DMCC Roadmap presents: Intro to Consulting

DMCC Roadmap presents:Intro to Consulting September 4, 2013

SY Roadmap 2013 Roadmap 201 9:30 – 10:00am Intro to Consulting 10:00 – 10:45am Behavioral Interview 10:45 – 11:30am Case Interview 11:30am – 12:00pm Break and grab lunch Roadmap 202 12:00 – 1:00pmMary Beck: State of the Union 1:00 – 2:00pm The Structured Casing Approach 2:00 – 2:30pm Math Tips & Tricks 2:30 – 2:45pm Break 2:45—3:45pm Panel / Q&A 3:45 – 5:00pm Group Casing 5:00pm 2013-14 Casebook distribution 5:30pm Happy Hour (WaDuke)

Agenda • Consulting Overview • What is consulting? • What do consultants do? • What are the different types of firms? • What is the interview process like across firms? • Healthcare, IT, Human Capital, International, and Off-Campus Overview

Consulting is many things Source: http://wordle.net with input from accenture.com, bain.com, bcg.com, deloitte.com ,mckinsey.com, & wikipedia.com

Consulting is many things 1 4 3 6 2 7 5 Consulting is primarily focused on helping clients manage problems Source: http://wordle.net with input from accenture.com, bain.com, bcg.com, deloitte.com ,mckinsey.com, & wikipedia.com

Consulting is a people based industry that helps clients manage through challenges Keyword Definition 1 2 3 4

Consulting offers business/industry expertise and different capabilities for each Keyword Definition 5 6 7

Consultants perform many functions, across many different industries 6 7 Industries Capabilities Consultants work in many capacities across all industries

Consultants use many tools to solve problems Source: Joe’s random thoughts

Consultants use many tools to solve problems 5 4 1 2 6 3 Consultants use analysis to develop reports (slides) or processes

Consultants review company and gathered data to solve a problem Keyword Definition 1 2 3

Consultants use analysis to develop new processes and recommendations Keyword Definition 4 5 6

A day in the life… Time Action

Consulting firms differ in the services they offer Service type Description 1 2 3 4

Consulting firms differ in the services they offer Service type Description 5 6 7 8

Consulting firms differ in their structure and operating norms Area Differences

First round interviews generally consist of two equally important parts, case and behavioral Behavioral interview Case interview

Second round interviews can be similar, or they can feature new formats What is it? Objective Alt. Format

Agenda • Consulting Overview • What is consulting? • What do consultants do? • What are the different types of firms? • What is the interview process like across firms? • Healthcare, IT, Human Capital, and Off-Campus Overview

Healthcare, IT & Human Capital Consulting Industry Description

Off-campus & other industry consulting job search • Only a fraction of firms recruit on campus, and positions are extremely competitive • Off-campus consulting firms have similar recruiting timelines; starting early is key to success • Resources include 2Y students, alumni, career center, Vault Guide to Consulting & other library resources ON-CAMPUS OFF-CAMPUS

Questions?

Your story is your foundation for recruiting in consulting • This session will provide a structure for telling your story in a concise, logical and purposeful way • You will tell your story in informal and formal events: informational interviews, networking events, casual conversation, interviews, and more • Your story will help you answer questions such as: • Walk me through your resume. • Tell me about yourself. • Why do you want a career in Consulting? • Why do you want to work for Company X?

Telling your story begins before the actual interview • Informal settings: office hours, sip circles, etc. • Focus on making a good impression (or at least not a bad one) • Opportunity to show consulting skills (team-player, interpersonal skills) • Tailor questions to setting/person • Formal settings: coffee chats, informational interviews, actual interviews (1st and second rounds) • Deliberate story: consulting is typically not a logical career step until you make the case it is • Focus on specific skills • “Reset” button is hit for first round/second round interviews • Opportunity to develop and strengthen your story

Your story’s impact can be significant • Establishes strong or weak first impression • It’s your opening statement • Interviewers can make up their minds on a candidate within the first 10 minutes • First opportunity to convey your passion about consulting and the company • Again: consulting is rarely the next logical career step • Firm: Differs from other industries as not a lot of previous touchpoints • Recruiters depend on you to communicate your value proposition • They don’t have time to read resumes in depth • Can demonstrate self-awareness and confidence • No “perfect” background for consulting, firms want diverse people

