For now, here’s a roundup of popular reader questions:

For a complete list of reader questions I’ve answered here at MC, visit the FAQ page. Ctrl-F to find what you need

I missed the summer recruiting cycle here at XYZ university. What can I do now?

The short answer is that you’ve missed out on your best shot at consulting internships. Its worthwhile now to initiate contact with your school recruiting office, recruiters at consulting firms that come to campus, etc – and explain your situation in brief with a resume attached.

At the same time, I’d look into alternative summer employment options – while helpful, it’s not mandatory to have a summer consulting internship for fulltime recruiting (there are very few of these to begin with).

What should I do with my Facebook and Myspace accounts? What about my blog?

Be careful when managing these resources. To be safe, remove all sensitive information and embarrassing photos. Even if you great control of privacy settings and your friend list, you never know how recruiters may wind up with potentially damaging information.

As to your blog – it can be a plus to mention that on your resume. At least a small percentage of the time, resume reviewers will visit your site. Make sure the content and site design are high-quality and leave a positive impression on visitors.

I’d be careful with tough-to-substantiate claims on your resume. If you state that you founded a private equity firm in college and a quick Google search for your “Rising Equity” PE fund shows a picture of 4 teenagers on a dumpy-looking website, you’re in trouble.

What�s the difference between first and second round interviews?

First rounds are broad in scope � used as a tool to make sure you reach a general bar in whatever characteristics that firm is looking for � typically some combination of analytics and communication skills. First round cases are straight-forward and cover general concepts (e.g., declining profits, expansion into new markets).

Second rounds are more particular, and focused on two things. One, probing any weaknesses that your first round interview may have shown, and two, ensuring that you�re a good fit in that particular environment/office. That�s part of the reason why first rounds are local (e.g., at your school) and second rounds are on-site (e.g., in the office that wants to hire you). In second rounds, you also meet and interview with more people and typically have contact points across the firm (e.g., with analysts, more seasoned consultants, and partners).

There have been some important changes in my life that I think firms will want to know. How should I update them (if at all)?

This is a popular question. My advice here is to only communicate updates when they are critical to decision-making.

Small GPA increases, school-wide prizes, new leadership positions – not important.

International awards and fellowships, brand-name firm internships – important.

In your update, you must not come across as arrogant. The best way is to send an updated resume to your firm recruiter contact with the following:

“Dear Sir/Madam, I wanted to send you an updated resume for my file. I recently received the Harry Truman Scholarship for public service and wanted that to reflect in my record. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!”

I’m still too young to apply for management consulting jobs but want to get a head start. What types of jobs teach you the skills that will be helpful in consulting?

Anything business-oriented where you can show the following things: ability to manage people and teams; capacity to learn sophisticated concepts; ability to drive measurable impact in your team/group/division. The firm’s brand-equity is important (eg, Goldman Sachs is more valued than Wachovia).

After several years in finance, I’ve decided to transition into consulting. How do I start?

No direct experience here, but the parallel/experienced hire process is similar across professions. It’s best to have “internal champions” – those within your target firm that forward your resume to recruiters internally, write positive recommendations, help get the ball rolling. Headhunters play a role – but less so in management consulting than in private equity/hedge funds. Reach out to your extended network and generate contacts. Talk to peers/colleagues that have made similar transitions. And keep me posted as this is one area I need to understand better and share with readers.

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 can receive advice (WallStreetOasis Consulting Cabaret and Vault Consulting Message Boards among them). I’ll be writing a short article on good consulting forums soon.

A reader recently posted data on their post-MBA salary/signing bonus offer at a major consulting firm. It’s lower than the data in my salary post so I wanted to share below:

“I accepted an offer this year with a top Consulting Company (post MBA in June) for $115 base, 20% bonus, and $10K signing. Consulting companies are not offering starting packages this year as high as they did the in the past 3 years. I expect to �catch up� in the next few years as times get better.”

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.

Thanks for reading! If you’re new, here are some recommended posts: The Consulting Industry 101; Investment Banking vs Management Consulting; Day in the life of a Management Consultant; Overview of the recruiting process; The Management Consulting Dictionary

UPCOMING POSTS: Life as a Consultant: Interview with Steve Shu; Great forums and other online resources for current and aspiring consultants; You were turned down. Now what?

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I offer resume editing and live interview prep to help people break into management consulting and top business jobs. We’ll prepare you to master the recruiting process, stand out from the 1000’s of other applicants, and land job offers

Liberal arts and humanities majors are often criticized for being “soft majors” – with unchallenging classes and lack of “real world” skill development leaving them unable to land competitive business jobs. Fortunately for all the budding English and Philosophy majors out there, that’s simply not true.

This is the second of my series on entering consulting from “non-business” backgrounds

It’s very common for those from a liberal arts/humanities background to be interested in management consulting. It’s a great introduction to business and opens many doors – from non-profit to government service, from corporate management to further schooling (eg, MBA, grad school, etc).

