The 3 Pillars for Landing Consulting Internships
The 3 Pillars for Landing Consulting Internships
A critical element of looking ahead into the world of consulting internships in 2021 and 2022 is seeing how the firms will be looking at you. In the world of education, it might be easy to simply look at grades, assignments, and other convenient measurements of success and think that you’re a shoo-in. However, firms are going to look at accomplishments and skillsets with much more nuance than a typical classroom, even though grades do matter.
Landing a Consulting Internship
As a current university student, your skill sets and track record can be easily broken down into two different categories, both of which are equally important in the world of management consulting. It’s going to be a game of maximizing not only what you have done, but also what you’re capable of doing in the future. This is the basis of “can do” and “will do”, the two skills that consulting firms ultimately want. If you were running a consulting firm, you’d want the same two elements.
The Concept of “Can Do”
The concept of “Can Do” just means you are able to do the work. And what is the work of an entry-level consultant? The Answer is the work of analyzing. But what does that even mean? It means ultimately to take in a bunch of data (usually quantitative data but not always), meaningfully and efficiently turn it into something useful to your more senior fellow consultants and ultimately the client. That can mean anything from doing some Excel calculations on big spreadsheets from the client all the way to researching a bunch of websites in a niche industry to identify common themes.
As you can imagine, the ideal entry-level consultant has a lot of “can do,” and he or she is mostly using smarts, diligence, organization skills, focus, etc, ie, things you don’t primarily learn in a business class or in college in general. And this is what explains the large number of non-business non-economics majors that obtain consulting jobs. It’s simply the case that what you learn in those courses isn’t directly relevant to your “can do.” That doesn’t mean your major doesn’t matter. In fact, all else equal, who would you hire, an economics major or a history major if they were identical in every other way? You would at least be tempted to prefer the Economics major since that person shows ability with numbers which might suggest talent in analyzing. But there is little in the Economics coursework that will actually be used in the job.
And how do you show “can do”? Put yourself in the shoes of the consulting firm. You want to hire someone that can analyze a lot and well. You don’t know everything about your candidates other than their resume. How do you know that they are capable? Certainly having an analytical major such as math or economics helps. Again, it’s not necessary but it does help. If you wanted to hire someone, what would be the biggest indicator that they can process a lot of information well and succeed in doing so? We believe one of the biggest things is GPA. It’s not popular to say so but we believe it’s true. GPA is imperfect but correlates with ability. It also correlates with a desire to achieve as we will see below. Again, it’s not the only thing that matters, and it must be viewed in context, but it does show “can do.” If all you know about 2 candidates is that they are the same in every way but in GPA, you would assume that the one with the higher GPA will actually produce better day to day work. As long as the person is motivated! But that’s a separate topic from “can do.” Let’s talk about motivation.
The Concept of “Will Do”
The concept of “Will Do'' is a little less tangible, but just as important. You may have the ability, but are you willing to use it, especially when you’re tired? It’s Monday morning at 4 am and you’re about to wake up to go to the airport to fly to Iowa for the 10th week in a row. You’ll spend your first 4 days of the week in a hotel there (and yes, much of that will be back post-Covid). Are you really motivated to do the work? Consulting firms know that the best consultants want to do a great job, day in and day out. This job is hard, and they can't afford to hire someone who isn’t all in. And do you think every applicant to consulting is dying to do it? You already know that’s not the case. Lots of people apply to consulting because other people are applying, because it’s prestigious, because “why not,” because it keeps your options open. If you are hiring, do you want that type of candidate, or do you want someone dying to do it, motivated to do it, excited to do it, in a way that will be long lasting? The decision is obvious. You want a candidate that has “will do.”
This is a very necessary trait in the world of consulting, as it’s incredibly rare for a consulting task to be carried out exactly as it was initially planned. As the project is carried out, inevitably new information comes to light, new problems are discovered, new team members have shuffled around, new deadlines added, and many other obstacles will suddenly and frequently be added. A “Will Do” is an asset in the consultant’s balance sheet.
With these two principles (can do and will do) serving as the framework, the question remains, what are the 3 pillars of evidence to showcase your fit when seeking a consulting internship (or for that matter, a job)? The answers are your grades, your actionable skills, and your consulting experience. Showcasing each of the 3 pillars under both “Can Do, and “Will Do” is what sets candidates apart, and leads to a stronger full-time career.
Pillar 1: Grades
First and foremost, as alluded to above, your grades are going to be a massive part of your summer internship process, and are usually the first thing that consulting firms will look at when selecting candidates. Ensuring that you’ve started your college career strong, and shown dedication throughout your entire college career is key to being recognized for academic ability and integrity. The strong grades showcase the “Can Do” in a candidate's goals.
