College Experiences That Helped A Consultant At Top Management Consulting Firm Succeed
NyAsia's undergraduate experience, involving high academic achievement and working through college, instilled crucial skills for career success: "prioritization," effective communication, and "managing up." This foundation, coupled with a learned ability to balance work and mental health—"you cannot pour from an empty cup"—demonstrates a holistic approach to career development.
Prioritization, Communication, Time Management, Work-Life Balance, Stress Management
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
NyAsia Jordan
Consultant
Top Managemet Consulting Company
Lehman College
Baruch College - MS, UCLA Anderson School of Management - MBA
Finance
Consulting & Related Professional Services
Business Strategy
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Took Out Loans, Immigrant, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Transfer Student
Video Highlights
1. Prioritize and synthesize tasks to manage your workload effectively. This skill is crucial for success in a team environment where your work impacts others.
2. Communicate effectively with others about your tasks, obstacles, and time constraints. This helps prevent disconnect and ensures smooth teamwork.
3. Maintain a good work-life balance. Understand your limits, prioritize your mental health, and know when to take breaks. High-quality work comes from a well-balanced and rested individual.
Transcript
Q12: College ideas for success
Asia, taking you back to your time at Lehman College. What did you do in undergrad that set you up for success in your career?
Great question. In undergrad, apart from being very intentional about graduating in the top five percent of my class, I wanted to make sure I had a good foundation and understanding of fundamental business skills.
I also worked my way through my entire college experience. I believe that process alone allowed me to get really good at prioritization. It helped me understand how to synthesize a to-do list or a task list and think through what needed to be done, when.
It also taught me the art of communicating what I'm dealing with and what I'm focused on, so that everyone I'm interacting with is aware. I think awareness, or lack thereof, especially in a team environment, can cause a lot of disconnect.
Recognizing that when you join the workforce, most of the time you'll be working in some sort of group, and the work you're doing, somebody else is going to depend on your end product for them to do their job. So the better you are at communicating what you have going on, what obstacles you may be facing, or what time constraints you may have, the better it is.
It will help you in the future and in different roles to be able to eloquently communicate that to others. Doing that taught me how to manage up, which is really important as you try to grow in your career. It also taught me how to balance and make space for my mental health.
You have to know when to take time off, when to rest, and when you're pushing your body past its prime. A lot of people don't think that's important, but if you are not your best self, you are not going to deliver high-quality work.
In the words of one of my mentors, "You cannot pour from an empty cup." So you have to be able to balance all the different things on your plate while still remembering to take care of you. I think me working my way through undergraduate set the foundation for knowing how to set boundaries and when I needed to give myself the necessary break.