What A Senior Associate Consultant At A Top Consulting Firm Wishes They Knew Before Consulting
Yannan, a Senior Associate Consultant, reveals a crucial insight: "your resume does matter," highlighting the industry's focus on credentials from prestigious institutions. Furthermore, the career requires a personality suited to relationship-building with strangers, and surprisingly, skills like acting and graphic design prove unexpectedly valuable for effective communication and presentation.
Job Search, Communication, Industry Realities, Hard Truths, Networking
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Yannan Colljns
Senior Associate Consultant
Top Audit Consulting Firm
University of San Francisco 2015
N/a
Anthropology, Sociology, Fine Arts, Music
Consulting & Related Professional Services
Business Strategy
International Student, Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Took Out Loans, Immigrant, Worked 20+ Hours in School, LGBTQ, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. The importance of resume building and its role in the initial screening process for consulting roles.
2. Consulting favors extroverted individuals who are comfortable networking and building relationships.
3. Skills like acting (communication and emotional conveyance) and graphic design (PowerPoint design and visual communication) are unexpectedly valuable in consulting.
Transcript
What have you learned about this role that you wish someone had told you before you entered the industry?
Before this, I wish people told me that your resume does matter. It may sound shallow, but that's how many consulting firms first look at you. They check if you went to a good school, had a good GPA, or interned at a big company.
They're not just looking at your resume; they're looking for other institutions that validate you are a top performer. Secondly, I believe consulting is an industry for extroverts, for people who love to talk and build relationships with strangers. I do believe people with a certain personality have an advantage here.
Thirdly, I was told there are lots of unrelated skills that are actually freely helpful in this industry. One is acting skills. In acting, you learn how to talk, how to behave, and how to convey emotions. These are important skills in consulting when connecting with strangers.
Also, skills in graphic design are very important because when you design PowerPoints, you want to know how to better communicate your ideas and direct your audience's attention. Those are very important skills and were never taught. So, those are the three things I think are really important but also overlooked.
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