+

Introduction to Consulting

Careers presentations

J-P Martins

Associate Director Consulting Careers

September 2011

MBA Consulting

Curriculum 2011-12:

Early Feedback

+ Intro

This is a very confusing set of feedback results and your opinion would be highly valued

The feedback relates to two separate presentations which were meant to be independent – students should

have gone to either one or the other

The format for each, as last year, was a pre-circulated slide deck (‘fact pack’ on consulting careers), with

students encouraged to email me questions in advance of the presentation. The presentation was then a highly

interactive Q&A, with slides prepared in answer to emailed questions as a fallback if no questions were

forthcoming from the floor

The first, in RCOG, had a signup of 180+ students. It was billed as an Intro to Consulting for the Undecided and

was meant to address What is consulting and is it the career for me?, Who are the consulting firms and to which

would I be best suited?, What are they looking for in candidates? And How do I go about getting hired from

LBS?

A show of hands at the start of the presentation indicated that only around 30 of the 180 had done the pre-reading, and this was

backed up by the fact that I received very fgew questions beforehand

The presentation was scheduled from 11:15 to 12:45, and started late due to poor sign-in processes on the door. Around 40 minutes

before the end a lot of students started to leave, so I interrupted the presentation and asked people to either go or stay until the

end. They claimed they had a timetable clash, though the Ops team assures me there was no clash.

The presentation specifically dealt with MiF hiring, and covered historical recruiting stats at LBS

The second was in LT6 with overspill into LT5 via one-way video link. Signup was around 150 students. It was

billed as being for the committed or decided, and as such did not address What is consulting? Or Is consulting

for me?

It was scheduled from 11:30 to 12:45 – the later start was for reasons that are unclear to me. We were asked to finish 5 minutes

before the end by a member of faculty who said he had to get ready for his lecture

+ Summary

The events were very positively received

The presenter’s style was very much appreciated, being inspiring and informative

Opportunity noted to manage time better

Some division over whether the pre-reading + Q&A format works

Some want more info

Some want less

However, overwhelming response to ‘what should we keep the same’ on retaining pre-reading and Q&A format

Some confusion over the split themes – ‘Consulting for the undecided’ and ‘Consulting for the committed’ – I sense many students attended both?

Lots of complaints around logistics

Tight scheduling in lunch break (no gaps allowed to next classes)

Some confusion over timetable ‘clashes’ – many students believe there was a clash

RCOG not ideal, but more complaints over dual LT with video link

+ Intro to Consulting Careers: 96%

would recommend it strongly

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

The format and content of the sessions

were excellent

The presenter was inspiring and

informative

The events were well organised -

logistics and venue were appropriate

I would strongly recommend this event to

next year's first year MBA students

10

4

16

4

74

49

51

50

16

47

33

46

Disagree Strongly Disagree Agree Agree Strongly

Response rate: 70/180 (39%)

+ Self-reported pre-reading

compliance!

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100%

Did you read the pre-circulated materials?

13% 36% 51%

Not really Yes, for one but not both of the presentations Yes, for both

Response rate: 70/180 (39%)

+ Comments

+ Comments: format and content

Repetition of the slides we were e-mailed

There was still a fair amount of repetition from the presentations we were supposed to watch before this session but I imagine that's because many people did not watch them. It does, however, make it less appealing to people who did!

I like the Q and A format - no point in going over stuff we can just read ourselves

Answering questions people send is very useful format

I think he should do a little presentation anyways

Wanted more information and examples - I'm attending the consulting information sessions because I want to know more about what it is to be a consultant

I would recommend holding questions to the end

I personally was not interested in mainstream consulting and so did not find presentations valuable

Should have started at a much more basic level. Don't assume everyone WANTS to be a consultant so soon

More organized, better control of time

Format and content

Stick more rigidly to

pre-reading + Q&A

format

Good format

More slides

??

Presentation was ‘Intro

to consulting careers –

for the committed

In the 2nd presentation I

ran out of time

+ Comments: presenter

Spoke well and knowledgably, however could benefit from better

management of time and a set message (rather than jumping

between questions)

Certainly there was a more optimistic atmosphere in the talks

compared with the financial careers information talks

(I would hit "agree strongly" for the Consulting CV workshop but

maybe that's to do with the nature of the questions asked at this

workshop!)

J-P is terrific and really helps those of us with no consulting

background better understand what consulting is all about, the

differences between the different firms, and the recruitment

process. Thank you J-P for taking your time to put so much into this

and your honesty and efforts to help us out so much!

