Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Consulting in 2010

Happy New Year to all the consultant-wannabes out there! Like you, I am hoping that 2010 will be a much better year than 2009 in terms of getting a job in management/strategy consulting. 2009 was definitely better than 2008 and I'm sure everyone is hoping that trend will continue.

While things on my end have been pretty quiet on the consulting front there are a few new developments. I have decided to continue to help run the consulting club in 2010 and will continue to run a 12 week mini-MBA class. I think this was a really beneficial experience for a lot of folks in '09 and helped some of my colleagues get jobs in a tough environment. As an aside, the feedback from the top firms was very positive regarding our applicants this year..."they were better prepared for interviews than any group in the past." While I can't take credit for that, I think everything we did last year contributed to the success of our club members so I am anxious to help out again this year.

As we move into a new year, I am curious as to what people want to know. I am trying to build up a reading list for this year to get a little more knowledge under my belt and am glad to hear suggestions about what material I should look into....any ideas? Also, any ideas on what to post about or what kind of info I can provide is appreciated. I'd love to spend more time providing helpful information, but just want to make sure what I'm posting is actually useful to others.

Thanks for the input...it's what keeps me going!

6 comments:

  1. I was thinking that maybe you could post a case a week and then we could all go about giving some solutions and dicuss ways to make our case performance better...any takers?? I don't want to be the only one doing it.

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  2. I second that!!! I am looking out for a case partner or team to practice cases.

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  3. As for reading list. I asked several consultants about their favorite books. Both for work and for case preparation. Here's a compiled list:

    Useful (basic) reading for work:

    "Competitive advantage" by Michael Porter
    Books by David Maister
    "McKinsey Way"
    "Say it with charts"

    For case preparations:

    Ace your case series
    Vault Guide
    Crack the case
    Case in Point by Cosentino

    Good luck everyone )

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  4. Thanks for the reading updates. I have personally read "The McKinsey Way" and would not recommend it unless you know nothing about consulting. While it is a quick and easy read, it really doesn't have too much information and is a glorification of McKinsey culture more than anything else.

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  5. What about "Mckinsey Mind"? I guess it is better than "Mckinsey Way".

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  6. Its better to join some consulting firm and have direct interactions with alumni of your dream college.

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