A PhDs guide getting consulting jobs

In this three-part series Ill give you a how-to for getting an interview, preparing for it, and dazzling the interviewers once youre across the table. These are the main topics well cover:

Part 1: Branding yourself and making making a wow resume Part 2: Preparing for your case interview to get bulletproof Part 3: Talking about your experience and sounding like a bad-ass Leaving academia and joining consulting firms is a something many PhD students (myself included) are getting interested in. Firms like McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Bain & Associates once hired mostly MBAs but are now branching out to hire MDs, lawyers, and PhDs. I wanted to make a big impact with the skill I learned during my PhD. I got excited when I heard about consulting because it promises just that. In the next three parts, Ill take you through the big lessons I learned while preparing and interviewing: How to get an interview, how to nail the case, and how to dazzle them with your experience. Part 1: Branding yourself and making making a wow resume gives you pointers to polish that scruffy science look off your C.V. and generally control your personal brand so that interviewers are impressed with you long before you walk in the door. Part 2: Preparing FOR YOUR CASE INTERVIEW TO GET BULLETPROOF talks about how to approach the case and how to practice so that you can shine while others look dull. Ill give you some simple exercises that will improve the structure and creativity of the case portion of your interview. Part 3: Talking about your experience and sounding like a bad-ass covers an important and often overlooked portion of a consulting interview talking about yourself! I know you have some amazing stories to tell. This sections shows how to make your stories say the right things about you.

Part 1: Branding yourself and making making a wow resume

This is the first part of A PhDs guide to getting a consulting job, because personal branding and resume building can help you the most! Having a great resume and a powerful personal brand is necessary to get in the door, and if you do it right, you may have the job before you even start talking. First Ill talk about how to build your brand, then Ill share my tips on resume writing.

Building your personal brand

The first thing I do when I hear about a person is google them to see what theyve done. The google search results for someones name tells a story, and you have the power to control your own story! To shape the way new people (specifically interviewers) see you on the web youll need to think strategically about the story you want to tell and then go get famous for things youre good at.

Thinking strategically:
Think about the person that you would like to be and the person that the interviewers are dying to hire. Find where those two people overlap and start thinking strategically about how you can become that person. It is best to get started early, but it is worth considering at any time. The biggest rewards come from lots of hard work, but you can also make big improvements by being strategic about presenting what youve already done. Lets say that your goal is to become an, innovator with a keen business sense and powerfulcommunication skills. Well, lets break that down: Innovator Show examples of things you created. Business Sense Have stories of business youve been involved in. Communication Skills Communicate well in lots of different mediums.

Read company websites. Theyll often tell you exactly what the company is looking for. If theres a particular job or firm that you really like then find out what they want and include those things as part of your personal brand. Find some examples. If you already have great examples of things youve created, business scenarios you thrived in, and your communication abilities, you might be done. Otherwise, come up with a plan to fill out those areas. Get new experiences if you dont already have them. To become an innovator, find where you can add some value by creating something new and get to it. To get business sense, take some classes or get involved a venture where you can gain experience and help out at the same time. To show what a great communicator you are, you might start a blog. Well that leads us to getting famous.

Getting famous:
This gets us back to the google results for your name. The goal here is to have your google results page read like a resume. You can make this happen by: Getting member pages on web sites for research and professional groups Taking leading rolls in events and conferences with web presences Contributing to scientific journals with high impact factors Creating your own content and sharing it on a personal web-page Tell a very compelling story about yourself, your accomplishments, and your worth to an employer by creating a blog or personal web-page filled with content that describes your research, solves problems for others, and describes other aspects of your professional life. Thats what Ive done here, if you havent noticed : ) Clean up your facebook page and/or make it private. That should really go without saying, but yeah. Also fill out your linkedin profile with relevant info and get some recommendations. Once you have the right experience, and your google results tell your story for you, youll have a much easier job putting together a winning resume.

