Do's and Don'ts when Starting in Consulting

I'll be starting my Internship at Roland Berger next month, and I would like to hear tips and insights from you more experienced guys :)

What is expected from a good Intern, increasing its odds to be hired in the end of the internship? What is a big no-no for interns, and consultants in general?

Thanks!

 

Just don't mess anything up, at this point no one is expecting you to add anything of substantial value, they are just expecting you not to commit any huge errors. Try to do every task that you get to the absolute best of your ability, even if the task seems minute and boring to you. A big part of completing tasks well is to emulate the work of people who have been there for longer than you. Remember that an important part of consulting work consists in appearances, so make sure to adapt quickly to the style that your colleagues use for their work.

When something is unclear to you and you can't figure it out in a couple of minutes, ask someone about it immediately, not an hour from now. Just make sure to remember the answer and don't ask about that particular issue again. Listen to feedback (be it an off-hand comment or a formal review session) intently, do away with the issue addressed by the feedback, and never EVER make the same mistake twice.

These are really the biggest and most general parts of doing well in a consulting internship, imo. All the other stuff, like the actual output produced, differs slightly from firm to firm, so don't sweat it now, and instead make sure to adapt to the the firm's internal standards as quickly as possible (once again, emulate the style of more senior colleagues who are doing well).

 
yunaited:

Just don't mess anything up, at this point no one is expecting you to add anything of substantial value, they are just expecting you not to commit any huge errors. Try to do every task that you get to the absolute best of your ability, even if the task seems minute and boring to you. A big part of completing tasks well is to emulate the work of people who have been there for longer than you. Remember that an important part of consulting work consists in appearances, so make sure to adapt quickly to the style that your colleagues use for their work.

These are really the biggest and most general parts of doing well in a consulting internship, imo. All the other stuff, like the actual output produced, differs slightly from firm to firm, so don't sweat it now, and instead make sure to adapt to the the firm's internal standards as quickly as possible (once again, emulate the style of more senior colleagues who are doing well).

When you're talking about emulating the style sucessful colleagues, what exactly should I emulate? The powerpoint/spreadsheets design, the sources....?

But thanks everyone for the answers!

 
Best Response

Agree with all the above. A few good habits that any intern or new hire should have also include: 1) Attitude: like @SoldMySoul indicated, do not complain. Attitude is the first impression often times of any person and can resonate with anyone. I have had many Directors/Managers choose team members mroe based on their perceived attitude than their ability. People want to work with others that are easy to work with and are willign to learn, even if they aren't the best, vs. the huge asshole

2) Assume every email/draft deliverable you send is going to the Partner and/or Client. You never know when an email you send with a draft of an excel or deck youre working on may be forwarded or opened for a quick discussion with a client. As such, you should always assume that anything you send may be looked at by the partner or client. As a result, you need to double/triple check your spelling. Formatting, align everything properly and even make everything print-ready/friendly in case its a a large excel document and they need to rite on it.

3) Its about Accuracy and Quality, not Speed. I've have a lot of interns/first years (myself included) that try and impress managers and Directors by finishing deliverables way faster than they expected. This issue with this is that it can lead to minor errors, grammatical, formatting, etc. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how fast you get it done, as long as you get it done on time. But if you make minor mistakes, it can kill your credibility and people's perception of your work product, and that can take weeks/months to recover from.

4) Paraphrase/summarize your assignment and deadline. Often times, a lot of your assignments may come out of meetings - you'll sit in a discussion, as hundreds of follow-up/action items come up that you'll be assigned. It is a good habit, when you're getting assigned the work (since it will be in bulk usually) to paraphrase in your own words what you need to do, and also the target timeline. It will show your manager/team member that you understand the task at hand and mitigate any misunderstanding of the deliverable.

5) Be transparent with whats on your plate. Don't take on work if you do not have the bandwidth. You do not get browning points for how much work you get assigned, but how much you actual complete and deliver. So whenever you get work assigned to you, its really helpful to let them know what else is on your plate so they know where that assignment stands in priority compared with the rest. your team members won't know all the work assigned to you (unless you're only getting it form one person), and even then they may forget since they have a workload of their own.

6) Ask for feedback. Don't do this all the time, but once every few weeks I think is good. Just ask to grab coffee with anyone from your team, and ask for some informal feedback about what areas they think you should work on. It shows your commitment and interest in personal and professional development and usually leaves a good impression.

Hugo
 

What did you expect - this is a WALL STREET forum.

Why don't you reach out to actual consultants - email/call/meet alumni, friends at MBB? Also take a look at managementconsulted.com - it's like M&I for consultants, written by a buddy of mine, ex-McK. Most of the articles are recruiting-focused, but there are a few that talk about life in consulting/how to be a good consultant. It also links to other blogs written by consultants.

 
ews09:
What did you expect - this is a WALL STREET forum.

