): There is a limited number of consulting firms that recruit through this channel, and these spots are very limited. Due to the competition, it is rare to even receive an interview from the major firms like McKinsey, BCG, and Bain, and even if you are invited it is extremely difficult to convert it into a full-time offer.
- Non-standard way: If you are from a non-target school, you have to be proactive to look for opportunities, which could mean using personal connections, sending cold emails, having cold-calls, or setting up coffee chats to land an interview. I personally used the cold-emailing technique to land my first consulting internship in a foreign country and it was a phenomenal experience.
What was your biggest challenge during the recruiting process, at a target and at a non-target university?
Jeff: The biggest challenge during the recruiting process at a target university is positioning yourself to stand out among your peers. Competition at a target university can be quite strong. Many students at a target university are extremely accomplished; for example, these students used to be the top of their class and were actively involved in their high schools. Now, they participate in the university student body, they have connections from various companies, and they are academically driven. Also, a large portion of students have previous exposure to certain fields of business – many know that management consulting is the industry they want to pursue ever since they started business school.
Jason: As a student at a non-target school, two things really stood out to me as challenges when recruiting for consulting:
- Receiving an interview: due to the lack of OCR I had to be creative to land interviews. Below are two examples of what I did to land an interview.
- Contacted an alumnus who works at the firm: this particular alumnus was a Sr. Manager who joined post-MBA after attending a target business school, and considering his seniority I knew he could have some influence in getting me an interview. So I initially set up a coffee chat, provided my application package, which included a portfolio of projects I’ve done, and tried to convince him that I can do the job. Essentially, he referred me to the hiring lead and was able to get me an interview.
- Applied on the target school’s portal: some firms allow only target schools to apply on their website by having a separate application link. You might call me bold but I applied nonetheless with a letter of explanation of how I’m not from this particular school but I would really like to work at the firm. The result was an interview invitation.
- Preparing for the interview: coming from a non-target school means not many people are familiar with the interview process and many are not aware of the structured way to prepare for it. Even if you get a case partner, which I believe is the best way to prepare for case interviews, both of you might not know what is a good standard. This could have devastating consequences as you may pick up bad habits from each other or even be complacent with performance.
What are some ways to stand out?
Jeff: From my experience, there are many ways to stand out at a target university:
- Build your professional network: Take the initiative to reach out to people to further build your professional network. This includes getting coffee or chatting with people who graduated from your university or with individuals who have experiences that interest you. I recommend reaching out to people earlier in your university experience and taking the initiative to stay in contact with your network. At campus events, you’ll be able to reconnect with them before campus recruiting starts.
- Participate in university clubs: Participate in university clubs that either: (1) are related to management consulting or (2) have many alumni in the management consulting industry. Oftentimes, you can make a good impression within the club and ask for a referral when it is your time to recruit.
- Accomplish something unique: During campus recruiting, everyone around you is from the same school and shares similar backgrounds. To stand out, some of my friends started clubs or side businesses; others spent time strengthening their musical or artistic talents.
Jason: I don’t think there is a big difference between a target and a non-target school when it comes to standing out, as you still need to have at least two check marks next to the three categories used for evaluation: high grades, impressive work experience, and leadership. Additionally, it will go a long way if you are able to hustle, constantly network and get your name out there. The following is what I personally did to stand out:
- Joined the management consulting club and rose to an executive position.
- Initiated a pro-bono consulting program.
- Organized annual case competitions, office visits, and other events that involved consulting firms, which allowed me to expand my network.
- Got a brand name on my resume by doing my initial batches of co-op at banks. In total, I worked at three different banks doing sales & trading and project management, which exposed me to a wide variety of business functions and work.
- Cold emailed consulting firms in a foreign country to receive an internship and gain relevant experience.
- Found passion outside of school and work, which is running for me, and participated in multiple 10km and half-marathons, which was a great topic for conversation during networking/interviews.
- Listened to consulting-related podcasts, which equipped me with the knowledge to understand the most recent trends and topics discussed in the industry and improved my communication style of how to speak like a consultant.
Does the distinction between target and non-target universities matter as much during experienced hire recruiting?
Jeff: From my experience, the distinction between university types is much less important during experienced hire recruiting when being considered for an interview; relevant, unique and transferable experience is valued much more highly than your alma mater. However, coming from a target university can help you when you are networking during your job search. Finding someone senior who came from the same university can be advantageous to use as common ground to build a relationship. In addition, firm representatives tend to show more interest in experienced candidates who share the same alma mater as them.
Jason: I would like to echo what Jeff said and also note that this may differ based on geography. Additionally, it applies more to people with less than 3 years of full-time work experience. In North America, undergraduate degrees will be considered less important than transferable experience and skillset, whereas some parts of Asia might not even look at your CV if you did not graduate from a target school.
Jeff Zhang is an Associate at PwC working with the Deals Strategy / Strategy Consulting team. Previously, he was a Management Consultant at Novantas with a focus on the financial services sector. He has experience advising clients on pricing, marketing, distribution, big data analysis, and growth strategy projects.
Jason Oh is a Senior Consultant, Strategy & Customer at EY with project experiences in commercial due diligence and corporate strategy planning. Previously, he was a Management Consultant at Novantas with a focus on the financial services sector, where he advised on pricing, marketing, channel distribution, digital transformation and due diligence.
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