Making a wow resume

Clearly communicate your brand with your resume. Most of the resumes I see are hard to read, ugly to look at, and filled with jargon. This is sometimes acceptable for a scientific CV, but if youre stepping out of academia it is time to step up the resume. Here are some major things to consider:

Give em the business. The types of projects that PhDs have on their resumes can be very specific and jargon-y. Re-write your experience to talk about the higher-level objectives and accomplishments. Include the so what. If the reader doesnt know your field, they may not care about the specifics of your projects. What most people can understand is the so what. After a SHORT description of a technical accomplishment, specify the specific result. This work resulted a patent application, or This work resulted in 4 publications. Be specific. You may think being vague about past projects makes them seem more impressive. It doesnt. People often assume the worst. By sticking to the facts and being specific youll appear honest and accomplished. Include numbers. Use numerals to add even more specificity and help readers find facts. Led a group of 10 people. or Organized a conference with 30 participants. Use bolding and bullets. Just like writing for the web, it is important to make sure a resume is skim-able. If there are large blocks of simple text you can assume people wont read them. Typography and whitespace. Make sure the typography looks attractive and has plenty of white space around it. Dont be afraid to get a little artsy with the fonts, but dont go crazy. Mind page breaks. It is acceptable to have a 2-page resume, but make sure those page breaks fall at logical places. Dont cut a section or sentence in the middle of a page. Edit, edit, edit. Proof reading is a must, but revising your resume again and again (and again) will make the descriptions of things youve done clear, concise, and powerful. LOTS of editing transforms resumes from rambling messes to powerful marketing documents.

After you have drafted your resume, you should have it checked by as many different people as you can and take their criticisms to heart. The same goes for cover letters and application essays. Often times you will not recognize what a third party gets out of your writing until they tell you. Dont let the only third person be the interviewer.

Part 2: Preparing for your case interview to get bulletproof

So far in the PhDs Guide to Getting a Consulting Job, weve covered how to work on your personal brand and write a resume that will get you an interview. Now, its time to get bulletproof for the interview itself. Case interviews are an interview tool that consulting companies use to gauge how your analytical skills. Essentially, the case interview involves answering an open-ended question about a business problem. The interviewer gives some background on a (hypothetical) company that needs help. Then the candidate talks through an analysis and solution. Im going to show you how to rock a case interview. The interviewers are looking for a few things in particular in a case interview: Structured thinking Hypothesis-driven approach Strong analytical ability Creative problem-solving skills Keen business sense Composure in the face of pressure and uncertainty

McKinsey-style cases vs. normal cases:

Some firms use McKinsey-style cases to make the interview more fair and relieve some pressure. These cases are more structured and give the applicant three or four specific questions to answer. Normal cases, on the other hand, give a problem statement and expect the applicant to direct the entire case with little or no guidance from the interviewer. It is a good idea to practice both, as they each teach different skills. You can find good resources and sample cases at the Georgia Tech Consulting Club site.

Things to remember
If you read some of the material available, youll get lots of advice. These are the 5 things that I think are most important. Structure everything. EVERYTHING. Instead of jumping right into an answer, start by outlining your answer to the interviewer. First, describe high-level buckets. Next, discuss each one in turn by listing lower-level items within each bucket. Think trees. You should give an overall framework for solving the case and separate frameworks for estimation problems, math problems, data analysis, final recommendations EVERYTHING. The more you structure, the better youll look. State your hypothesis. Never ask the interviewer for information or start making analysis without specifying what youre attempting to prove (or disprove). You can demonstrate that you are hypothesis driven by stating your hypotheses out loud and saying how you plan to evaluate them. This sentence would be a good example, I would guess that competition is a key driver of the low price because widgets are a commodity. Can you share any information on the competitive landscape to help me confirm that? Back up assumptions. Youll often be asked to make assumptions. Partly this is to see if you make reasonable guesses. However, always make educated guesses and then specify how you could go about collecting the real information if needed. For example, Id assume 25% of personal automobiles are trucks based on what I see driving around. Of course, I could check that by looking at industry sales numbers. Does 25% sound like a reasonable estimate for now?