The presenter did not give much information for students with

unusual backgrounds. The presentation was made for corporate

background students

Presenter

Good presenter, manage time

better, more slides

Optimism

Good presenter

Optimism

+ Comments: organisation

Trying to squeeze it into the break between lectures meant that we either skipped lunch and / or ran late for our next lecture. Also the first venue did not allow drinks inside, but this was not advertised, meaning I had to throw away a newly purchased coffee

The events felt hurried and conflicted with some core lectures

For the 1st presentation I didn’t receive the pre-readings. Both events finished at the same time I had classes in a different location

The 2nd session was organized in 2 separate lecture halls, with live video being used in one of the class rooms. Attendees in this hall, had no chance of putting forward their questions

Over subscribed

I was in the room with video. Presentation was good, but way too much coughing of audience. Sound quality was very poor

didn't like the overflow room style for the second one

Being located in a separate lecture theatre is not ideal

Lack of space

first presentation didn't finish on time which meant that people left to go to core classes, disturbing the session. the second session I was in the overflow lecture theatre. I arrived on time but you had already started. the sound was terrible and we mainly heard people coughing

Organisation

Tight scheduling

Dual LT format

Space

Not true – but underlying

complaint about dual LT format

+ Comments: overall

recommendation

Yes, these events give students a good idea of the

consulting industry

Yes, new students will want to know about Consultancy,

but really need to think about core messages

Well, if they are interested in consulting

Extremely helpful and at the correct level of information

transfer in my opinion

At the same time, I'd emphasise that they should ask lots

of questions in advance in order to shape the session

Only for those who have absolutely no clue of consulting.

but how many such people do you think are there? A

dozen?

I'm a MiF. The presentation was totally focused on

internships for MBAs

Overall recommendation

Highly recommended

Too MBA focused

Recommend, but ask more

questions in advance

Too basic for this audience

+ What should be improved? Overall

comments

Nothing; I cannot think of anything you should do differently; I think everything was perfect; Nothing springs to mind

Nothing or N/A x 10 comments

Better control the time and engagement with audiences

Reiterate to students the high demand of these presentations and the need to register.

It was a negative meeting

Move a little quicker when the questions are either too specific or repetitive

+ What should be improved?

Comments on content

Talk about more companies in detail:

Try to have someone who can also talk about the other main consulting companies

Provide more information of specialities of different firms (rankings perhaps?)

There was a lot of emphasis on the top tier firms and although completely understandable as this is the area in which the career department has most knowledge, it comes across as biased. discussions between students subsequently are that perhaps the careers department has a biased because of job placement results, not to say that this is at all the case

Keep it the same way. Perhaps do some research on Booz & AT Kearney as well since not all students will be accepted to the top 3

J-P, at times, at times you guy say that you personally have experience of Bain and BCG but cannot really comment for ATK or Booz on specific issues. But that is not really what a student is looking for. If there is more comprehensive information, it will be much more useful

More information about other consulting firms but the "big 3"

Helpful to have a slide summarizing the following: - approx no of positions avail at each of the big firms (based on historic no.s) - app vs. interview vs. selection rates - list of boutique firms by industry / nature of work (at least the most well know ones) - review samples of 1-2 good / successful CV's

A bit more 'what does a consultant actually do' in the first session may be useful for those who have not had exposure to the industry

Have more information and examples so that people who are new to the industry have a clearer view

Please give an opportunity to discuss fall recruiting for full-time hires instead of solely focusing on internships

Speak more about life-work balance. Explain how is the life of a consultant. Talk about other firms rather than the big 3 or 4

Focus on the positives and fit of the profession, not just long hours/travel/better remuneration than industry

More tales from students who have done and found internships

More descriptions on what does consultant do

Wanted to see more about recruiting strategies and early preparation items or things to do now

+ What should be improved?

Comments on content

More stats:

Provide updated recruitment statistics, inclusive of those for the latest batch's

Some more information about the hiring needs of consulting industry in London and abroad. For the finance sector there is some kind of indication regarding hiring needs of large banks in specific service lines

Some statistics about what are the top tier consultants looking for, i.e. which type of background, interests...

More on salaries

Could add more specific info, e.g. salary of different companies

Show figure of how many MBAs that are hired by Consulting companies were sponsored students and how many were completely new hires

Know more information about how successful you were at placing people into jobs - really poor image when you're saying 30ish people managed to secure consulting jobs at exit from the MBA, but not knowing how many of those already came from a consulting background. All them? Not much hope for me then!