Map your prior experience in a logical and purposeful way TRANSITION TRANSITION TRANSITION TRANSITION ANCHOR

Transitions and lessons learned are key to a successful story • They are your first opportunity to do the following: • Drive the interview • Communicate logic and structure • Demonstrate self-awareness and confidence

Highlight the key skills on your resume useful in consulting • Delivering results • Problem solving • Teamwork • Building customer relationships • Analytics • Cross-functional leadership • Project management • Creativity • Interpersonal skills • Also, carefully address skills that recruiters may view as a weakness

Guidelines for Crafting Your Story • SHOW YOUR PASSION FOR CONSULTING! • You really need to really sell WHY you want Consulting • Highlight influences or inflection points that made you want to switch to Consulting • Show that you understand what consultants do, and why you are a good fit • Be PURPOSEFUL • Show that you navigated your career with a clear goal in mind • Be LOGICAL • Explain the WHY behind job changes; do not underestimate the importance of well-reasoned transitions! • Be CONCISE • Only highlight what is truly relevant to your story • 2 minutes, with a shorter version for networking

Let’s partner up and give it a try… TRANSITION TRANSITION TRANSITION TRANSITION ANCHOR

Questions?

DMCC Roadmap presents:Case Interview September 4, 2013

Agenda • Case interview overview • What are consulting firms looking for?

Consulting firms adhere to a fairly standardized interview structure Duration What to expect / What the interviewer expects Evaluative Area

The case is a realistic representation of the work consulting companies do Case portion = Solve a business problem Poise, communication skills Structured thinking Creativity and enthusiasm for work Similar to case work at consulting firms, cracking a case requires you to simplify an ambiguous problem into an easy-to-communicate recommendation

Strong candidates will be poised, creative, and analytical What we mean by poised What we mean by creative What we mean by analytical It’s easy to focus exclusively on the analysis. Poise and enthusiasm are just as - if not more - important.

Case questions are often derived from the interviewer’s actual experience A large soft drink company has experienced stagnant growth over the last five years. What are the causes and what should the company do to increase growth? A major pharmaceutical company is looking at a merger with a smaller biotech firm. How would you advise them? An auto maker is considering launching a motorcycle line. What advice would you give them?

Common case pitfalls can me mitigated and avoided with the right preparation Pitfall Ways to avoid

Agenda • Case interview overview • What are consulting firms looking for?

All consulting firms look for three key things in candidates: What are they?

All consulting firms look for three key things during case interviews with candidates: What are they? • Structured Problem Solving • “Can this candidate solve a problem using business intuition and creativity while maintaining a structured approach??” • 2. Communication • “Can I put this candidate in front of a client?” • 3. Fit & Teamwork • “Would I want this candidate on my team? Would I want to be stuck in an airport with this person?”

What does “Structured Problem Solving” mean? • It means quickly developing a structure that’s applicable to the problem • It means being able to solve simple math problems (we’ll get to this later in the day) The best candidates bring STRUCTURED, CREATIVE thoughts that provide UNIQUE INSIGHTS to the problem at hand

A Sample Case I have a friend who owns a Ski resort in Salt Lake City, Utah. It’s a small resort, but it has done well over the last couple years. He has decided he wants to double earnings over the next 3 years and he has asked us to help. So where do we go from here? What kind of problem is this?

How do you approach a problem? • Use your business sense and intuition to create a structure for your ideas • What could be considerations in the overall external marketplace? • Rapidly increasing demand in certain geographic areas? • Consumers changing tastes from snowboarding to skiing? • Competitors consolidating? • What could be considerations internally at the company? • Current product mix and profitability… room for change or growth? • Opportunity to increase quantity of skiiers, terrain, other attractions? • Is our operations set up to handle increased growth… investment needed DAILY PRACTICE: Read the front page of the WSJ business section or Bloomberg “Industries” section and mentally “solve” 1 article per day

“Can I put this candidate in front a client?”… what does that mean??? • Are you confident and conversational? • Are you passionate about what you are doing? • Can you communicate succinctly? • Do you answer first and then justify your answer? • This will come with PRACTICE: • Go back and redo old cases, working only on clearly and confidentially communicating • Go back are re-give old recommendations, making sure you are succinct and provide REASONS for your answers

DMCC Roadmap presents: Intro to Consulting