Here’s a roundup of reader questions – covering topics including role play consulting interviews, consulting interview dress code, consulting lingo, and cover letters.

To start, I found an online copy of the Wetfeet Guide to the Top 25 Consulting Firms – worth a quick browse as their company profiles are strong on the basics.

Now onto the questions:

I have an interview coming up, and the recruiter just informed me that there will be a role play portion to my case study. I’ve never done one before, any advice?

Role plays are not uncommon in management consulting interviews. Generally, you play a consultant presenting information to a client (played by the interviewer). Your job is to present your findings and recommendations in an analytical, persuasive manner. The client may throw up roadblocks, be difficult to deal with, and it’s up to you to stay calm, confident, and present your points with good reasoning and data.

These situations come up frequently on the job, and interviewers want to know that you have the presence to handle yourself adeptly.

How come consultants like to use so much lingo? Is this also true in the Fortune 500s?

Management consulting terms is a topic I’ve covered extensively here. It’s simply a function of the industry, and successful management consultants are masters of consulting lingo. To a lesser extent, these phrases are used in Fortune 500s – although I’d say your bigger concern there is unique, company-specific acronyms, nicknames, and terms. The better you are at it, the more natural you appear.

Okay, so I am in my sophomore year and I am trying to position myself for a consulting gig next year. What are some good summer internships for a sophomore that will look good come recruiting season?

I cover consulting summer internship recruiting here, but if you’re unable to land a consulting job, aim for two criteria: prestige and skill development. Prestige is more important if you want to ultimately work at a McKBain Group. As an example, I’d choose Goldman Sachs Asset Management over Gallup’s consulting group, even if you’ll acquire more consulting-like skills at Gallup.

What career paths are available when you’re leaving management consulting?

I postponed answering this question because of my last 2 posts, both covering management consulting exit opportunities. There are lots! From business to public sector, from non-profit to grad school, one of the biggest attractions to management consulting over investment banking is its breadth of opportunities.

What’s the proper attire for management consulting interviews?

I briefly covered consulting interview dress code before. On this topic, everyone has an opinion. To keep it simple: wear something nice but not flashy, and keep your outfit neat (eg, no wrinkles).

What other sources besides your blog would you recommend to understand the job better?

I’ve interviewed 2 big bloggers in this space – Marquis from McKinsey and Steve Shu from Nortel. Both of their sites have tons of high-quality information about the industry.

For case study questions and preparation, I’d look at www.caseinterview.com

Check out my blogroll for more resources.

Finally, I recommend some books and periodicals for consulting applicants.

Can you do an update to your day in the life of a management consultant?

One of my most popular posts is A Day In The Life Of A Management Consultant. It took a long time to craft that post, but I’m planning at least one more version (and if current consultants are interested in guest posting on that topic, please contact me!).

The next 3 questions are a series from a very dedicated reader…

1. I’m very tempted to contact my past interviewers at Accenture for the coming September fulltime recruitment season, but I’m not sure if that would be a good idea since my final round interviewers never replied to my emails when I requested their feedbacks after I got rejected. Should I email the consultants who interviewed me for the earlier rounds and let them know that I’m still interested?

If your final round interviewers did not respond to feedback emails, it’s ok to email your first round interviewers to followup briefly. It’s important not to push your luck – at most, I’d thank them for the opportunity, briefly update them on final rounds, and tell them you’ll be applying again for fulltime recruiting. If you receive no response, wait until 1-2 months before fulltime recruiting starts to re-initiate contact and jog their memory.

2. Besides Accenture, I was never offered interviews from other firms. During last September recruitment season I emailed a Deloitte Consultant after the campus info session, and he answered a lot of my questions. I told him about my CGPA concern, and he advised me to briefly say why I underperformed in my cover letter, but in the end I didn’t take his advice since I was too afraid to risk highlighting a major weakness. Do you think I should mention reasons for my low CGPA in my cover letter?

If it’s very low, you should briefly mention it in your cover letter. Keep in mind that most consulting cover letters are scanned briefly, if at all. My advice here is to work hard on your grades and get a higher GPA! Think about graduate programs that offer an opportunity to “reset” your GPA for recruiting.

3. As you’ve mentioned in your blog – too much downtime or getting a job in another field (ie: accounting, marketing) could remove me completely from the consulting track. I’m no longer in school and unemployed, but also not suitable for graduate school yet. I feel like I’m stuck in the most unfavorable position, and I don’t know what I can do now so I can increase my chances for the coming September recruitment season. I’ve already tried applying to various jobs such as Business Analyst positions within banks and mid-small size consulting firms but still no luck. What type of jobs do you think I should also consider if I still want to get into consulting in the very near future – research analyst, marketing management, CRM?

Without knowing specific options available, you should think about:

1. The prestige and influence of the company
2. The skillset you’ll be developing – is it analytical? Do you build presentation skills? Functional or industry-specific expertise?
3. Career paths of people who left that company – did they enter consulting?
4. The network you’ll build – remember, networking is key for getting consulting jobs!

