It’s been awhile since our last Life as a Consultant interview. We’ve talked to consultants from McKinsey, Nortel Consulting, and Booz Allen amongst others.

Today’s interview is with a former Bain consultant. His story is particularly interesting given his engineering background and current venture capital role.

Now on to the interview! I’ve bolded a few particularly helpful comments for recruiting and shared my reactions in gray boxes

The views and opinions expressed are strictly those of the interviewee and do not reflect the views of the interviewee’s employers or affiliated entities.

1. For the benefit of readers, can you give us a summary of your background? Education, current job, previous jobs, interests, etc

I graduated from a private university on the West Coast with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. In between the summer of my sophomore and junior years, I did an internship at a semiconductor company in their product development department. While I knew that my passion was in technology, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be an engineer after my summer internship.

In my junior year, I was involved with a student-run consulting group, where I worked with Fortune 500 companies on strategic issues in a small student team. That’s where my interest in consulting really took off. The following summer after my junior year, I did an internship with Bain in their San Francisco office. I enjoyed my experience enough to return full-time in 2006. I worked at Bain for about 2 years, working on projects that spanned a variety of industries including semiconductors, private equity, media, consumer products and health care. I also had the privilege of working in multiple Bain offices including Hong Kong, Shanghai, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley.

I left Bain after 2 years to join a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley that focuses on tech and cleantech investments.

2. Many readers of MC have an engineering/technical background similar to yours. What advice can you give them about breaking into consulting?

From my experience, engineers tend to do very well in consulting, particularly at a firm like Bain. Consulting is a very quantitative and analytical job, especially at the lower levels. Because a junior consultant does not have years of industry experience to draw upon, in order to stand out, he or she can add value by demonstrating a keen grasp of the numbers and by defending a recommendation with solid financial/data analysis and research.

That said, engineers often fight an uphill battle when applying or interviewing for consulting jobs. Be sure to have a well thought out story about why you want to work in consulting given your engineering background. You will also need to demonstrate that you have done the appropriate preparation while in school to succeed in consulting from the start. This could include taking some business-related classes, such as Financial Accounting or Economics, or participating in a business group, such as a student consulting group.

A good story and evidence of thorough preparation are critical. More thoughts on landing consulting jobs from engineering

3. Bain is one of the most desirable consulting firms to work for. Can you tell us what the recruiting process was like?

Bain tends to focus on top-tier universities for recruiting, whether it is out of undergrad or business/graduate school. Bain works closely with my university’s established career services department every year for the recruiting process. There are usually two cycles for recruiting: once in the Fall for full-time candidates (graduating seniors), and once in the Winter for summer internship candidates (juniors or seniors planning to complete a master’s degree).

Bain follows strict deadlines for resume submissions and first/second round interviews. “Off-cycle” hiring is very rare and is usually reserved for people currently working in industry (i.e., not for students). After the resume submissions, those selected for interviews will go through 2 or more rounds, in which multiple consultants and managers will give case and fit questions. The entire process goes by very quickly; candidates usually find out whether they have made it to the next round in less than a week.

Off-cycle hiring at the top firms is always tough. More on Bain recruiting from an international perspective

4. Based on your summer internship, what would you say are the most important differences between a summer and a fulltime job at Bain?

One great aspect of the summer internship is the amount of exposure Bain gives interns to the projects and the work. Interns become integral members of their cases, and are involved in every team meeting and often in client meetings as well. This gives the interns a real feel for what the projects are like and what it would be like to work at Bain full-time.

One major difference between the internship and the full-time job would be that during the internship, Bain still has the responsibility of “selling” the intern. Social events, fancy dinners, and fun trips are planned for the interns all summer long to make sure they have a great summer and want to come back to Bain after graduation. While the social events are still a part of the full-time job, they do not constitute as large a portion.

Another major difference between the internship and full-time is the amount of responsibility one is given. Interns work on projects for about 8-10 weeks before heading back to school. It is very difficult to carve out a meaningful chunk of work for such a short period of time, although Bain does a decent job at it. With the full-time position, one can work on a project for 3-6 months or more, and can really dig into a piece of work in great depth. In this way, the full-time experience was much more fulfilling, as I felt like my work really made a difference for my clients.

5. Bain is also known as one of the most “fun” firms to work at. Do you think this reputation is justified, and if so, why?

While I can’t compare the experience with working at other consulting firms, working at Bain was definitely a fun experience. One common analogy I hear is that working at Bain feels like being in college, and I would definitely agree with that. Because of the “bottom-heavy” structure of Bain, there are a lot of new college graduates in the office, making the workplace a very social environment.

Bain also promotes a fun office culture through regular, sponsored social events ranging from simple things like happy hours to annual offsites, in which the entire office goes to locations such as Cabo San Lucas or Hawaii for a three-day long party (with a few business meetings here and there).

