‘Technological innovation’ has recently become an ossified catch-all term not only in venture capital circles, but in management consultancy as well. Under the deceiving influence of this catchy buzz-word, we tend to underestimate the complications which technological trailblazing entails. Such issues gain increasing relevance in a consulting career, if one decides to take projects with […]
Category: Consulting
If someone is willing to give you 20 minutes of their time, what is the most value you can extract from that conversation? I networked my way to an interview. I cold messaged over 200 people on LinkedIn and had 50+ conversations with current consultants. The conversations not only helped me get referrals but also […]
Expertise in case studies is considered a given not just among the veterans of business life, but even for newly aspiring consultants, who wish to break into the consultancy industry. Market-sizing, competitor-analysis, pricing-strategy and legal risk-assessment are all components to a standard case study which we tend to give primacy to, yet in many cases, […]
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Tips for Case Prepping Alone
As fall recruiting season is on the horizon, it’s inevitably a busy time for many students looking to recruit into consulting. On top of regular life commitments, you also must spend time on preparing applications, practicing for interviews, and partaking in the interviews themselves. With such a busy schedule, it can be tough to find […]
Numbers are at the foundation of understanding both science and business. Both fields rely on translating real world events into data points which are then used to answer questions and generate insights. Coming from a health and science background I am familiar with looking at health data and being able to gain insights to make […]
Discussion on management consultancy often reduces the clientele of strategy firms to multinational corporations. Although this might largely be the case, such a simplistic view ignores a major field of consulting: governmental and public sector advisory services. MBB strategy firms and the Big 4 professional services companies all have departments specifically designated for public policy […]
If you are a current student and are interested in consulting, chances are you are familiar with your school’s consulting club. Maybe you’ve attended a competition hosted by them, or perhaps you’ve utilized resources made available by them – no matter how you’ve interacted with the club, it’s a valuable resource for aspiring consultants to […]
If you have decided to pursue an MBA, then taking the GMAT is an unavoidable part of the process. The Graduate Management Admission Test is a very challenging exam divided into 4 sections: Integrated Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment, Quantitative Reasoning, and Verbal Reasoning. Your GMAT score will range from 200 – 800, calculated solely based […]
Being a business consultant is one of the most challenging and rewarding jobs you can have. Each and every day you are setting out to help other businesses succeed. The path to becoming a successful business consultant is not going to be the same for everyone. Some people know that they want to be a […]
Deciding to do an MBA is a big decision. Besides the financial cost of attending the program, you will incur the opportunity cost of lost income or other benefits that you would have obtained from doing something else for those two years, and you will have to invest time and energy which are the two […]
Dane Sequeira was an advanced professional degree consultant at the Boston Consulting Group. In 2019 he earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, studying under Dr. Brian Mann. In the field of nonlinear dynamics, Dane studied ocean energy harvesting buoys. He worked at the Los Angeles office of BCG, performing due diligence with private equity clients […]
Billy Gerhard is a consultant in the Philadelphia office of the Boston Consulting Group, a Big 3 management consulting firm. In 2019, he received his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Gunsch Lab from Duke University. His research was on microbial response to water treatment and invasive bacterial species movement. Prior to attending […]
In recent years, the Big 4 accounting firms have placed an increasing emphasis on emerging technology. This can be seen from their graduate recruitment process. Recruitment screening assessments increasingly ask how candidates, as newly appointed auditors, would use emerging technologies. The audit process has been vastly altered by emerging technologies. The improvement in technology has […]
One aspect of consulting career development that I don’t think those new to the industry sufficiently appreciate is the importance of having a community of mentors. Yes, most firms have a system whereby each consultant is required to have a designated mentor to be an official guide (formally titled Coach, Counselor, etc.). Yet, beyond that, […]
Cracking a case can be a daunting task. For a career in consulting, you should strive to be ambitious, passionate and determined. The case study interview is a common way for consulting firms to screen candidates because it allows them to evaluate multiple inter-related consulting skills including data analysis, analytical skills, problem-solving abilities, active listening […]
A constantly reoccurring conversation I have heard discussed about the management consulting industry is if the preference for talent is in favor of “poets” (those that come from more of a humanities background) or “quants” (those that come from more of a technical or hard sciences background). Of course, the best position to be in […]
The working world can be an intimidating environment. Problems may arise with your boss, colleagues, the economy, your company’s strategy or business practices. You may have limited control over the source of the problem and little leverage to resolve it. This post aims to provide you with some guidance on how to approach difficulties in […]
There is a misconception in graduate school that participating in an internship is a waste of time and might prolong your schooling, but that could not be further from the truth. Now I am not talking about brief stays at national laboratories where you conduct your doctoral research, nor clinical rotations for course credit, nor […]
Receiving an offer from a top consulting firm is an exciting experience. It is a breakthrough for many and a fantastic journey to begin. The first step starts with training, the learning of technical skills, soft skills, and time management skills. In consulting, your training, adapting, and professional growth actually never stop. You will frequently […]
The biggest challenge of getting into a consultancy is the case interviews. Hardly any other job has such a challenging entry barrier. Fortunately, there are numerous resources to help you prepare for these case interviews. However, most of them are missing a crucial piece of information. One mistake that almost all applicants make during their interview […]
As a corporate strategy professional, I execute and coordinate all of the key activities of the firm that span multiple business units and functions. This involves orchestrating company-wide planning for the Board of Directors and executive leadership team on the firm’s long-term strategic direction, annual operating plan, budgets, capital investment strategy, as well as informing […]
There is a good chance that you have a formidable LinkedIn profile, unmatched experience, and a dream to become the best in the consulting industry – so what’s next? As a young and aspiring professional, you will be launching your consulting career in an uncertain environment. Already, there is immense competition for internships, graduate positions, […]
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The Slide Writing Bible
In management consulting and many other sectors, people spend a lot of time creating PowerPoint slides as it has become the basis for communicating, both internally and externally. However, slide writing is often very challenging. It forces you to structure your thinking and the slide deck needs to include the right content as well as […]
Consultants in the rainbow nation have continued to operate efficiently and effectively during the Covid pandemic. The chaos has changed the way the consulting process is carried out but the end goal of providing reliable solutions to clients has remained the same. Based on several interviews with consultants, here is the picture painted for me […]
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 […]
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, […]