To an extent, #3 and #4 are the same. This is also the relative prioritization I’d have when deciding.

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

Previous interviews featured consultants from Booz Allen, AT Kearney, Nortel, and McKinsey.

Disclaimer: I did not personally conduct this interview. Both the questions and answers were sent to me by a kind reader. I found the content to be insightful and thorough, so enjoy!

I’ve bolded parts that are helpful for consulting applicants, and have additional comments in gray paragraph boxes at the end of each question

What do you do?

Celerant is a virtual company, in that we don’t have regional offices. Our consultants live anywhere in North America that they wish and the project sites become their office. Typically I will fly out Monday morning and return on Friday evening every week of a project which tend to last anywhere from 4-12 months at a time. Upon arrival on Monday morning I go directly to the client site where it is expected I will begin work no later than after lunch that day.

My typical day (averages 12 hours long) is spent facilitating a client team through identification and development of solutions. Another large portion of my time is spent helping this team explain the value of our solutions to key stakeholders in the organization. I’m working with people from the ground floor up to top management in order to fully implement sustainable change in the organization. Implementing change includes helping them to see the value of change and how it will benefit everyone in the long run, and getting the key people to feel so good about new ways that they are carrying out their business that they would never want to go back to the old.

The value we offer our clients first and foremost is that of an outsider with experience in their field with ideas and alternative solutions to the way that work is currently being done. We are change agents. It is our job to help stretch the clients thinking of what is possible and drive them to implement new or improved systems and processes which will in turn streamline the workflow and rationalize the work being done by those people in certain functions and decision making roles. Typically we take a hard look at things like:

• Identifying & picking up ‘quick wins’ (financial and cultural improvements that can happen within minimal effort or approval) that can gain momentum for the client & the project
• Reviewing how the client manages its inventories, organizes & executes activities across departments, and responds to market demands.
• How effectively the client is forecasting, planning, executing and reporting the work that is taking place
• Realigning the roles, responsibilities, and structure within the organization in alignment with the value chain for the company

What sets Celerant apart from other consultancies is that we are an Implementation and Operational Strategy consultancy. We are on the ground with the people doing the work and achieving cost savings & process optimization which link directly to the bottom line. Also, as a result of the program that we come in offering and the typical project duration we pride ourselves on our ability to deliver sustainable behavior change to our clients which will assure a culture of continuous improvement has been institutionalized.

Read my post on a day in consulting and additional thoughts on consulting travel. Celerant is focused on operations work – intense, daily client interaction with folks up and down the org chart is typical

What steps have you taken to get to where you are today?

This was my first job after graduating from college. It was through much conversation with professors, friends, and career services that I identified the field of Management Consulting as the field I wanted to enter. I realized up front the rigor of the job (travel, lifestyle, etc) but was enticed by the opportunity to see the inner workings of many different companies and learn first hand the ‘Don’t and Don’ts’ of business so that one day my company won’t make the same mistakes.

I entered Celerant at the consultant level and was promoted 1.5 years later to the title of Senior Consultant. With the promotion I have taken on much more responsibility and expectations for output and thought leadership. I have spent time in many different areas of our company learning about offerings such as Asset Management, Supply Chain, and most recently Organizational Effectiveness. I see the experience of diversifying experience in the first few years as a ‘Must Do’, for it helps ones marketability as well as helping you avoid becoming pigeon holed when looking for future jobs in that industry or if you were to change industries all together.

Consulting affords a broad business education, but you can’t take it for granted. Strive to learn a diverse set of skills to keep options open. More on consulting skills here

What qualities do you and your company/organization find most attractive when hiring?

Years of experience in related industries and/or consulting are a big plus when applying. But I think the following characteristics about a candidate are also very appealing to Celerant:

• Experience facilitating, coaching, and driving groups to solutions and outputs
• A “Whatever it takes” mentality
• Self Confidence
• The ability to present and speak with confidence about ones convictions and ideals
• Not just an understanding of the problems that companies face or the solutions to improve their current situation, but the ability to take the client from the old to the new (Facilitation)
• Creativity to solving problems and the ability to communicate with others

What sort of academic and professional experiences would be helpful in landing a job in your field?

I think that the following were all very important in preparing me to land a job in the consulting field:

• My focus on Management & Organizational Behavior “Why do people act and behave like they do in given situations?” or “What do good organizations do?”
• Experiences in coaching and leading in many different arenas in and out of college. I spent 4 years coaching basketball, took on many leadership positions within volunteer organizations, and was forced to develop & implement solutions within all of those experiences
• Ability to understand at a high level those buttons that impact the bottom line and financial viability of a company
• Utilize your professors/mentors/friends in industry as advisors that you keep in touch with. I have continued to keep my 2 college advisors as well as some close friends (both peers and from my parents generation) abreast of my endeavors, thoughts, concerns, and new ideas on given basis. People you have a connection with are receptive to listening and want to offer advice.