6. Many people enter consulting because they think it opens doors and provides many exit opportunities. Does this ring true from your personal experience and the experience of your colleagues?

Yes and no. Often the sales pitch is that after 2-3 years of consulting experience, one can go into virtually any industry and choose their job function. This is a bit of an exaggeration and it’s important that readers get a realistic view.

The consulting experience provides people with very rigorous, real-world business training and equips them with the ability to solve business problems with a structured and analytical approach. The experience is better suited toward certain industries/job functions than others. Natural exit opportunities include private equity, venture capital, or corporate strategy, which are not bad options at all.

There are certain other job functions that consulting does not prepare as well for, such as starting your own business which may require some operational experience. That’s not to say that consultants haven’t succeeded in starting their own businesses, as I know plenty of former consultants that have. However, often there are other elements in a person’s career in addition to the consulting experience that have allowed him/her to succeed in such endeavors, such as years of operational experience before consulting or an MBA. Overall, most prospective employers find former consultants highly desirable because of the great training that consulting provides and the high quality talent that consulting firms demand.

I couldn’t agree more – see the series on consulting exit opportunities

7. Can you tell us what it’s like transitioning from Bain to Venture Capital and how the two jobs compare?

In both consulting and VC, I have to be very agile when becoming knowledgeable about a particular company or industry. In consulting, a client who’s been at the company or working in the industry for many years is paying me a lot of money for my advice, so I had better not waste time in becoming an expert. In VC, I look at new investment opportunities across a variety of industries and have to become knowledgeable enough in a short amount of time to make a decision about whether or not to invest.

There are a few major differences, however. The consulting world is a bit more defined. The client and the consulting team together come up with the questions to answer and the deliverables, and the workplan naturally follows. VC is much more vague. The only guidance is to bring in good investment opportunities and make good decisions about whether or not to invest. There are a million ways that I can spend my time and none of them is the best way. I have to be disciplined on my own and monitor how I spend my time.

In terms of the lifestyle, I work fewer hours in VC than I did in consulting (when I was on an active project). VC is also a bit more flexible, as I can set my own hours and work locations to a certain extent. However, with consulting, I knew when I was done. There are specific deliverables and I often got time off in between projects where I didn’t have to think about work at all. In VC, I’m never done — there is always another startup to research and more to do, although there is usually no urgency on the VC side to get things done by a certain time/date.

8. Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

I plan to get an MBA after a few years in VC. After that, I would like to stay close to technology and entrepreneurship by staying in VC, joining a startup, or starting my own company. While I really enjoyed my years as a consultant and would recommend it to most people, I don’t think I will go back. I think my passion is in working with new technologies and entrepreneurial people.

9. Any last words of advice to prospective consultants?

Just some food for thought: consulting is not for everyone. My experience was this it was the perfect first job out of college for me. I got great business training that I could use for the rest of my career. However, for me, staying longer than 2-3 years would put me on a path to become a career consultant (which is a great career choice, but not for me). The longer one does consulting, there are diminishing returns to the value the experience adds to future job opportunities in other areas. In other words, the longer you do consulting, the better you get at being a consultant. This is a realization that many come to after a few years in consulting, and it is often a difficult choice about whether to stay or move on, and when is the right time to leave.

That’s it, folks!

Looking for: Current consultant? Interested in sharing your story with readers? Get in touch to setup an interview or become a guest poster!

It’s an important question – and never more so than in today’s market. What’s next – when your resume doesn’t receive an interview; your first round doesn’t lead to a call-back; your final round receives a polite rejection?

In this post, I’ll highlight the key steps to take when this happens. Not a fun post – but a necessary one.

The advice applies equally to industries like investment banking

1. Follow-up the rejection and ask for feedback

This is priority numero uno. You’ll typically receive a rejection call after the interview. If the caller is one of your interviewers, politely ask him/her for feedback on your performance. Don’t come across as bitter, upset, or anyway emotional – simply interested in receiving feedback for future improvement. Example questions to ask are:

• “Mark – thanks for the call. Can I get your honest assessment of where I could’ve done better?”
• “Janice – I appreciate the response. It felt to me like I didn’t perform well in summarizing the cases. Were there other areas that were weaknesses?”

If the caller is not one of your interviewers – send an email (another time when business cards come in handy!) to schedule a quick call for post-interview feedback. 8 times out of 10, they’ll agree. The other 2 times, they’ll most likely respond directly to the email with some feedback. Here’s how you should phrase that email:

Hi Yoda, I appreciated the opportunity to interview with you last Thursday. Unfortunately, Danielle at HR just called to inform me that I won’t be receiving an offer. Could I give you a ring to get some post-interview feedback? It would help me in future interviews and to understand how I can improve through this process. Feel free to call me anytime (123-456-7890) or leave a number. Sincerely, George

Short and to the point.