I’ve been receiving some feedback that much of this advice is tailored towards current and recent undergraduate students. I believe much of the advice to be broadly applicable but it’s most useful for this group because their career tracks are less restricted. If you’ve been a journalist for 10 years or a geneticist for 8 years, it’s tough to break into management consulting unless you shoot for an MBA or are in the top 1% of your field

As a liberal arts and humanities major, you may have the following concerns about your suitability for a consulting career:

• You don’t have enough business experience on your resume
• You don’t understand the consulting industry sufficiently
• Recruiters won’t give you a fair shot since they assume you have insufficient analytical/quantitative preparation
• You are nervous about the interview process, in particular, how to conquer those tough, complex case studies

In this post, I’ll address each of the above concerns, discuss what strengths you should market and develop, and share tips that will serve you well during the management consulting recruiting process.

What options are available as a liberal arts major?

• Global management consulting firms – while the industry is increasingly quantitative and analytical, the cornerstone of success is simply logical thinking. Plus, there’s a definite premium for creative insight. Some firms (eg, BCG) have a reputation for innovation in “out of the box” thinking
• Boutique consulting firms – the choices here are plenty, from industry specialists like Kurt Salmon in retail to functional specialists like Katzenbach in strategy and organizational issues

What are your strengths as a liberal arts major?

• Extra time outside of classes (assuming they’re less time-consuming) – hopefully you’ve leveraged this to tackle more extracurricular work, part-time jobs, and leadership opportunities
• Creative “out of the box” thinking – always tough to test/measure, but can be highlighted by showcasing your entrepreneurial initiatives, significant academic and professional risk-taking, etc
• Strong written and presentation skills – skillset #1 for consultants; opportunities to showcase these include in your cover letter, resume, and interview process

How do you mitigate perceived weaknesses as a liberal arts major?

In the order listed above, and this does not differ much from my post on engineers:

• Business experience – if you’re still in college, find business-related summer internships and part-time jobs during the school year (provided you can manage the workload). If you’re not, tailor your resume to focus on skills and experiences that consultants look for, such as people-leadership, quantitative impact, and entrepreneurial initiative
• Insufficient understanding of management consulting – its your responsibility to learn as much as you can. Check out Management Consulted; email me with questions; read the Vault Guide to Management Consulting; network with contacts in the industry
• Recruiting biases against liberal arts majors – a good GPA will go a long way towards addressing doubts about your analytical chops as it shows you can work hard and work smart; highlight analytical/quantitative jobs and experiences in your resume; become an expert at case studies so you can dominate them during the interviews. I will be writing posts about case studies in the future
• Insufficient recruiting preparation – like the second point, it’s dependent on the time and effort you invest; I offer a coaching service that you can look into; read this article and follow its advice

Stay connected:

I offer resume editing and interview prep. I’ll help you stand out from 1000’s of other applicants and land consulting jobs

This is the first of my series on entering consulting from “non-business” backgrounds – future posts include entering from liberal arts/humanities degrees and non-MBA grad schools

It’s very common for engineers to be interested in consulting – a professionally demanding, well-compensated job which opens many doors in business and beyond.

Another popular field is finance. Read more on the differences between consulting and finance here

As an engineer – whether thats electrical engineering, computer science, civil engineering, or any of the other quantitative and analytical fields – you may have the following concerns:

• You don’t have enough business experience on your resume
• You don’t understand the consulting industry sufficiently
• Recruiters won’t give you a fair shot since they assume you have no people-skills – preferring numbers and analytics
• You don’t have any recruiting preparation – in particular, how to tackle consulting interviews and case studies

In this post, I’ll address each of the above concerns, discuss what strengths you should market and develop, and share tips that will serve you well during the management consulting recruiting process.

What options are available as an engineer?

• Global management consulting firms – increasingly quantitative, increasingly analytical, and some of them (eg, McKinsey) have a reputation for hiring engineers, particularly in regions that serve high-tech clients
• Boutique consulting firms – especially those with technology-focused industry specializations (eg, semiconductors, telecom)
• Technology consulting firms – firms such as Accenture and IBM Business Consulting provide technology-heavy support and solutions to clients

What are your strengths as an engineer?

• Quantitative/analytical skills – applicants that have strong analytical capabilities are at an advantage. These skills are helpful with modeling (financial, operational), statistical analysis, and just basic analytical reasoning
• Success in a “tough” undergraduate major – generally speaking, engineering majors are tougher to complete – there’s more work involved and the academic content is more complex. Having a strong GPA in an engineering major shows recruiters that you work hard to accomplish your goals

How do you mitigate perceived weaknesses as an engineer?

In the order listed above:

• Business experience – if you’re still in college, find business-related summer internships and part-time jobs during the school year (provided you can manage the workload). If you’re not, tailor your resume to focus on skills and experiences that consultants look for, such as people-leadership, quantitative impact, and entrepreneurial initiative
• Insufficient understanding of management consulting – its your responsibility to learn as much as you can. Check out Management Consulted; email me with questions; read the Vault Guide to Management Consulting; network with contacts in the industry
• Recruiting biases against engineers – you can counter this by focusing on the following: presentation skills (practice interviews as much as you can); have a strong story about why you want to enter the industry; show a clear understanding of business news and current events; highlight your people-skills and teamwork/leadership experiences in resume and interviews
• Insufficient recruiting preparation – like the second point, it’s dependent on the time and effort you invest; I offer a coaching service that you can look into; read this article and follow its advice

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I offer resume/CV editing and interview preparation to help people break into management consulting. We’ll help you stand out from 1000’s of other applicants and land consulting job offers