Having had no prior “long term” industry experience when entering this job it was these past experiences that helped me to relate, adapt, and find solutions to problems I encountered along the way.

The above points emphasize leadership and business knowledge. Read every consulting resource you can find and edit your resume to demonstrate you have a consulting skillset

Where would you recommend that people interested in this occupation begin to look?

• Use the college and grad school alumni network – Call, e-mail, take them out to lunch
• Use the network of family and friends you have – they know you the best as far as your credibility, although you may need to show them that you are definitely ready and qualified to enter the industry you are looking at
• Go knocking on doors & find ways to talk to people in companies you are interested in
• Have a mantra/story that you are always talking about. Not just a clear picture of what you want to do, but why and how excited you are about finding an opportunity. It is amazing how powerful it is when one keeps their goal mind at all turns, and how opportunities begin to present themselves

Network and network some more! It’s key to landing consulting jobs. Learn how to network at presentations and consulting networking basics from previous posts

What are your future professional plans?

I will own my own business someday soon down the road. Risky? Yes, but I’m very clear that I want to be the one ultimately accountable for my success and that of my company.

I also look forward to working in executive development one day coaching CEO’s and top level management teams through transitions, tough decisions, and new opportunities.

I’m very excited to return to coaching at some time in the future and work developing and mentoring young people through athletics.

Lastly, I hope to one day be able to be a sounding board and Angel investor for young people and the business ideas and plans that they want to get off the ground.

I think that I will need to be a CEO in order to coach CEOs (credibility). To that point I believe that getting my MBA will be critical as well.

Entrepreneurship and venture capital are two attractive consulting exit options

Any last words of wisdom?

• Keep your goal in mind at all times. Let it emanate from you in all you do.
• Take every opportunity to learn and increase your frame of reference
• Do what you like, define success for yourself (don’t let others) and become comfortable with the reality of what it will take to achieve that success. If you are doing something you don’t like, it will be clear to everyone you work with.

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UPCOMING POSTS: Consulting exit opportunities – Part 2 of 2

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

So what are the differences between the two? First, I’ll start with the similarities:

1) Consulting travel will usually be a component
2) You’ll work in teams, interacting closely with clients
3) As an analyst/associate/consultant, your focus will be on data gathering, analysis, and presentation. In plain English, this means you’ll receive lots of data from your client, do calculations in Excel, combine that with thorough Internet research and some interviews, and put it into slides to share at meetings

But the differences are very important:

1) While the fundamentals of your work will be the same, the application of that work can vary. Boutique companies like Kurt Salmon typically focus on narrower questions and in fewer industries. At a Big 3 consulting firm (Bain, BCG, McKinsey) you receive exposure to different industries and functions (eg, strategy, operations, organization). In boutiques your exposure is more narrow – at Kurt Salmon, your primary focus would be on retail and consumer goods companies. This is both a pro (you start building expertise) and a con (what if you decide the retail sector is not for you?).

But again, the day-to-day will look very similar. The difference is in the longer-term.

2) As for travel – it depends. Some boutiques do a lot of traveling if they have an industry focus (Kurt Salmon is a well-regarded expert in the retail/consumer goods space, with clients spread throughout the US and internationally). But other boutiques have a more local focus (eg, Slalom Consulting) and thus you may travel very little – most of your work would be with area clients with whom your firm has developed a lasting relationship

3) While you’re guaranteed to work in teams and with clients, both the types of team members, types of clients and nature of interaction could be different. Boutiques have less coverage for clients overall, which could mean you’ll see significantly more client interaction from an early stage, and with more senior members (this is the norm – but I have heard of smaller consulting firms like ATKearney with enormous teams at the client, so it can vary). Your teams will usually be smaller, often with you and maybe one other person as the only real day-to-day presence at your clients. Each of these comes with its own set of pros and cons.

Further reading: Interview with an ATKearney Shanghai consultant

4) Culture can be vastly different

I use the example of a small liberal arts college (Brown) vs a large, public institution (UCLA).

Brown offers greater personalization and support, everyone knows your name, you’re a big fish in a small pond. At UCLA, its harder to standout. The support network is not personalized and easily accessible. While there are more opportunities, it’s up to you to seize them. You’re a small fish in a big pond, but the upside can be higher.

The analogy also applies to large city offices versus satellite/smaller city offices (for example, Bain’s San Francisco office versus their satellite offices in Texas. A great discussion of consulting office selection can be found in my interview with Marquis)

5) Future jobs/exit options. In particular I need to put a disclaimer here, because your situation is largely within your control and the actual situations vary widely. But when we discuss the ACCESS that you have to exit opportunities across industries and job functions, larger firms (like Boston Consulting Group) are the clear winner. Much larger alumni networks, more internally shared recruiting emails and advice, greater brand recognition, the list goes on. Boutiques, given their strong reputation in particular niches, offer plenty of opportunities in the same space – but are distinctly behind in offering opportunities to enter unrelated career paths. These corporate paths usually include (and this is not counting the many who enter graduate school):