Ask so what? Every time you reach a number, conclusion, or stopping place immediately ask yourself, So what? Then answer out loud to the interviewer. Dont say, It will cost $2 million. Instead, say, It will cost $2 million, which is [surprising, disappointing, expected, etc.] considering By stepping back and answering So what? without being prompted you show that you can grasp the big-picture. And youll make an impression. Nail the recommendation. The last thing youll do in a case is give your final recommendation. Nail it by being direct and decisive. Have the first words out of your mouth be what the company should do. Cite a couple of reasons why, give one or two caviots, re-state the recommendation and stop. Whatever you do, dont summarize the case to the interviewer they were there! They know!

How to practice
You can build up your case interview skills before you ever practice a case with someone else. However, you should definitely get some mock-interviews under your belt before your real interview. Here are 3 ways to practice. 2 you can do solo, the other you need a partner for.

1. Structure drills
This drill will help you get your initial structure handled. This crucial step can make or break a case, and if you do it right, you will be off to a great start. The secret is doing this enough that it becomes second nature. Read the case intro. Start by finding a case (try looking here). Read the intro paragraph describing the case, but nothing else. Dont look at any additional information yet. Work for 10 minutes. Brainstorm and write a detailed tree-shaped structure for approaching the case. Your final tree might look something like this. However, yours should be more detailed, and tailored to the specific case youre working with.

Keep the structure MECE (mutually exclusive and completely exhaustive). This means that each category is independent from the others, but together they cover all possible areas needed to analyze the case. Edit your structure until you feel that it is as good as it can get. Improve your structure. Read the rest of the example case and re-evaluate your work. Did you leave anything out? Would a different structure have made more sense in light of the new information? Edit and improve your structure-tree again. Note any revelations that may help you next time. Practice presenting it in 30 seconds. In the interview, youll have about a minute to prepare a structure and then 30 seconds to present it to the interviewer. You want to start with a bang, so make sure you practice presenting it OUT LOUD. Start by saying the top-level items and then going into specifics for each. Make sure you convey which top-level item youhypothesize is the most important and why. Do this drill over and over until you are a case-structuring-machine!

2. Creativity drills

Interviewers sometimes ask for you to come up with some ways to cut costs, or some new ways to market the product. These questions are meant to test for creativity and out-of-thebox thinking. To some extent, this has to do with how your brain works. But it you can still warm up and get in the habit of thinking creatively. As you go through your day, come up with creativity-prompting questions. If you stop for coffee ask yourself, how could they get me to pay $0.25 more per cup. When you get groceries ask yourself, what are some ways I this grocery store could cut costs. By doing this all the time youll get in the habit. Make lists of 10, 20, 50 things. One way to coax out creativity is to number a page (or open a spreadsheet) and commit to making a list of 10, 20, or 50 creative answers to some of the questions you came up with during the day. Dont worry about good or bad ideas, just make sure you get to your number-goal. Youll be surprised how inspiring that big empty list can be.

3. Mock cases
Practicing by yourself is necessary to hone certain skills, but nothing compares to sitting across the table from a friend to do some simulated interviewing. Here are a few tips on making the best of practices. Find good people to help you. The best choices are people who are currently working at the firm youre applying to. The next best choices are people who have been through these types of interviews. Be careful about how you use these peoples time. Dont use your best resources until your skills are sharp from practicing alone and with less experienced friends. Be serious throughout the entire mock interview. Dont joke around just because its your friend and its only practice. Ask your partner not to pull any punches. The stress helps you learn. You want a practice that is as close as possible to the real thing. Share feedback right after the interview. The interviewee should start off by giving their impression of the case. Even if youre case skills need work, it is important to make sure your interviewer sees the same problem areas as you do. When the interviewer gives feedback, take notes and ask questions. This is probably the best information you can get on how to improve.

Part 3: Talking about your experience and sounding like a bad-ass

We have talked about how to get an interview and how to nail the case section. The last step in the PhDs Guide to Getting a Consulting Job is discussing your personal experience in a way that is clear, compelling, and shows that youve got what it takes to be a consultant. Experience questions break into two types; simple chit-chat questions and serious in-depth questions. These are both quite important, and Ill talk about how to prepare for each:

Preparing for chit-chat interview questions

You should probably have 30-90 sec. answers to a variety of likely chit-chat questions in mind. So, why are you interested in consulting? What is the lay-person version of what your thesis is about? Why abandon your research when it seems so important? I wont ask if your interviewing with our competitors, but why our firm? How was your morning? Have your answers ready. These questions might get asked in the very beginning of the interview before you even know that it has started. This chit-chat can be very important, though. Youll want to show that you have thought carefully about why you are interested in consulting and why the firm youre interviewing with is a good fit. Preparing great answers to these questions can also help you explain what youre doing to your friends and family!