Why don't you reach out to actual consultants - email/call/meet alumni, friends at MBB? Also take a look at managementconsulted.com - it's like M&I for consultants, written by a buddy of mine, ex-McK. Most of the articles are recruiting-focused, but there are a few that talk about life in consulting/how to be a good consultant. It also links to other blogs written by consultants.

Managementconsulted.com isn't great. He chats an awful lot of bollocks and some of his "tips" are frankly only suitable for OCD-sufferers. I'm doubtful he worked in consulting for any more than a month.

 

This guy is a straight up douchbag, look at his comment on the tax comment...

Sweet. I hope you clowns get taxed back into the stone age. You picked a job to be a bitch, and now you are a bitch in every possible way. Investment banks are not a market; they are big cartels. You are enemies of capitalism. You choose ibanking because you were too talentless to do anything else. Now after 80 hours a week, squandering your salary by trying to look like a bigshot in New York, and hoping to put that bonus into your savings, you are gonna end up with nothing. I hope this thing gets passed. I say we tax the bankers even higher. Tax them 90% until both the TARP and the stimulus are paid back in full.

This dude is obviously spiteful for not being in IBD

Reality hits you hard, bro...
 

TheRapist,

I have been in consulting for 2-3 years now and it seems that the stronger performers are likely to share certain traits indeed, like you suggested. Being a great performer will not only pay off in the short-term (higher bonus numbers) but also give you access to the more successful partners, more interesting cases, better exit ops, and so on.

Skills you need to display in your junior years to establish yourself as a strong consultant are as follows:

1) Ability to pick up new content and complex problems ('explained' to you by clients who may lack certain structuring talents) very quickly 2) Good analytical skills -- essentially the ability to break down problems with ease, identify and prioritse drivers, and so on. This is why you need to do all those fun cases during the job interviews. You need an ability to e.g. size markets on the fly, figure out how much you'd buy the restaurant you're sitting in for within a few minutes, and generally be someone who's ok working without templates 3) Attention to detail -- your manager will not always check your work in detail, and it thus needs to be always error-free (I was surprised by this when starting in consulting, as in IBD your associate will look at your work very very closely) 4) Strong work ethic and positive attitude -- you need to be quite tough as more often than not you'll be in situations where a) your partner has understaffed the team, b) your manager has just been made manager and screws up processes, c) you are working on a content area/industry that you don't know, and perhaps don't actually want to work on, and d) your client doesn't want and is equally unable to help you. In these situations, you still need to be the guy who smiles, gets everything done nicely on time, thinks ahead, starts playing managerial roles etc. 5) Management skills -- ability to structure your own work, never miss deadlines, etc.

There will be other items that become important later on, but will essentially be add-ons to these five.

 
m2:
TheRapist,

I have been in consulting for 2-3 years now and it seems that the stronger performers are likely to share certain traits indeed, like you suggested. Being a great performer will not only pay off in the short-term (higher bonus numbers) but also give you access to the more successful partners, more interesting cases, better exit ops, and so on.

Skills you need to display in your junior years to establish yourself as a strong consultant are as follows:

1) Ability to pick up new content and complex problems ('explained' to you by clients who may lack certain structuring talents) very quickly 2) Good analytical skills -- essentially the ability to break down problems with ease, identify and prioritse drivers, and so on. This is why you need to do all those fun cases during the job interviews. You need an ability to e.g. size markets on the fly, figure out how much you'd buy the restaurant you're sitting in for within a few minutes, and generally be someone who's ok working without templates 3) Attention to detail -- your manager will not always check your work in detail, and it thus needs to be always error-free (I was surprised by this when starting in consulting, as in IBD your associate will look at your work very very closely) 4) Strong work ethic and positive attitude -- you need to be quite tough as more often than not you'll be in situations where a) your partner has understaffed the team, b) your manager has just been made manager and screws up processes, c) you are working on a content area/industry that you don't know, and perhaps don't actually want to work on, and d) your client doesn't want and is equally unable to help you. In these situations, you still need to be the guy who smiles, gets everything done nicely on time, thinks ahead, starts playing managerial roles etc. 5) Management skills -- ability to structure your own work, never miss deadlines, etc.

There will be other items that become important later on, but will essentially be add-ons to these five.

Good post. I think people often underestimate the importance of taking the initiative within your team and taking on more 'managerial' responsibilities even if they're not asked of you. Ultimately, if you're a leader of your peers (same experience) you'll stand out when it comes to promotion/partnership decisions.

 

My take from experience and viewing other firms is:

Relationship skills – essential with clients, but also within the firm (subordinates, peers and senior people). Show leadership – take the initiative at every opportunity. The more you do it, the more you become relied upon by those around you. Technical skills - including academic, the firm methodology, develop sector expertise and combine with “street smarts”

And, if you can do all the above (sounds simple but a high percentage fail to do all 3) in addition to building a strong network with clients in your segment (rain maker) you are all set for partnership.