Once you’ve received feedback, take it to heart! Practice will only help for future interviews or next year’s recruiting cycle.

If you don’t make it past the resume stage, don’t ask. It’s rare that they’ll give comments, and if they do it’ll be very generic. Here are some possible criteria for resume rejections

2. Focus on upcoming interviews

If this isn’t your last interview, prepare doubly hard for the next one. No surprise here. Internalize feedback about your shortcomings (“you were unstructured in your approach to the case…you had an insufficient understanding of the underlying business drivers…we didn’t feel that you were a good fit for our company culture”). One of the most common mistakes people make is to practice alone. Do it with another person – it’s 5x more valuable. Ask your family as a last resort.

3. Re-evaluate and broaden your pipeline

Steve Shu is on the mark here when he suggests “casting a wide net”. Applicants suffer from tunnel vision – the whole “Bain or Bust mentality”.

I’ll say it here: getting an offer to any of the top 50 management consulting firms is a major accomplishment

Apply to whatever is available and take interviews even if you wouldn’t accept the offer. Practice is key and options are valuable.

There simply isn’t a consulting firms database comparable to what exists in investment banking. I’m in the midst of building one; until then – Vault has a good starting point here.

As discussed previously, online consulting applications should be a last resort. Networking will be a key differentiator.

4. Explore alternatives such as grad school, finance, and entrepreneurship

Ultimately, you may still be rejected from the industry. But the game’s just started!

There are plenty of other options – ones you should’ve considered from day 1 anyway. If your heart is still set on management and strategy consulting, the best thing you can do is recruit for jobs with the best combination of brand recognition and skill-development. Suggested areas include finance (eg, investment banking and sales & trading) and the corporate track (eg, corporate management and product management). Not a particularly innovative list – but you get my point.

Consider grad school. Particularly if your undergraduate institution is not a “target school” – a top tier grad school can be a solid reset button. Masters programs are shorter and less selective than other alternatives. Important disclaimer – don’t get a masters degree just for recruiting purposes.

Finally, there’s entrepreneurship. I’m clearly a big fan, but startups won’t allow you to break back into consulting unless you consider post-graduate education. There’s no clear network and no channel into management consulting. It is a viable path, however, to venture capital.

5. Network, network, network

Never stop networking. It makes a difference, particularly in tough economic times when there are 10 equally qualified candidates for 2 positions. It comes down to who you know and how well. If you’re in school, network at information sessions, social mixers, business conferences. If you’re out of school, network through school alumni, colleagues past and present, family and friends. Online media (in particular, blogging and forum discussions) can be another great way to meet people with overlapping interests.

6. Prepare for next year

This particularly applies to summer internship applicants. Driving factors for resume rejection include low GPA, lack of leadership experiences and initiative taking, and lack of strong work experience. Work on them however you can. Interview rejection can include factors above, plus lack of preparation.

7. Finally, continue kicking butt in your current role

Don’t slack off. Many complaints that people have about their current jobs are fixable – insufficient responsibility, lack of challenging work, no upward movement. The solution to these topics belongs on another blog, but my advice is to take initiative wherever possible. This applies for current students as well. Your track record of promotions, driving impact, skills learned – will be critical when you try to land consulting jobs!

Readers are in for a real treat this time as the Life of a Consultant series continues. Read previous interviews here and here.

Some background: I’ve followed Steve’s blog even before I entered the consulting world. Back then, it was one of the few insightful and well-written resources in the consulting blogosphere. It was a given that I’d approach him for this interview, and he graciously accepted.

Now on to the interview! I’ve bolded a few things that are particularly helpful for prospective applicants

Please note, the personal views and opinions expressed are strictly those of the interviewee and do not reflect the views of the interviewee’s employers or affiliated entities.

1. For the benefit of readers, can you give us a summary of your background?

I’m a principal consultant with Nortel Business Consulting which is unique in that we provide traditional business management consulting services in conjunction with deep technology consulting resources within the company. In the past, I’ve worked as a management consultant at Pittiglio Rabin Todd and McGrath (PRTM), as an independent consultant with start-ups and middle-market firms, and as part of the executive management team of a number of angel- and corporate venture capital-funded businesses in the telecom, software, and social-media industries. I’ve also worked in various product management and engineering types of roles with companies, such as AT&T Bell Laboratories and Telcordia. I have an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Masters and Bachelors degrees in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.

2. You’re a well-known blogger in the consulting space. I’ve been reading your articles even before I started my consulting career. What inspired you to start the site, and to keep it going for so many years?

Kevin, thanks for following my blog. It really means a lot to me.

