Consulting in the Real World: A Rewarding Career in Management & Technology Consulting

Carnegie Mellon University

Business and Technology Club

September 6th, 2013

4:30pm – 5:30pm

Larry Gioia

Director, Health Industries Advisory

IT Strategy & Enterprise Architecture

larry.gioia@us.pwc.com

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Hi, I’m Larry (HNZ ‘05)

• Director, IT Strategy & Enterprise

Architecture

• 7 years ‘doing the consulting thing’ • Health Industries – Pharma & Life

Science • Focus on IT Strategy, emerging

technologies, multi-channel strategies, social / mobile / analytics / cloud technologies, and innovation management

• Perpetual dabbler and serial entrepreneur (in training)

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Why are we here?

• WE ARE NOT HERE to recruit for PwC

• WE ARE NOT HERE because CMU is paying us lots of money

• We are here as a proud CMU/Heinz/Tepper Alums

• We are here because we really enjoy what we do for work

• We are here to provide you with an overview of the consulting marketplace

• We are here to give you our perspectives on a career in consulting

• We are here to provide you with real-world examples of what we do as a consultants

• We are here to answer your questions

WHY ARE YOU HERE?

Consulting At a Glance 1

A consultant (from Latin: consultare "to discuss") is a professional who provides professional or expert advice[1] in a particular area such as Information Technology (IT), management, accountancy, law (tax law, in particular), human resources, marketing (and public relations), finance, engineering, or any of many other specialized fields. - Wikipedia

A consultant is an individual who has established an expertise in a particular domain, can connect with clients, understands the nature of their problem by asking intelligent questions, and can assist them in developing a cost-effective and sustainable solution - Larry Gioia

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What is this consulting thing all about?

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I’ve heard there are different ‘types’ of consulting? Who are the players?

Execution

Strategy

Business Technology

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How are consulting firms typically organized?

• Very common to go to market across a set of horizontals and verticals

• Most firms build their reputation for a on a given horizontal or vertical

For Example …

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What kind of work do you?

Business Strategy

Technology Architecture

Strategic Planning

What Make’s a Great Consultant? 2

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What do consulting firm’s look for in new hires?

• Leadership

• Teamwork

• Creativity

• Flexibility

• Willingness to Learn

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What are “T” skills?

A Breadth of Real-World Experiences / Skills

A D

eep

Do

main

Exp

erti

se

(Com

pete

ncy o

r In

dustr

y)

Enterprise Architecture, IT Strategy, Emerging Technologies

Healt

hcare (

Ph

arm

a)

Mo

bile T

ech

no

log

ies

In

no

vati

on

Man

ag

em

en

t

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What’s a typical career path in consulting?

Partner

Lifer

Director/ Principal

4-6 years

Manager

3-4 years

Senior Consultant

2-3 years

Consultant

1-2 years

Analyst

1-2 Years

Campus Recruits,

0yrs

MBA, MS, 2-4yrs

Experienced Hires, 5-15 yrs

Executive, 20+ yrs

Generalist Specialist

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Where do consultants typically go (if/when they leave consulting?)

Partner Director/ Principal Manager

Senior Consultant Consultant Analyst

Generalist Specialist

~ 2-4 years

Corporate America / Independent Consultant-

Business Unit Manager, Program Manager, etc.

Corporate America / Independent Consultant - Director, AVPs, CIO, CTO, CSMO, Partner at another

firm

Making it Real … 3

“There is no 9-to-5 in consulting”

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How did your time at CMU position you for a career in consulting?

• Time management

• Diversity (technically, personally, and culturally)

• Working in teams

• Late nights

• Balance of business and technology classes (Tepper, Heinz, CS)

• An amazing global network of professors whom we now call friends

• Some of the most smartest people I have ever met!

• Friends all around the world!

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What does a typical work week look like?

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Any other advice?

• Find out what you are passionate about, and do it for a living

• Consulting is an awesome place to start a career, especially if you don’t know exactly what you want to do

• Network, network, network

• Build your brand early and often – “What is [insert your name here] known for?”

• Imperative that you maintain a healthy work-life balance in whatever you do for a career after college

• Have (a little) fun in the process

Thank You and Good Luck!