Core Consulting Skills

Just going to list them out in bullet point form (which is a tangentially-related skill you pick up from consulting, how meta, lol):

• PowerPoint: formatting, slide design (visual; not storyboarding, which is a separate skill), short cuts, hot keys, etc.

• Excel: I personally haven't used excel all too often on my projects for models (only had to build one model, and that was a simple revenue forecast model). Obviously YMMV.

• Storyboarding: knowing how to break down a message and how to effectively convey it on slides in terms of layout, word choice, headlines, tag lines, etc.

• Attention-to-detail: you will become a pro at picking out 'defects' on your slides. This is important as your reputation for producing quality work is foundational to your success.

• Relationship skills: just learning to become comfortable in your own skin in an office environment is something you'll pick up on as you gain experience. In terms of with clients, you won't be managing client relationships as an entry level consultant. You will obviously interact with them when you interview them or when you're drafting formal emails, but the relationship skills you're talking about are much more relevant at the higher levels. Being a charming, charismatic, sociable, and most importantly, likable, (which is a function of the aforementioned characteristics) will do wonders for your career in terms of how people perceive you and yes, to be explicit, how you're reviewed. No surprise there. That's true for any job in the entire world. Obviously not everyone can be a smooth hotshot without the associated cockiness/douchebaggery, but if you are a naturally charming dude/gal, leverage the shit out of that skill.

• Managing expectations: this is not just for the client, but also for your managers. The key is to be explicit and straightforward when communicating expectations. Being indirect and passive only leads to miscommunication, misunderstanding, and poor results. Be upfront and direct. This is a two-way street, obviously, as the client/manager also needs to reciprocate the same level of straightforwardness.

• Research: knowing how to verify resources and their accuracy/validity/credibility. It's also important to be able to break down any research you've done into key/core findings and their implications on your project work.

• Travel: self-explanatory, but you'll find yourself becoming much more efficient at packing your bag, knowing how much time you'll need to get to the airport (i.e., how to maximize sleep before those Monday morning flights), etc.

• Expensing shit: you'll become adept at maximizing the value you can get from expensing meals. It's a very conscious thought process for me when I'm planning trips in terms of meals, lodging, transportation and knowing what combinations of spending/niceness/quantity of food and drink you can balance together for a trip.

Hope this helps and good luck!