I started blogging during my time as an independent consultant and just before business use of blogs started to take up. With that as context, blogging for me started as an alternative to traditional newsletters that many consultants use as part of their marketing arsenal. Blogging evolved into online networking for me, and I ended up getting approached by some social media and publishing companies for consulting and interim management roles. I basically went with the flow and where demand was taking me. Also, in terms of people that reached out to me (e.g., via email), I was finding that people were really seeking information about being in the trenches as management consultant. Down-to-earth, practical information on management consulting has been somewhat scarce in the online space. My experience in consulting with a traditional firm, as an independent, and also as part of a large corporation also seemed to provide a unique angle for the readers.

I have not blogged so much in the recent past due to saturation in the blogosphere supply-side, but I am considering a return.

3. You’ve worked for several consulting firms in your career. What perspective has this given you on the consulting industry?

For one thing, I think a consulting experience can provide an excellent foundation for developing general management skills. There are a limited number of professions where one can work on numerous projects for different companies. As compared to corporate positions, it is also easier to work on management issues as opposed to being embroiled in the politics and administration of working within a company. The list of tradeoffs to working in consulting, however, can be large. Some areas to watch out for include not having a constant environment (e.g., regular peers to work with as compared to working in a larger company) and not developing specific operating or tactical expertise (e.g., having to execute marketing campaigns, run quarterly financials for the public markets, or approaching customers in sales meetings). There are ways to address the potential shortcomings as part of consulting – tactics likely vary by industry and where one is at in terms of career goals (e.g., if one wants to be a lifetime consultant).

4. Can you tell us a bit about each of the consulting firms you’ve worked for?

At Nortel, we have a core team of traditional management consultants and mix these skillsets with experts (e.g., engineers) in areas such as network architecture or operations systems. An example engagement could include developing the business strategy and plan (which would be approved by its Board of Directors) for a carrier to move from the wireline to wireless space. We might also help a company with more focused areas such as development of a marketing and sales plan (covering pricing, product packages, channel strategy, collateral and campaigns, etc.) or with a network evolution options analysis.

At PRTM, I worked mostly with clients around new product introduction, product development, and/or operational processes. In contrast to the corporate structure I am in now and using very broad brush strokes, the structure of firm is similar to other management consulting firms (e.g., McKinsey, Deloitte) in that it is a partnership. PRTM has historically a lower leverage ratio (e.g., partner to non-partner) compared to other firms. Some tradeoffs of that difference can include more involvement with total deal lifecycle, more trench experience with senior personnel, and higher required utilization rates.

As an independent, I worked with start-ups and middle market firms mostly around business development, marketing, or quantitative analysis. In that environment, one needs to understand the full lifecycle of consulting from lead generation to sales, contracting, and delivery.

So I guess in closing I would say that the type of consulting firm one works with will likely change the style that one approaches consulting. Be cognizant of the tradeoffs.

5. Given your experience recruiting and interviewing candidates, what advice can you share with people currently in school who are looking for a job in management and strategy consulting?

Management consulting jobs are harder to come by in today’s climate. At business schools, it’s a common theme to see the 30% of the community that would have normally pursued investment banking instead seek out consulting jobs. If you want to land a management and strategy consulting job, consider casting a very wide net. This may mean seeking out geographic opportunities where your diversity in schooling may be seen as an immediate asset as opposed to someone that is just part of the crowd. In today’s climate you may also want to seek out an unpaid internship, depending on corporate policies and labor laws. Beyond the resume and any case study, key skills that entry-level consultants must project during the interview process include being smart (often analytical), having professional poise, and having energy. I find that applicants sometimes do not focus enough on these latter two items, and they are critical for a client-facing position within a consulting firm.

6. Many readers come from overseas – China, Western Europe, even South America. Have you worked on international/overseas projects? If so, can you share with us those experiences?

Outside of North America, my specific practice has done most projects in Western Europe, South America, and the Middle East. Language, ability to pay, and willingness to pay for consulting have been key drivers for that mix. I guess one thing that comes about by working in those environments is that it is key to get local information about the countries. For example, I often use Pyramid Research (subscribed reports) to help me initially get grounded on the macroeconomics, consumer environment, and trends within the telecom space within a country. I also use my network (e.g., the account team, friends) to get some color on the culture, trends, and norms. Finally, I have found it useful in many situations to have Google translate as my friend! That feature has helped to get me in the ballpark (e.g., translate presentations, contracts, emails, marketing websites) and/or augment using translators on a project.

7. What’s your view on the consulting job market given the economic backdrop?

/* Sort of covered above in #5*/

8. If you could retire today, what activities and hobbies would you pursue?

I might pursue something that would help me give more back to community and improve the world. Getting involved with non-profit, education, government, or the energy communities come to mind as aspirations. I’d also spend more time with jazz drumming, wine, and my family (not in that order for the record!).

9. How should readers get in touch with you?

Readers can feel free to reach me via contact methods at my blog

Are you a current consultant or someone who recruited successfully? Interested in being interviewed? Please get in touch to be featured in the Life as a Consultant series.