What Can I Do to Prepare for the Job in Consulting?

Hey everyone,

Basically what the name entails. I'm looking for any habits or good practices to get into.

Are there any specific habits to set into when working in consulting in terms of specific podcasts or videos to listen to or specific research reports to focus on?

Are there any habits that have helped you in the longer-term?

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Do you have a job in consulting lined up or just started or are you trying to break into consulting?

Aside from developing skills in PPT and XLS, I would research time management skills and habits. This is one of the hardest things for new consultants. We work on very compressed timescales and things need to be done in hours or days, not in weeks.

As far as skills to learn in addition to PPT and XLS, I would strongly recommend learning Python, C#, SQL (just the basics) as well as data crunching tools like Alteryx and Tableau. Data-heavy analytics is where firms are adding the most value today.

Work/life balance stuff: Make sure you don't say yes to every single side project or extra peice of work. Focus on nailing your workstream. After a few months, see where you can add value. People burn themselves out taking on too much and then their main workstream product suffers.

Get sleep. Sleep is critical to being able to perform in tough conditions day in and day out over long hours.
Exercise. There are lots of in-hotel room exercises you can do via apps, use the hotel gym, whatever, just keep busy. Diet. Try to minimize sugary junk food which will spike your energy and then you crash. As bes you can, try to minimize huge meals and lots of alcohol.

 

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