Hey, everyone. I don’t know if anyone has been following the news surrounding Oscar-winning actress and singer Jennifer Hudson, but it is such a tragedy. As if losing her mother and brother wasn’t enough, officials just confirmed that her 7-year old nephew was lost, as well (Link to article). I hope everyone will send their thoughts and prayers to her family in this time of sadness. There are some truly sick people in this world and I hope the authorities find the person responsible and give him the strongest punishment possible.
Dang, I feel weird posting an entry after a paragraph like that, but I’d already finished the entry by the time I saw the news.
The email below is from a college senior with an engineering background who is trying to decide whether to pursue a management consulting path or a technical one after his undergrad year. He asked a lot of questions in his message, so my answers are rather short, but I hope the finds some value in what I sent to him.
——–
WZ wrote:
“Hello Marquis,
I stumbled upon your blog just now, specifically a post in response to another undergrad (http://marquisweblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/there-sure-are-some-forward-thinking.html). What a great resource you have developed! I have a question similar to the one posed in the referenced post and am interested in your insight.
I have been developing what I consider an impressive résumé of work and extracurricular experiences and accomplishments. My GPA is good for my school (#1 non-PhD engineering school for 9 years) but unimpressive without that reference point (3.2). I have not updated my résumé following my recently completed internship, but my LinkedIn profile is more than comprehensive. I’m an electrical engineering student going into my senior year and am trying to decide between a top tier consulting job or further work at a semiconductor related company. I have a passion for strategy work and organization development and love problem solving. I also have a keen understanding of the semiconductor industry dynamics. These characteristics would set me up for both technical and management consulting, I think? Considering all this I have a few questions:
1) What differences do I need to take into account when considering applying for technical vs. management consulting positions at top tier firms?
2) Do either of these positions have important advantages for eventual top tier b-school application?
3) Should I be looking at niche or boutique consulting firms and if so how do I go about finding and researching these firms?
4) Should I consider a job in the industry, similar to my recent internships, instead of consulting?
My final comment is that I have grown increasingly good at networking well above my experience and pay grade. I enjoy building a healthy network and hope to make networking a part of my future career. Is this something I should be incorporating into my applications as an advantage to consulting firms?
I look forward to hearing back from you at your convenience!
Best Regards,
WZ”
——–
My response:
WZ,
Thanks for checking out my blog. I wish I hadn’t had such a backlog in my emails because I fear that my response is getting to you too late to be useful. As a college senior, you’re probably already in the middle of the recruiting cycle, but I’m going to respond anyway on the off chance that I’m not too late. Before I get deep into my response, I’d like to give you one tip…if you’re going to ask questions of someone via email, be mindful of the number of questions because fewer questions will likely result in more in-depth responses. I’ll let you know up-front that my answers below will be pretty short because you asked so many questions. I hope you still find this response useful, but you might want to keep this in mind for future reference as you network during your career.
So, as I said above, you asked a LOT of questions here, but I’m going to try to give you something on all of them. My responses are based on my own experiences, so you may find things to be a little different as you face a job search in such a tough economic environment. My responses to your questions might prove to be decent food for thought though:
- “1) What differences do I need to take into account when considering applying for technical vs. management consulting positions at top tier firms?” –> This is a really good question! Based on my own techie interviews out of undergrad and my consulting interviews out of business school, there are some big changes for which you should be prepared. The largest difference is what each type of company will actually be testing for. For the technical positions, you’ll likely be tested for deep knowledge of semiconductors or whatever part of the tech industry the company works in. So, in my case, I was grilled on programming and design techniques/structures when I was going for my post-undergrad job. In management consulting interviews, you’ll likely be tested for strong general problem solving skills, possibly across a range of industries. When I was doing consulting interviews, I received cases on a ton of industries, including education, healthcare, automotive, and air travel. Another big difference may be related to fit…I imagine that registering a high “fit” score means something different at a tech company than it does at a management consulting firm. So, you might want to hit the Web and find out more about that.
- “2) Do either of these positions have important advantages for eventual top tier b-school application?” –> I’ve never worked in an admissions office, but I would guess that the admissions officers would care most about what you actually achieve in your pre-MBA job. I’ve written several entries about this in the past, so I won’t go into it too deeply here. I’d recommend pursuing the career path that is most interesting and fun for you because your likelihood of performing well and making your mark would be much greater. And, in turn, you’d likely end up putting together a stronger business school applications…at least, that’s the way I’d think about it.
- “3) Should I be looking at niche or boutique consulting firms and if so how do I go about finding and researching these firms?” –> If I were you, I’d definitely be thinking about boutique consulting firms, especially in the current economy. Boutique firms do some really interesting work and they offer the opportunity to get management consulting experience while developing expertise in a particular industry or function. With your engineering education, you could be a good candidate for one of these firms. There is a lot of information about boutique consulting firms on the Web and a Google search would yield great results. Two specific sites that might be helpful during your research are the Management Consulting section of Vault.com and the website for “Consulting Magazine”. I have found both of them very useful when looking for information on the industry, in general.
- “4) Should I consider a job in the industry, similar to my recent internships, instead of consulting?” –> It seems that you’re thinking of your job search as being focused on either consulting or industry, but not both…why is that? You could pursue both paths and then decide which position fits your goals best once you’ve finished your interviewing. Given the state of the economy, it certainly makes sense to generate as many employment options as possible.
- “I enjoy building a healthy network and hope to make networking a part of my future career. Is this something I should be incorporating into my applications as an advantage to consulting firms?” –> I’m not exactly sure how you would incorporate networking into your applications for consulting firms. Instead of using it as a part of your apps, think about using your networking skills to present yourself well at company presentations and in conversations with firm representatives. At those info sessions, you could have major impact (both positive and negative) through the way you come across to the folks with whom you interact.
