Kick-Off '09
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The activities of the Consulting Club started this semester with the Club kick-off on 20th Aug 2009. And the response to this event was commendable, something that speaks volumes about the enthusiasm of the new batch.NUS consulting club plays a very important role in life of aspiring students: may it be by equipping the student body with resources to make informed decisions on consulting careers, providing tools necessary to build successful careers in consulting or by providing opportunities to promote extra-curricular excellence.
This session gave us a flavor of what the club is all about and how it can assist us in fulfilling our dreams of developing successful careers in this consulting industry.
The session started with a short presentation by Shipra, the current President of the club. She ran us through the history of the club, its objective, mode of operation, the various events held in the past etc.
She then took us through some of the more specific examples from events that were organised in the past one year, including career interest groups, interview preparation workshops, the new initiative called i-Speak, and the NUS MBA flagship event, Consultant Unplugged.
Shipra’s Presentation was followed by a presentation from Bani. She gave us insight on the recruitment process of different companies like McKinsey, BCG and A.T. Kearney etc.
Most of the discussion was centred around the kind of work consultants do in general with focus on
strategy firms. What is consulting? What kind of work the consulting firms do? How is a typical day in a consultant’s life? What is the usual work-life balance and the amount of travel involved? All these and many more such were effectively answered.A consultant’s typical day was also discussed and it was emphasized, that though consulting careers give one a great opportunity to constantly learn, innovate and challenge oneself, it’s a tough job at the end of the day and one needs to be geared always to succeed.
All in all, it was a great session, informative and comprehensive; and gave us good insights on both the club as well as the consulting industry; just the kick-off we had hoped to get!
-Payal Keswani
Class of 2011
Welcome!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Heart-felt Greetings!
As a club, we have, over the past years, achieved many successes, each time taking this club to the new levels of commitment and camaraderie.
As the President & a privileged member of this club, and one who has benefited tremendously in terms of the learnings imparted through the club & its initiatives; I hope that our new batch, comprising all the different cohorts, will work together as a team; and with its zeal and pro-active participation in all our activities, will take our endeavors and efforts to the next level; thereby setting new benchmarks for the club.
I also hope that all our existing members and alumni will continue to extend their support & encouragement to the new batch, as generously and unfailingly, as they have been to us in the past.
With these words, I once again extend my welcome to all our members and wish you all great successes in the months ahead.
Warm Regards,
Shipra Gupta
President
Friday, August 14, 2009
From Interview to Offer
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Govindan Sendhuran writes the Last part of his 3 part series on "Finding Jobs in the Consulting Industry"
[ For those who missed the earlier parts, here are the links to Part1 & Part 2 ]
From Interview to Offer
General Interview Preparation
The first thing to do when you get an interview call (and preferably you should start before that), is to find out everything you can about the firm’s interviews. This applies to pretty much every industry, not just consulting. The things to find include (but aren’t limited to):
- Format of the interviews: How long is it? How many will there be? Is it going to be case interview? Group discussion? Etc.
- What the firm/interviewers are looking for: Relevant experience, knowledge of finance, analytical skills, etc.
- Frequently asked questions: Tell me about a time when you lead a team? What are you strengths & weaknesses?, etc.
The best sources for this kind of information are people who have recently interviewed with the firm and the alumni/friends who work there. The recruiter can also be approached regarding the format of the interviews, and what the firm is looking for. But it would be inappropriate to ask about frequently asked questions.
This information will help you better prepare for the interview. Prior to the interview, you should prepare answers for the frequently asked questions. This will help you feel more relaxed in the actual interview. Additionally, if there is some special interview method used at the firm, you can get ready for that too.
Consulting Firm Interviews
Most top management consulting firms will have interviews that are a mix of behavioral interviews and case interviews. Each is used to assess different aspects of your candidature:
1. Behavioral Interviews: These are used to assess your experiences, attitudes, leadership skills and other relevant skills. Additionally these interviews check for fit with the firm.
To prepare for these, check with others who’ve interviewed with the firm recently, or alums who work at the firm, to get the inside scoop on the frequently asked question. Also, ensure that you prepare your answers to these questions beforehand and practice them with others.
2. Case Interviews: These are used to assess your analytical skills, your creativity, and your general business judgment.