The “Will Do” portion of grades is that, again, good grades are usually a mix of ability and perseverance. Yes, this is not always the case, but it’s a rule that generally holds true. And while it’s not always fair, for the most part, if you have good grades, you both have the ability and you have the desire to do well in class. And consulting firms want both “can do” and “will do.” This might not be what you wanted to hear, but it’s the truth. We wish we could tell you that it’s all about having previous experience in consulting since Beacon is all about that, but that’s not the only factor (more on that below).
Pillar 2: Skillset
The second pillar is the skill set you bring to the table. This refers to the practical skills and knowledge of tools used day to day in the world of consulting. When you're early in your consulting career, this pillar is a priority and a solid opportunity to set yourself apart from the competition.
Again, as mentioned above, you don’t need to have technical skills to go into consulting, and very often candidates don’t have them. But it helps. The most important two skills would be to be an expert level understanding of Microsoft Excel and Powerpoint. While these tools are fairly standard, it’s often surprising how few people are true experts in their use, and know-how to get everything out of them. Again, you don’t need them, but it helps.
As a great starting point, make sure you know how to use VLOOKUP and INDEX MATCH functions in Microsoft Excel. These two functions will allow you to analyze and interpret massive quantities of data very quickly, and make insights in minutes that would take less experienced applicants weeks to come up with. That’s just a tiny example and there’s much more. Again, you don’t need these skills to be hired, but it helps because you’ll need the skills later. And having it helps show that you have “can do.”
And now you can guess what we are going to tell you. Again, put yourself in the shoes of a recruiter. You have two candidates, all the same, except one of them has this odd and eccentric strange hobby: they seem to have mastered a topic most people deem boring: Microsoft Excel. You, the recruiter, know that a consultant may spend MOST of his or her work, countless hours, using that tool. You know that most candidates are not that interested in consulting and they’re just applying because everyone else does. You know most people find excel boring and will continue to find it boring in their job. Again, you have 2 candidates, you can only pick one. Who do you pick? You’d probably pick the one with the excel passion! Chances are, that candidate cares more about consulting now, and will care about it more when the job gets really stressful! So, having skills helps to show interest. Again, you don’t need it to get an internship (or job), but it helps.
So, as you can see, having specific skills helps with what you can do, and that’s obvious, but it even helps with “will do”.
Pillar 3: Consulting Experience
The third pillar, consulting experience, might be hard to come by in the world of academia before getting an internship opportunity, but can make a very positive impression on recruiters from firms.
Disclaimer: most people who got consulting internships didn’t have previous experience. So clearly, it’s not absolutely essential. But would it help?
Again, put yourself in the shoes of the recruiter. You have two candidates and they’re the same, but one has done consulting. You know most people applying to consulting aren’t that interested, and you know that “will do” matters. Who would you pick? Someone who has done, for instance, a Beacon Fellowship, where they worked under an elite former consultant (who often also went to a top MBA), and has lived consulting in a realistic way, or a normal candidate? Who do you think has the most genuine interest? Who do you think is less likely, when in the internship and later in the consulting job, to say “consulting is not what I thought it was, so I’m leaving?” The answer is clear: the person who has previous consulting experience is both more likely to be interested and, also, already has some of the skills needed in the job.
The world of consulting is highly sought after by a large portion of undergraduate students nationwide. This attention means that not only are those with a true desire to get into the world of consulting submitting applications, but also those who are simply sending in an application because they heard through the grapevine that the field is lucrative or prestigious
This means the firms are now receiving applications that might not be from people who have a passion for the work, and they need a way of sorting those out so they know which applicants are valuable and worth advancing to the next round of selection.
Having some sort of consulting experience on your resume puts you in that list of people who, according to the firms, are worth keeping around.
As far as gaining consulting experience as an undergrad, there are a few ways you can go about it. One is to simply apply for a different type of internship at a firm in a very entry-level position. Even if your internship isn’t directly related to consulting itself, being present at the firm speaks volumes for future endeavors.
Another way is to reach out to existing consultants from your alumni program. Consultants, whether currently working at a firm, or if they’ve moved on to other projects, will usually be receptive to an undergrad from their alma mater The Beacon Fellowship also helps in this regard, as it places students in advantageous positions in the world of consulting to gain valuable experience and practical knowledge of the work. With many firms on offer and many available positions within the program, there are lots of ways to get the right experience for your future career.
How Beacon Helps You Build Your Experience
If you found these tips helpful and would like to explore more about The Beacon Fellowship, which is a way to obtain incredible consulting experience during your academic breaks, contact us today to explore resources on how to get started.