Example in-depth experience questions

These questions should give you an idea of the kinds of things youll be asked. You can make up hundreds more questions by varying the themes in the samples below.

Give me an example of a time that you had to take a team in a new direction in order to save a project under a tight deadline. Tell me about a time when you set a specific goal for yourself and accomplished it. What was the biggest challenge within your PhD and why? Give me an example of a time when you tried to change someones mind in an important situation. (Could be successful or unsuccessful) For this example, try to think of something where the person was very firm about their position? Consider a time when you were forced to go against a group decision. How did you know that you had to do what you did, and what did you do afterwards? Tell me about a time when you had to tell a superior or supervisor they were wrong. Tell me about a time when you worked with someone that was very challenging. Try to think of a situation in which you had to directly confront this person. Recall a time when you had to confront someone for poor work on a project. Tell me about a time when you had to influence a large group of people (try to think of something that isnt school/work related). Give me an example of when you had to lead a team through a crisis? Many times in consulting we have to work directly with CEOs and other executives. Tell me about an experience when you had to meet with someone very high up in an organization.

Preparing for in-depth experience questions

In-depth questions like those above help the interviewer gauge how you think and how you have solved real problems in your past. They also will cause you to show a lot of your personality if you answer them well. Here are some things to remember. Prepare at least 5 stories. Each story should be flexible and detailed enough to answer two or three of the sample questions depending on how you tell it. Having at least 5 stories in mind should give you plenty of variety to handle any question the interviewer throws at you. Use a compelling title. If you have a story about how you had to convince your boss to rewrite a chapter in a grant application (for example), Dont just jump into the story. First, present the title: This story is about a time when I influenced my supervisor to make a lastminute change that saved our groups funding. The short, exciting synopsis sets the tone for the rest of the question. Have at least 10 minutes of talk for each story. Hopefully youll get some breaks, and you wont have to talk the whole time. Fill your stories with hooks that deliberately bait the interviewer into asking further questions (which you also have answers to). Be interactive throughout the story. Ask the interviewer if theyre following and stop to answer any tangential questions the interviewer may have. Dont forget your structure. Prepare by remembering all the details, writing down key bits of information, and trying to impose a structure on the narrative. Come up with lots of 3bullet-lists to use in the story. 3 Observations you had, 3 problems you faced, 3 things you tried, etc. These will lend structure to the story, help the interviewer know where youre headed, and keep you focused. Consider a layout like this: 1. Start with a hook or headline (10 sec.) 2. Set up by telling why its important and how it relates to the question (~30-60 sec.) 3. Mention what the 3 major problems were. (10 sec.)

4. Talk about the 1st problem and the solution (120 sec.) 5. Talk about a 2nd problem and the solution (120 sec.) 6. Talk about a 3rd problem and the solution (120 sec.) 7. Give a nice conclusion and epilogue and say what you learned. (30-60 sec.) Be very detailed about your thought process. Shoot to give details without being prompted, but realize that the interviewer might jump in and ask for clarifications here and there. A big difference between consulting interviews and normal interviews is that consultants want the details. Be sure to tell why you did things, how you reached your conclusions, and whatspecifically you did about them. Its like being at a party. You want to be engaging, suspenseful, and impressive. You should let people jump in to ask questions, but you should be able to roll with the story if no one does. This also means you should use real stories. Pull from research, class projects, past jobs, personal life, hobbies, etc., but dont make stuff up. Other ideas for practicing for experience interviews? Leave a comment.

Conclusion
Well, folks. That wraps it up. Weve covered building your brand, honing your resume, prepping for case interviews, and now, talking about your experience. With these tools and some careful practice you should be able to go in and rock those interviews! I wish you the best of luck in finding the consulting job of your dreams!