The only way to prepare for this is to practice, practice, and practice some more, at least 50 – 100 cases before you interview. This means you have to start practicing long before you even get your interview call. Also practice with different people, practice with different types of cases (investments, market entry, operations, etc.) Quantity and variety are key! “Crack the Case” (www.mbacase.com), by David Ohrvall is the best resource I’ve seen for case interview practice. In my opinion it’s a MUST.
A few consulting firms will also use other methods to evaluate your candidature, including group discussions, presentation, etc. So make sure you investigate this before the interview.
The Actual Interview
Be confident and SMILE!
By the time you go for the interview, you should have prepared enough to be confident of getting the job. And if it helps, realize that the firm has invited you to interview because they think you are a good candidate. They already believe that you are smart enough and have the right background and experiences to succeed as a consultant!
Be relaxed and SMILE. When you are tensed up or nervous, your brain starts wasting mental cycles. You’re slower to respond, you’ll forget things, and you’ll do poorly, especially in the case interview. So relax, take a deep breath if you need and SMILE. Smiling can actually make you feel more relaxed! Smiling will also help you be more personable. If you’re stiff and don’t smile, it could harm your chances. Remember, consulting is hard work, and the interviewer is also looking for a new colleague who can be fun to work with through those long days. So relax, SMILE and be personable.
MBA Class of 2009
UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School
NUS Business School (exchange)
Consultant Unplugged 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
On March 19, 2009 at 2:30 am, as I finally flopped on my bed, and in the 2 seconds before I fell asleep, all I could remember were Srikanth's words, "Just make sure you hold Consultant Unplugged"
The day was Dec 6, 2008. I wasn’t even a month old as the Club President when at the annual ART dinner, one of our alumnus, Srikanth Sridharan caught hold of me and Srinivasa, our student council President, and told both of us that we must hold “Consultant Unplugged”. Our outgoing ex-co had said the same thing and it was already somewhere vaguely in my mind and hence, of course I agreed. I hadn't even planned the event calendar for the year and I was going home for a month. So I lodged it in the back of my head and promptly forgot about it. Back in January, I started planning 
the events, and thinking about Consultant Unplugged. After much deliberation and consultation, we, the club ex-co, decided on March end. We had 3 months to plan, but no idea what we were in for.
For the next 3 months, at painstaking pace we moved from one step to the next. Talking to people day and night, identifying possible speakers and going through all possible channels to invite other business schools, we were sending what seemed like a countless number of mails.
It is an NUS MBA flagship event and the smallest details mattered. 8 days for designing
the registration flyer, followed by faculty invitation cards, publicity email blasts, 5 different versions of the panel guides: each for a different target audience, numerous iterations of each version; every single word, logo and punctuation mark in every single document and e-mail was scrutinized by at least 5 independent pairs of eyes.
There were setbacks, failures and sacrifices. We had to give up looking for internships, going for recruitment talks and even studying for tests. I remember studying only a few hours before my mid term and of course I bombed in it. The last 20 days were the hardest to keep going. Except actually attending classes, we were doing nothing but planning the event. Endless trips to the programs office to finalize the logistics, recruiting volunteers, assigning escorts for outside teams & panelists, countdown reminder flyers, customized reminder emails, 25 versions of the banner, detailed volunteer plans with clear time lines and tasks, down to pasting chits at the points where volunteers were supposed to stand, 250 name tags to be prepared, checked and printed; audience question templates, Panelists introduction briefs, thank you notes and welcome speeches, emcee's scripts, I was exhausting all my writing skills as the team worked full steam. "Consultant Unplugged 2009" had become our lives; the atmosphere was frenzied.
On March 19 at 7:15 PM, as I finally sat down in one of the reserved seats with the volunteers and the rest of the team, and listened to the panelists speak for the next 90 minutes or so; the constant laughter and applause from the audience echoing in my ears, I knew that we had done it!
Appreciation mails have been pouring in since the event. We had created a lot of publicity before the event and its success increased the event's visibility manifold. The bar is now much higher for all future NUS MBA events, especially for "Consultant Unplugged 2010"
-Shipra Gupta
President - NUS MBA Consulting Club
Class of 2010
