strengthening your profilebconsult/strengtheningyourprofile.pdfinterior design, game development,...

Strengthening your Profile Herearesometipsandtricksthatwefoundusefulforcandidatestokeepinmindastheygothroughourrecruitmentprocess. 1.AttendtheBCEvents Berkeley Consulting Infosessions: We hold two of them, so be sure to attend one to learnfirsthandwhatBCreallyis,ourhistory,ourculture,ourwork,andespeciallywhatyoucangetoutofbeingamemberinBC! BerkeleyConsultingCaseWorkshop:Ourrecruitingcycleinvolvescaseinterviews,andtheCaseWorkshopisagreatwaytounderstandnotonlywhatacaseinterviewis,butalsohowtoapproachanytypeoforganizationalproblemfromamorestructuredlens. 2.UnderstandwhatisConsulting? Itisimportanttounderstandwhatconsultingisallaboutsothatyoucangetabetterideaofwhatqualitieswearelookingforinacandidate. Whatdoyoudoinconsulting?

§ Essentially,youworkwithdifferentorganizations,whetheritisacorporation,nonprofit,startup,governmentagency,orother,toassessaproblemtheyareexperiencinganddeveloptailoredsolutionsthattheycanimplement.Iknow-it’sverybroad.

Whattypesofproblemsdoyousolve? § TheLaundryList:Enteringanewmarket,developinganewproduct,spinningoffasubsidiary

companyofaholdingcompany,cuttingcosts,makinganinvestment,acquiringacompany,mergingwithacompetitor,offshoringoroutsourcingmanufacturing,developingamarketingstrategy,identifyingtargetmarketsandcustomersegments,creatingincentiveplansforsalesteams,designingacustomerexperiencearchitecture,creatingavalue-basedpricingstrategy,andmanymore!

§ Thereisnoneedtomemorizethelaundrylist,becausethereisa“howdoyouapproachthisproblem?”mindsetthataconsultantdevelopsanditerativelyimprovesonthatcanbeappliedtoeachandeveryoneoftheseexamples.

Whatmakesagoodconsultant?

§ Agoodconsultantisnotsomeonewhoisbornandbredforbusiness.Consultantscomefromawidevarietyofbackgroundsbuthaveafewcommontraits.Itisimportanttoshowcasethesetraitsintheinterviews.BC-erscomefromallmajorsandbackgroundsandthatisexactlywhatmakesoursolutionsandworkuniqueandtopnotch.

§ Agoodconsultantis(1)creativewithintherealmofpracticality,(2)abletoconveytheirthoughtssuccinctlyandaccurately,and(3)abletoapplyalogicalstructuretothesolutiontheyareproviding.

Withthisinmind,trytodemonstratethesequalitiesandcapabilitiesthroughoutyourapplicationandcandidacy. 3.WrittenApplicationTips Agoodconsultantmustbeagreatcommunicator.Thefirstmetricweliketousetogaugethisisthewrittenapplication. Thefirstpromptiswhatweusetounderstandyouasapersonbetter.Challengeyourselftowriteaboutsomethingthatisnotfullycoveredbyyourresume.Whetherit’dbeelaboratingonaparticularactivityonyourresumeorsharingwithusaquirkyhobbyyouenjoy,reallyjustmakethisessayreflectyou.Needlesstosay,wearealsolookingforqualityofwritingintheseresponsesaswell. Thesecondpromptiswheretheapplicantgetstodemonstratetheirproblem-solvingskills.Inlessthan250words,thechallengeistobalancesuccinctnessandincludingenoughdetailtoexplainyouridea.Keepinmindthatwereadhundredsoftheseresponses,soitwouldn’thurttowriteaboutsomethingthatsharesanewperspective,conceptorideawithus!Wevalueuniquenessofthoughtsodaretogobeyondyourtypicalcompaniesandsolutionsthatfirstcometomind. 4.ResumeTips Yourresumeisourfirstinsightintowhoyouare,whatyou’vedone,andwhatyoucanbringtoBC.Thoughit’sjustoneofthemanypiecesofyourapplication,wewilllookatitfirstandreferbacktoitthroughouttherecruitmentprocess.

Format

• Don’t stress toomuchaboutyour resume formatand template!BCwill carefully lookatyourpersonalexperiencesandaccomplishmentsirrespectiveofyourdesignskills.But,besureto…

• Dividewithsections.Somegoodonesusuallyinclude:Education,Experience(workand/orleadership),Awards,Skills,Interests

• Usedeliberateorderingofsectionsandexperiences,andtheoccasionalboldinganditalics.Wewanttoknowwhat’simportanttoyouamongallthethingsyou’vedone.

• Organizewithbullets.Agoodgeneralruleis3bulletspersection. • Selectavisiblefontsize!10-12pointsizeworksformostfonts,butalwaysuseyourbest

judgement. Whattoinclude

• Major(s),declaredorintended • CumulativeGPAand,ifapplicable,majorGPA(s) • Honorsandawards(academicorother) • Allcurrentandpastwork,leadership,andvolunteerexperiences,whetheritbea

job,internship,orinanotherstudentorganizationatCal. o Position(s)held o Timeframesyouwereinthosepositions o Whatyoudid and accomplishedthere (seesection“Howtoframeyourwork”)

• Technicaland/orcomputerskills,alongwithaverybrief(1-2word)descriptionofyourproficiency

• Hobbies,interests,randomfacts—wewanttoknowwhatmakesyou,you.Thoughtheseareoftenjustasinglelineatthebottom,BCinterviewersmightglanceandfindsomethingincommonwithyou!