 

I've been consulting for 2.5 years now.

I think what's important are:

  1. Networking - in your year ends, the difference between people typically comes down to who will fight for you
  2. Do things quickly, do things right - It's a lot of excel modeling and powerpoint - don't have nitz on your work. If you can do work quickly and have it right - first time around, I think people will see it. Managers will take interest in you.
  3. Attention to Detail - The ability to align text boxes very well and quickly is important. I'm not making fun of consultants but its important.
  4. Don't make waves - I think everyone in consulting has heard the marbles story - if your'e gonna make waves, make sure you have people to back you up.
  5. Be a leader, but not too much of one - Be a leader amongst your peers, but NEVER show up your managers. The managers are doing your evals.
  6. Sense of humor - I think this goes without saying - people want cool people to worth. That's why there are a lot of tech guys at Deloitte and ACN blow it - they're so stiff and boring to be with.
  7. Learn quickly - People that say consulting is all soft skills are bad consultants - you should be able to pick up new subject matter quickly and across industry.
  8. Dress well - I've seen plenty of people that don't have their top button buttoned, not well shaved - I mean, its a perception game.
  9. Make clients love you - At the end of the day, the litmus test is does the client want / need you. If clients love you - you'll stay billable and partners will like you.
  10. Leave AFTER your manager - It's amazing to me how this hasn't sank in with a lot of consultants. All it is is just leaving 10 minutes after your manager and getting in 10 minutes before your manager to make them think you're a really hard worker. It's the easiest thing to do and I don't see why people can't do this. YES - your'e working long hours but in an 8-9 day, is it really that big of a deal to do 7:45 to 9:10.
  11. Learn to talk about the weather - I don't know. In a life where your'e always traveling and people are from all across the country - people talk about the weather. I don't know why its the first topic of conversation, but it is. Learn to talk about it.
  12. Have your courtesy laugh down perfect - Partners and Managers are people. When they make jokes - LAUGH. I don't see what the problem is. I see so many people that hear jokes (admittedly bad ones) from partners that just don't even flinch. Just laugh - it will put them at ease.
  13. Attitude - Always appear determined but pleasant.
  14. Good public speaking skills - learn not to um and er. Just speak well. If you don't speak well, practice in the mirror.
 

Frankly it depends what you want to get out of it. I was based in the NY office and we were all worked like dogs; I had little interest in being the little knob-polisher who gets "top bucket". What's interesting is that in consulting, your reputation and the perception about your abilities can often be at odds with your official ranking; i.e. you can be known as a great analyst, blah blah but still not get top bucket for any number of reasons (senior support, managers with poor standing, billability, etc.) Develop those relationships and manage up and you should be fine -when I jumped firms, my new firm asked for 4 recs (seriously) and it was crucial to have 4 people stand up for you. Focus on that sort of stuff and not on the criteria required to be a "top bucket" analyst.

 

Find the line where getting s**t on becomes being taken advantage of. Consulting is not IB, and thus you should not find yourself repeatedly killing yourself on tasks where you don't understand the purpose. This is not to say all or even most of your work will be interesting to you, but you should know why you are doing most tasks. If not, you won't develop and be able to jump to the next level.

If there is someone above you constantly asking you to do busy work without explanation, chances are they are not someone you need to worry about impressing and you need to "draw the line". Always avoid the word "no", but don't be afraid of pushing back when it becomes appropriate. This will help you progress more than working past midnight every night.

When it comes to your career development (NOT client work), do not be afraid to push the envelope. You are not going to be penalized for asking for opportunities or trying to get feedback/advice from people above and around you.

 

Billable > Non-billable....regardless of "where" it comes from.

Always help out executive assistants / IFS staff when you can....nobody likes a jerk.

Develop your social skills....your technical skills are likely easy (comfort zone for most of us), but reading people and situations takes some experience. Body language, tone, inflection and just recognizing what everyone is looking for.

Clarify everything.

Understand your engagement manager. Some micro-manage, some let you do it all your own way. Be ready to adapt to their needs (not what is most enjoyable to you).

If you say "tomorrow morning" get it done before 7:30AM. This often means a late night, but they love seeing the work in their inbox in the morning...and people certainly look at the timestamp.

 

Ask questions, do things right the first time, and don't screw up in front of a client. Network within the firm and prove to Partners that you deserve more challenging work.

 

1) What you need to know in terms of content is case-dependent. A cursory understanding of finance, accounting and stats is generally a must, building a detailed 3 statement model is rare. You need to be confident in your general quant ability.

2) I like to bring some casual clothes, so I can not wear dress clothes and still answer the door when room service comes. Also bring workout clothes, otherwise you will end up fat. Some industries are more likely to be business formal (financial institutions, media) as are some locations (New York). But I've never had a case where I needed to wear a suit every day. Buy more than 5 shirts though. You'll be wearing these clothes 5 days a week.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of Starwood Points
 

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