Preparation for a summer consulting internship
Hey, how should I prepare for my summer internship (think MBB)? I have one week from the date of my last exam until the start of the internship. Any good books? Should I read up on strategy (think Porter) even though I have covered the stuff in uni? What about stuff like the Art of War (Gekko likes it)?
I appreciate your answers, thanks. And yes, I know there have been similar threads in the past, but it's not like this particular subforum is very liquid anyway...
The WSO consulting guide is a very good and comprehensive guide. The Consultingfact.com guide is also great.
And don't forget this post: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/how-to-win-at-consulting-18-making-…
No experience, how do I get ready for a MBB summer in 2 months (Originally Posted: 04/26/2015)
With a stroke of luck, I essentially just fell into an internship in a developed foreign country (think Europe/HK) with a MBB. How should I prepare for this? I have been told that essentially excel skills are the most essential. Should I do one of the online bootcamps? Any other crash courses people would recommend? I assume I should also get the jargon down as well. I was a magna cum laude grad in econ, but didn't tackle enough straight finance...
Essentially, I made a very close connection with a former CEO of the MBB there and he hooked me up with the current CEO. While I had hoped to be in the investment bank, it appears I am going to the securities section (again please educate me if these are one and the same).
Anyone?
If you're not great at excel or powerpoint, it might help to take a crash course and get good at it. It doesn't take long. It was much cheaper when I bought it, but BIWS's course was very helpful. Can't speak to alternatives, not having tried any.
figure out exactly where you're going and read a lot of news pertaining to that sector. You'll pick up on the jargon soon enough.
All in all, I wouldn't worry too much. Being magna cum laude, I assume you're fairly smart. They hired you, so they will take the time to train you. All you have to do is not be a colossal fuck up and pick things up quick.
Preparing for Big 4 Consulting Internship (Originally Posted: 03/26/2014)
So I recently received an offer to work as an intern in the corporate finance department of a big 4 consulting company in Southeast Asia. I am very excited about the opportunity, but don't really know what to expect in terms of what I am expected to be able to do. I want to hit the ground running (or, more realistically, not be as annoying as the other interns), so I am wondering if there are any things I can do before I get there to make sure I am successful. Does anyone have any advice? Anything I should read/brush up on?
My main advice: chill out
To reiterate the advice above- don't worry about preparing before you join. There's almost nothing that you can meaningfully do. Instead use this time to relax (go on holiday!) so that you'll be full of energy when you do start.
If you feel you absolutely MUST do something to prepare, spend some time practicing Excel formulas and pivot tables and Excel and Powerpoint keyboard shortcuts.
Good luck!
You don't need to prepare.
Do the following throughout your internship: - Show up early and leave late - Think before you ask any question. Can you figure it out yourself? If you think so, try before asking anybody. If you get stuck, then ask the question but make sure you explain how you already tried and ask for feedback. - Be a genuinely friendly person and try to meet people for the sake of meeting them, not to suck up - You won't be as good at PPT/XLS as a FT analyst. Deal with it and learn from them - You will have awful days where you are doing mindless edits to a deck and days where you get to live it up with your fellow interns/colleagues. Relish both, because life is about balance - Don't be an idiot and do anything stupid on your work computer that you wouldn't be afraid of doing in a public place - Have an interest in something besides consulting. It's a job and for some, a career but for no one is it their entire life - It's not always a pack of type A lunatics that try to outgun each other at every turn. The average class is quite balanced so play to your strengths. If you are an introvert, you bring unique perspectives and ways to solve problems - Be comfortable asking for feedback on something that is not perfect "content-wise". What I mean is, there should be no spelling/grammar/box alignment etc. issues, but if you don't know how to structure a paragraph a certain way or are struggling to communicate an idea correctly, don't be afraid to ask. Just be sure to try it yourself first! - Don't be a prick. I don't want to hang out with a prick in an airport lounge when my flight is delayed 5 hours. - Smile when you are meeting someone for the first time, give a firm handshake and look them in the eye - Understand that this is a "test-drive". You do not have to buy this car. You can look at other models if you don't like it. Make sure that this car fits you
Everybody else, feel free to pile on. This was just a brain dump for me.
Thanks!
To reiterate some key items that Pr4mence mentioned: - Double-Triple check your work. Make sure its print-ready and client ready. That means, no misspellings, grammar errors, misalignment on decks, and in case of excels, make sure the print area is pre-set so its good to print. - Always try and do something yourself first, and then be willing to ask for help. The worse thing you can do is waste a few hours when you don't know how to do it. On the flip side, you don't want to be the person that always asks for a walk through without at least trying. - Have a good attitude. At times the job might suck, or the hours might get to you. remember hat you're still being judged at this stage, so act like you want to be there. A negative attitude shows like crazy. - Be transparent with workload/target dates. When you're assigned work, one of the first questions should be when is it needed by, that way you can prioritize your workload accordingly. Be transparent if you have conflicting assignments and cant get to it. Its better to let them know ou cant get to it now, so they can find someone who can. Lastly, provide updates on assignments that are longer than a day so the status of it. Last thing you want is to have a 5-day assignment, then find out on the 4th day you haven;t gotten to it. - Ask for informal feedback. Read the situation, if you guys aren't swamped or have a hard deadline, its good to just ask an analyst/associate, Senior or manager what feedback they have for you so you know what to focus on. It shows a commitment for development/ progression. I would do these once a month or so, so you can make sure you're addressing the weaknesses and also identifying any new ones.
Preparing for your Advisory internship (Originally Posted: 05/11/2015)
I'm going to be starting my advisory/consulting internship in about 3 weeks in New York. Except the soft skills like networking and communication plus technical skills like modeling, that I've already developed How else can I prepare for my internship? Goal is to get a return offer! If there's any scholarship they offer - win that
get some rest
then work hard
thanks BigPicture
New MBB Summer Associate (Originally Posted: 02/16/2014)
Hi all. Long time lurker who was lucky enough to land an MBA internship at one of the highly competitive offices (NY/SF). I come from a non-consulting background and was curious if there's any reading/material that y'all would consider useful before starting a consulting gig. Any other tips to make sure I hit the ground running.
Thanks!
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