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