MarquisParker.com // Business Strategist, Speaker, Advisor, and Coach

Reader wondering how to get into McKinsey from a school with less brand name

Published on January 18, 2012 by Marquis in Business, career, consulting, management consulting, professional advice

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Long-time visitors to this site are probably used to seeing folks ask me questions about how to get into McK (or one of its peer firms). In this case, the author of the email below was seeking advice on how he could position himself to get into McK’s Philippines office. He believed that his situation was complicated by the fact that he comes from an academic institution that doesn’t have a top brand in his country, which, according to him, can have great impact on one’s chances at the top firms. Because I don’t know the policies in his office… Read the rest

Moving from government work to Management Consulting

Published on January 3, 2012 by Marquis in Business, career, consulting, management consulting, mba, Networking, professional advice

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Happy new year, everyone! Hopefully, you all had a great holiday season and a safe entry into 2012. Now that I’ve had a couple of days to recover from the holidays, I figured that I should get back to posting truth and wisdom

The message below is from a reader who currently works as an intelligence analyst for the government and wants to make a transition into Management Consulting. He’s wondering whether he has a shot of making this move without having to go off to business school. As my long-time readers know, I’m a huge fan of the … Read the rest

Question from a recent LBS MBA grad starting at McKinsey London

Published on December 20, 2011 by Marquis in Business School, career, consulting, professional advice

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The message below is from a longtime reader of this site who recently graduated with his MBA from London Business School. Also, he scored a post-MBA position with McKinsey’s London office, which is a huge feat given the office’s popularity. Now that he’s started the job, he asked for some tips on how to position himself well at the start of his time at The Firm. Hope he finds the following advice to be useful.

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AH wrote:

Hi Marquis!

Thanks a ton for the fantastic blog you’ve run the last few years. It inspired and guided me a lot

… Read the rest

Question from a college junior targeting a Management Consulting internship

Published on November 27, 2011 by Marquis in Business, career, career path, consulting, internship, professional advice

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Hi, everyone! For those of you in the United States, I hope you’ve all had a great Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The email below is from a Junior at Stanford University who is seeking my advice on how to best position himself to get an summer internship offer from a top Management Consulting firm. He emailed me at the end of the summer, but I didn’t have a chance to respond to him until a couple of weeks ago. I’m pretty sure that I got my advice to him in time for it to be useful for the upcoming summer … Read the rest

Question from an MBA applicant with entrepreneurial aspirations

Published on November 12, 2011 by Marquis in Business, Business concepts, career, consulting, entrepreneurship, mba, professional advice

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The email below is from an aspiring entrepreneur who found me through my interview on Management Consulted. He’s a former Equity Research Associate who took the entrepreneurial plunge with his father last year. Now, he’s planning to apply to business school and is looking for some advice about getting further along on his entrepreneurial journey. He has several questions about my own journey and how Management Consulting might fit into that story. Without further delay…

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MS wrote:

Hi Marquis,

I came across you interview on Management Consulted and found the interview very informative and helpful. Let me briefly

… Read the rest

Comparing post-undergrad opportunities in brand management and boutique TMT consulting

Published on October 23, 2011 by Marquis in Business, Business School, career, career path, consulting, mba

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In the email below, a reader asks for my advice in comparing his 2 job offers coming out of undergrad: an assistant brand management role at Procter & Gamble and a position at a boutique consultancy focused on technology, media, and telecom. I was humbled but a little reluctant to respond to this email at first because the first job out of college is a huge deal. Also, the kid lives in Europe and I don’t know the job market out there too well. In the end, I just gave him my honest read on his situation and hope that… Read the rest

College junior wondering how to find his career niche

Published on October 9, 2011 by Marquis in About Marquis, career, career path, career-life balance, consulting, professional advice

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Man, I love it when college kids hit me up with questions because I’m often surprised by how insightful those questions are. During my undergrad days, I didn’t have a clue about career issues and didn’t even know to ask about things that kids contact me about now.

The email below is from a rising Junior at the University of Minnesota who has a good academic foundation, but doesn’t know what he wants to do career-wise after college. I’m sure that this is a feeling with which many people can identify. His specific questions are about how I was able … Read the rest

Follow-up to Consulting candidate with concerns about lifestyle

Published on September 26, 2011 by Marquis in Bschool admissions, Business School, career, consulting, management consulting, mba

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Last week, I posted my response to a reader who was interested in pursuing a career in Consulting but didn’t know whether the lifestyle sacrifices would be too much. After my response, he sent me another email with a couple of follow-up questions. The continuation of my exchange with him is below.

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DL wrote:

Marquis,

Thank you for your thorough response to my questions. It came exactly when I needed and were a great help in making my decision. Over the last several weeks I have given a lot of thought to what you said and wondered if I

… Read the rest