Take care and good luck on your job search process. Make sure you enjoy the rest of your senior year…you only get one!
-Marquis
Dang, I feel weird posting an entry after a paragraph like that, but I’d already finished the entry by the time I saw the news.
The email below is from a college senior with an engineering background who is trying to decide whether to pursue a management consulting path or a technical one after his undergrad year. He asked a lot of questions in his message, so my answers are rather short, but I hope the finds some value in what I sent to him.——–
WZ wrote:
“Hello Marquis,
I stumbled upon your blog just now, specifically a post in response to another undergrad (http://marquisweblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/there-sure-are-some-forward-thinking.html). What a great resource you have developed! I have a question similar to the one posed in the referenced post and am interested in your insight.
I have been developing what I consider an impressive résumé of work and extracurricular experiences and accomplishments. My GPA is good for my school (#1 non-PhD engineering school for 9 years) but unimpressive without that reference point (3.2). I have not updated my résumé following my recently completed internship, but my LinkedIn profile is more than comprehensive. I’m an electrical engineering student going into my senior year and am trying to decide between a top tier consulting job or further work at a semiconductor related company. I have a passion for strategy work and organization development and love problem solving. I also have a keen understanding of the semiconductor industry dynamics. These characteristics would set me up for both technical and management consulting, I think? Considering all this I have a few questions:
1) What differences do I need to take into account when considering applying for technical vs. management consulting positions at top tier firms?
2) Do either of these positions have important advantages for eventual top tier b-school application?
3) Should I be looking at niche or boutique consulting firms and if so how do I go about finding and researching these firms?
4) Should I consider a job in the industry, similar to my recent internships, instead of consulting?
My final comment is that I have grown increasingly good at networking well above my experience and pay grade. I enjoy building a healthy network and hope to make networking a part of my future career. Is this something I should be incorporating into my applications as an advantage to consulting firms?
I look forward to hearing back from you at your convenience!
Best Regards,
WZ”
——–
My response:
WZ,
Thanks for checking out my blog. I wish I hadn’t had such a backlog in my emails because I fear that my response is getting to you too late to be useful. As a college senior, you’re probably already in the middle of the recruiting cycle, but I’m going to respond anyway on the off chance that I’m not too late. Before I get deep into my response, I’d like to give you one tip…if you’re going to ask questions of someone via email, be mindful of the number of questions because fewer questions will likely result in more in-depth responses. I’ll let you know up-front that my answers below will be pretty short because you asked so many questions. I hope you still find this response useful, but you might want to keep this in mind for future reference as you network during your career.
So, as I said above, you asked a LOT of questions here, but I’m going to try to give you something on all of them. My responses are based on my own experiences, so you may find things to be a little different as you face a job search in such a tough economic environment. My responses to your questions might prove to be decent food for thought though:
- “1) What differences do I need to take into account when considering applying for technical vs. management consulting positions at top tier firms?” –> This is a really good question! Based on my own techie interviews out of undergrad and my consulting interviews out of business school, there are some big changes for which you should be prepared. The largest difference is what each type of company will actually be testing for. For the technical positions, you’ll likely be tested for deep knowledge of semiconductors or whatever part of the tech industry the company works in. So, in my case, I was grilled on programming and design techniques/structures when I was going for my post-undergrad job. In management consulting interviews, you’ll likely be tested for strong general problem solving skills, possibly across a range of industries. When I was doing consulting interviews, I received cases on a ton of industries, including education, healthcare, automotive, and air travel. Another big difference may be related to fit…I imagine that registering a high “fit” score means something different at a tech company than it does at a management consulting firm. So, you might want to hit the Web and find out more about that.
- “2) Do either of these positions have important advantages for eventual top tier b-school application?” –> I’ve never worked in an admissions office, but I would guess that the admissions officers would care most about what you actually achieve in your pre-MBA job. I’ve written several entries about this in the past, so I won’t go into it too deeply here. I’d recommend pursuing the career path that is most interesting and fun for you because your likelihood of performing well and making your mark would be much greater. And, in turn, you’d likely end up putting together a stronger business school applications…at least, that’s the way I’d think about it.
- “3) Should I be looking at niche or boutique consulting firms and if so how do I go about finding and researching these firms?” –> If I were you, I’d definitely be thinking about boutique consulting firms, especially in the current economy. Boutique firms do some really interesting work and they offer the opportunity to get management consulting experience while developing expertise in a particular industry or function. With your engineering education, you could be a good candidate for one of these firms. There is a lot of information about boutique consulting firms on the Web and a Google search would yield great results. Two specific sites that might be helpful during your research are the Management Consulting section of Vault.com and the website for “Consulting Magazine”. I have found both of them very useful when looking for information on the industry, in general.
- “4) Should I consider a job in the industry, similar to my recent internships, instead of consulting?” –> It seems that you’re thinking of your job search as being focused on either consulting or industry, but not both…why is that? You could pursue both paths and then decide which position fits your goals best once you’ve finished your interviewing. Given the state of the economy, it certainly makes sense to generate as many employment options as possible.
- “I enjoy building a healthy network and hope to make networking a part of my future career. Is this something I should be incorporating into my applications as an advantage to consulting firms?” –> I’m not exactly sure how you would incorporate networking into your applications for consulting firms. Instead of using it as a part of your apps, think about using your networking skills to present yourself well at company presentations and in conversations with firm representatives. At those info sessions, you could have major impact (both positive and negative) through the way you come across to the folks with whom you interact.
Take care and good luck on your job search process. Make sure you enjoy the rest of your senior year…you only get one!
-Marquis
