Hello, all. Now that the MBA application cycle for 2009-10 is almost over, I imagine that some of you are thinking about applying for the next cycle starting in the Fall. If so, you might want to check out an article called “Your Roadmap to a Successful MBA Application” written by John Rice, the founder of Management Leaders for Tomorrow, which has helped many candidates gain admission to top B-schools. I’m a huge fan of John (HBS alum) and his wife Andrea (Stanford GSB alum) because they’ve been doing a wonderful job of helping folks achieve their educational and professional goals through MLT and their latest venture GottaMentor.com. In the article, John offers six things that you can do now to improve your chances of getting the good word from your target schools during the next application cycle. You can find the article at THIS LINK. I wish folk were giving out great info on the MBA application process back in the day when I was struggling through it.

Also, before moving on with this entry, I feel the need to remind all of you not to expect a quick turnaround when you send in an email. I have a long backlog of emails in my blog Inbox at any given moment and it has sometimes taken me as long as three months to put together a response. I do have a day job and a life outside of this blog, so this blog isn’t the only thing that’s going on in the world of The Kid. Plus, I receive a LOT of emails from folks around the world, which is to be expected given the free service that I’m providing on this joint. I’m saying this to tell you NOT to send follow-up emails with a repeat of the same content or asking me when I’m going to get to your message. It’s not like that will make me move to your message faster. In fact, it’s more likely to push you further back in the queue because my Inbox sorts by the most recent email from a person. Then, there’s also the “WTF Factor”, which could also move you to the bottom of the queue. I’m posiitve I’ve said similar things in past blog entries, but I guess it doesn’t matter to people when they have questions they want answered. Seriously, folks…if you don’t hear from me for a month or more, don’t bug out…I’ll get to you when I can.

Alright, now that we’ve got that out of the way…the email below is from a reader who is interested in finding a position at a consulting firm. She’s looking for tips to get an “in” besides relying on an online resume submission. As you can all imagine, the game is tough with the down economy, which makes breaking into the industry more difficult. I tried my best to provide some helpful tips for her though.

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AL wrote:

“Hello Marquis,

I stumbled upon your blog while attempting to collect some recruiting contacts at various consulting companies. I enjoyed perusing through your interview experiences, as I have had similar ones over the last year. I am eager to embark on a career in consulting and am wondering if you could offer any advice in so far as how to get my foot in the door at some of these companies beyond just the generic online application. Is there anything you would’ve done differently or any companies you know of that are more receptive to undergrads vs. MBAs?

Thanks and best,
AL”
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My response:

AL,

Thanks for checking out my blog and thinking of me as a resource for your questions. It’s nice to see your excitement about pursuing a career in consulting and I’m going to try my best to give you some good advice, but, as you know, the economy has thrown things out of wack in the job world. At this point, I could probably give you the perfect roadmap and it still might be difficult to get your foot in the door. Please keep that in mind.

The first thing I’d recommend to you is to pound the pavement to put yourself in front of the firms that interest you. I’m not saying that you should stroll into their offices to introduce yourself because that would be weird. Instead, go to events where these companies will be represented and introduce yourself to company representatives. Every year, there are several conferences involving and/or focused on the consulting industry where several companies are represented all in the same place and these could be a goldmine for you. Check out Vault.com and ConsultingMagaine.com for information on when and where these types of conferences may occur. You could also try attending information sessions hosted by the firms at schools in your area to hear about their recruiting processes. When I worked recruiting sessions for my former employer, I’d often meet people who weren’t students at the schools but had heard about the sessions through the grapevine and decided to attend. I’m not saying that this method is guaranteed to work, but it could be a good way to connect with company representatives directly and pass along your resume.

Given what’s happening in the market, your best bet might be to network your way into the sights of your target companies. There are so many folks out there looking right now that recruiters are likely receiving a mountain of resumes, so many that it’s tough to differentiate candidates. This is where the networking comes in. You’d start off by talking to the contact about his/her company and what it’s like to work there. Then, you could eventually ask if the person could connect you with a recruiting contact as a way to get an “in”. I would assume that recruiters look at resumes passed along by an insider differently than one that just comes from an applicant off the street. Your best source for contacts would probably be your alumni network, so I would suggest contacting your school’s career services office for help with identifying alums to hit up. You could also attend events aimed at business professionals in your local area and seek out people who could be contacts within your target firms. BusinessWeek.com posted an interesting article about how networking with alumni will likely be the way for MBA candidates to find great jobs in the current economy and, although you’d be considered as an undergrad or experienced hire candidate, you might find it useful. You can find it at THIS LINK. At times like this, the old adage “it’s not what you know but who you know” is truer than any of us could have ever imagined.

As for companies that are more receptive to undergrads vs. MBA, I’d guess that the larger consulting firms bring in many more undergrad candidates than MBA’s. When I say “larger companies”, I’m thinking about places like Accenture, Deloitte, BearingPoint, and Oliver Wyman…Don’t quote me on these though. I just feel like I’ve met a lot of people who worked for these companies out of college. You should do some digging around on the Web to find more information to get a more definitive answer though.

Good luck with making your transition into the Consulting industry. It might seem like a long road in right now, especially considering the shaky economy, but stay patient and continue to put in work. It’ll all work out the way it’s supposed to and you’ll get the kind of gig that you desire soon enough. Take care.

Marquis