Additional value to pre-reading material

Most of the slides are repeats from last year that we can look at on Career Services on Portal. I'd like to hear more about consulting firms other than the big ones. More explanation/development of the CV scoring form would be helpful too. It would also be helpful to explore more of the four attributes that consulting recruiters are looking for, and particularly how we can best illustrate these on our CVs

I believe vast majority of people know what consulting is. For the dozen of those who don't you could have done a smaller even. It is not the information that can be read on the websites of 3 main companies that needs to be presented. It is the hidden pitfalls, insider info that will make people reconsider this path. Sth that CANT be read in the net. why nothing was said about smaller consulting co? Although we specifically asked for it? You said we need to research them ourselves! We can a lot easier research BCG, Bain and McKinsey than some of the boutiques…

+ What should be improved? Format

and logistics

Potentially break this into 2 smaller sessions so that there are less people and more room to asking questions

The sessions are not long enough and do not go into enough detail. The pre-reading does provide a foundation however nothing is a substitute for J-P and his team providing their insights and answering questions. We need more time to ask questions and have them answered. For those who have never worked in consulting, a lot remains unanswered and confusing

J-P and Gavin present on different parts instead of Gavin jumping into J-P's presentation from time to time. It provided some different or complimentary perspective but not as serious or enjoyable

The sessions should be longer and less rushed - maybe split them down and have stream specific events?

Interactive but not too floating around, should have better control of theme and time. More information organized beforehand rather than answering questions on the spot. More systematic introduction with a good logic and organization rather than pieces of information

Handouts/pre-readings need to be more basic and informative. Many considering consultancy in the group have no experience in this sector and are trying to decide whether its a suitable career for them. I would recommend that more structure be provided to the consultancy presentations, as I have found them unclear

Guest speakers/alumni

Try to accommodate all participants in the same hall. If not feasible due to space constraints, it would be better to hold 2 similar events at different dates/time slots

You know how many ppl sign up so get a big enough room

Smaller groups and shorter sessions

Better sound quality

One big room for each presentation that can accommodate everyone

Hold the talk in the RCOG

If events can begin on time, it will be better. Consulting team really needs to set standards on this front. There was some repetition of information in the two sessions. Try seeing how much that can be avoided

The slots were a bit tight

Have a venue that can accommodate all those who are interested

Format Logistics

+ What should we keep the same?

Format Q's were helpful

Asking students to send questions before the session so you can discuss them in the day

Opportunity for everyone to send questions in advance

I like the format of seeing the presentation in advance and sending in questions

An open discussion

The pre-reading does help

The open discussion format and offering prior questions. Although I would like a split between structure presentation and then a Q+A

Interaction

Format of Q&A session

Pre-read was good.

Informal atmosphere and discussions

Asking for questions before the sessions

Having a flexible format, driven by Q&A

The presentation was pretty relevant. I liked the fact that the speaker talked about the questions asked previously before making a point

Pre reading and self assessment form

Allow students to ask questions, but maybe only by the end of presentation, or give some intervals for questions. The session shouldn't be driven by questions from students

The format of circulating slides earlier to solicit questions

Keeping the presentations in pure Q&A format

The pre reading is useful and makes the presentation more dynamic

Emailing the slides before the presentation helped - we are still at the stage that we barely know where to look for this information so it was handy to have an introduction to the basics of a consulting career

Pre-reading

Doing presentations on basis of students' questions

Having lots of questions aggregated and already answered during the presentation

Questions sent in advance

The format of the presentation

Keep open for dialogue throughout the session

Good thing about the session was that it was specific to the questions asked...so might as well keep the presentation style same, but not necessarily the content

Q&A format as opposed to presentation of slides which we can do in our own time, career progression slide is useful!

The format of responding to specific questions was good

Format

Format with questions sent beforehand by students and later addresssed in class. Very helpful the docs sent after the presentation, with the actual answers provided during the session

Good Q&A format

+ What should we keep the same?

Content and presenters

The fact that you are providing some differentiating points about the culture of the big consulting firms

All the slides, particularly those on Consultants' career progression and differences between top tier firms

The specific data and numbers and %s help the most

The information on the cultural differences between the big 3 organisations

The difference of the top-tier firms

Differences between the top 3 firms (ideas, results etc)

Contents are good

Liked the slides about different firms, boutiques vs big, drop out rates and conversation about money

The content was excellent and well-presented

The clear structure, and the great insights JP shared with us

The topics covered

Detailed intro about the internship/job searching process, important points about CV writing

Different requirements that the big 3 look for

Content was good

The content was useful and I would keep the format the same

I liked that you talked about the different cultures or focus of the top tier companies. It was very useful and something you don't see on their webpages

Overview of the career progression in consultancy

Good presenter

J-P!

Retain and promote J-P,

he is very good.

The speakers

The dual dialogue

between J-P and Gavin;

built on each others

points or explained why

the slightly different

opinions

Energetic presenter

Content Presenters

+ What should we keep the same?

NA (x 3)

Excellent content and information

Overall it was excellent

Everything

The rest

Everything - nothing to change

I think everything was perfect

Everything

Everything

The session was informative and helpful. Thank you.

Everything

Sign-up and logistics sending out the presentations

Organization

I really like the rule about "don't show up if you're

going to leave early"

Spill over room was good to ensure everyone could

attend

Open to all

Overall ‘Other’