Whatnottoinclude

• Highschooleducation,work/leadershipexperiences,awards,etc.(Note:ThisdoesnotapplytofreshmenwhograduatedhighschooldirectlypriortomatriculatingatCal.)

• Objective. • Generalskillsandaptitudes.Commonexamplesinclude:leadership,teamwork,

publicspeaking,etc. Howtoframeyourwork

§ Tell us your role, day-today.Wewant toknowwhatyourmaindutieswere inthat organization, how they fit in with everyone else’s work, and what finalproductsordeliverablesyouwereresponsibleforproducing.

§ Explainwhatskillsyouused.Thesecanbegeneralortechnicalskills,oronesthatarespecifictothatparticularorganizationand/orrole.Ifwe’reconfused,we’llbesuretoaskintheinterview.

§ Outlinewhatyouhaveaccomplished.Ifyouhelpreachacertaingoalatacompanyyouhaveworkedfor,oryouaidedinlaunchingaproduct–highlightthat!

§ Namemajor,concreteresultsandaccomplishments.Wewanttoknowtheimpactyoumadeontheorganizationanditsworkduringyourtimethere:

o Yourprojects,products,orpresentations o Thedirectimpactorchangetheymade,whetheritbebyaccomplishingagoalor

target,changingadatapoint,hittingamilestone,oranythingelse o Ifpossible,includestatistics,figures,datapoints,etc. o Whathappenedaftertheresultsofyourwork—wheredidyourworkleavethe

organizationtoday? 5. CaseInterviewPreparation BC’scaseinterviewisn'tmeanttotestforbusinessexperienceortrivia.Itspurposeistogaugeacandidate'sgeneralapproachtowardsbigpictureproblemsandunderstandhowtheythink.Forthisreason,wedon'trecommendreadingthroughallofCaseInPointandmemorizingframeworks,butinsteadwesuggestlookingthroughsomeofthebook'ssamplecasestogainfamiliaritywithtypicalcaseformats.MoreexamplecasescanalsobefoundonMcKinsey'swebsite. ComponentsoftheBCcaseinterview

§ Behavioral:Ourinterviewswillcontainabehavioralportionwherewereallywantto understandwhatyouarepassionateabout(itcouldbereallyanything:basejumping,interiordesign,gamedevelopment,etc.)andhowyouhavedevelopedandappliedyourleadershipskills.

§ Prompt:Tobeginthecase,theBCinterviewerswillreadthecasepromptoutloudonlyonce.Youwon’tbehandedawrittencopy,butfeelfreetotakenotesandaskclarifyingquestionsafter.Considerrepeatingportionsofthepromptbacktotheinterviewersto(1)showyourunderstanding,and(2)distillthefactsandrequiredanalyseswithinthecase.

§ Quantitative:Wewanttomakesurethatyouarecomfortablewithnumbersandcandoquickandeasymath(i.e.percentages,adding,multiplying,dividing,subtraction).

o Makethenumberseasybyroundingthemandusingscientificnotation. o Makeyournumericalassumptionswithlogicalreasoning—ifyouwantedtoestimate

what percentage of care owners in theU.S. owned Ferrari’s, 25% is probably toohighofanumber.

§ Qualitative:Wewanttoseeyourcreativemindinaction!Therewillbeideationportionswithintheinterviewthatrequireyoutobrainstormreasonsfororpotentialsolutionstoaproblem.

o Criticallythinkaboutyoursuggestionsgivenalloftheinformationyouhavecollected.Forexample, ifyouknowthat theclientmanufacturesbeerbottlesandwants toenter thewaterbottlemarket,itmaybeusefulforthemtolaunchapremiumglasswater bottleproductsincetheycanreusethesamemanufacturingprocessforbeerbottlesthattheyalreadyoperate.

o Analyzetheprosandconsofyoursuggestionsandbeyourowndevil’sadvocatesoyoucanpaintafullerpicture.

o Prioritizeyoursuggestionssothattheinterviewercanseewhatismostimportantandwhatshouldbeactedonfirstbytheclient.

§ Synthesis:Thisiswherestructuremattersthemost!Theinterviewerswillofferyouafewminutestogatheryourthoughtsanddevelopapresentation—freetoutilizethefulltimegiven.Makesureyoutakealloftheinsightsyouhavecollectedsofar,organizetheminalogicalflow,andsuccinctlypresentthemostusefulinformationthathelpsanswertheoriginalstatedproblem.Alwaysstateyourrecommendationfirsttosetthestagefortherestofyoursynthesis.

Practicing

§ Practicewithfriends:Everyonesaysit,butmostdon’tdoitenough.Bywalkingthroughafewcaseswithyourfriends,youwillbegintoseeanimprovementinyourcaseinterviewingability—guaranteed.Manypeoplearenotusedtohearingthemselvesspeakandthinkoutloudsogettingcomfortablewiththatisthefirststeptonailingthatcaseinterview!

§ Practiceyourorganization:Ifyouhavegreatideas,theywon’tstandoutunlessyouorganizeyourthoughtswell.Thisincludesframingsuggestionsinastepwisestructurewhenyouarespeaking,havingadifferentpaperforeachportionofthecasesoitiseasytounifyallthecomponentsintheend,andwritinglegibly.

Thank you for your interest in BC and we hope to see you soon!