milkround again: how to get a job in consulting?

This MBA thing just goes so fast!! One week after starting off the 2nd year, and all the big recruiters are back on campus. It does feel a bit awkward to be in a suit all day again, networking in the Marquee and discussing with the classmates which companies offer the best possibilities.

One thing is for sure, when looking back. It is very noticeable how much I (we?) have changed since January, the last time we had to do this. I don't waste my time in cocktails anymore, and go straight to talk to the people that I'm interested in. I don't attend all company presentations, just those that I'm really into (choosing means giving up, the wise man said). And being over the I-banking fever is probably one of the best decisions that I have ever made: the resource reallocation that came after it (basically, using the time I spent on all those banking presentations to work on my applications for consulting firms) makes me feel so much more confident about my possibilities of landing a job in consulting.

Regarding the jobsearch, I wanted to mention all the resources that the School and the students make available for those interested in a career in consulting immediately after their MBA. I reckon there is a similar list for those interested in Finance, and even in Industry, but foir that you'll have to look into other blogs ;)

• Company presentations: over 20 consulting firms, including all the top strategy houses, generalist consulting ones and several boutique/niche firms will be on campus, presenting their offices, their work and inviting students to drinks and nibbles during the subsequent networking sessions
  
• Vault guides are available in the library, with information about the interview processes, profiles of the different consulting firms, salary comparisons, culture, lifestyle, etc...
• The consulting club maintains several Case books to practice the cases, the most important way of maximizing your chances during the interviews
  
• Again, the Consulting Club organizes Case study sessions run by consultants from different firms (usually LBS alumni) on campus, so that students can grasp better the art of cracking cases
• Crack-a-Case sessions ran by 2nd year students, whereby people with past experience in consulting (be it pre-MBA or over the summer) interview interested candidates and test them on problem solving abilities. I have to say that it's a big commitment (I just spent 4 hours yesterday working on that), but I think it's probably very useful (and provides an opportunity to give something back to the School's community)

So, with so many resources, and after you've learnt to draw 2-by-2 matrices, the chances to become a consultant are quite high!

(to be followed after milkround)

holidays are over....

....and we're back with the MBA rush!!

The summer finally had to come to an end. My internship finished, and I departed rapidly to some well-deserved holidays in the Mexican Caribbean and Spain. Cannot say they were not a lot of fun and relaxing!! In Mexico we even attended the wedding of a classmate, and in Spain we divided ourselves between the beach, Valencia and visiting relatives and friends. Batteries are recharged (although one can never have enough holidays!).

So, after just 3 weeks, we are back to the school with a block week (a term-long course condensed into a single full-time week, a very nice innovation at London Business School). With the new schoolyear, the full-time recruitment season starts again. This means that in 3 weeks I'll be interviewing again, but this time for longer term commitments.

Therefore, it is important to develop the right strategy to look for a job. I am much more sure and confident about what I want from a full-time job. After the summer, I have had experience in the sector and know that could do well. A question that remains unanswered is, where would I prefer to work? London, despite being cloudy and rainy since I came back last Sunday, remains a very strong and attractive possibility. Madrid is as well interesting. My background also drives me towards exotic destinations in the Middle and even the Far East, albeit just for a few years.

And of course, one also needs backup plans...especially since, after the financial markets turmoil in August, there is growing uncertainty in the economy, which means nobody knows how many people they are going to hire. So stay tuned for the news!

Economic Uncertainty and the MBA

I have spent some time recently trying to assess my full-time job options. The past two years have seen record-high employment figures for MBA students, particularly for those at the London Business School. Nevertheless, like everyone having taken a class in Macroeconomics knows, expansion cycles cannot last forever. Some hints are pointing directly to the cooling down of the economy. Luckily, an MBA helps understand and make informed guesses about what is going to happen next. Hereby my (completely amateurial, take it under your own responsibility) analysis:

• The construction and real estate boom in Spain and the US are clearly over. The Euro Stoxx Construction Index is down 18% since May, and the Euro Stoxx Real Estate Index is down 45% since February. Property prices are stable if not slightly downward in the past quarters. Pretty scary, bearing in mind the sheer importance of both sectors in employment and household expenses, determining consumption.
• The credit markets are drying up. Central banks had to inject liquidity into the system in order to bail out the global financial markets (and probably, most hedge and mutual funds that had bet on real estate related securities). Again a bad sign: much investment (including M&A) activity was propped by the availability of cheap debt.
• The stock markets’ volatility is increasing, and the probability of a stock market crash is not zero any more. More and more analysts, central banks, etc. are warning the investors to me more cautious.

On the other side of the balance, the companies’ balance sheets (excluding construction and real estate) appear to be strong. Profits are growing, and so are dividends. Consumer confidence indexes appear to be high. Some sectors are still quite bullish (renewable energy, oil & gas, healthcare, technology, telecoms). General sentiment is that the expansion will continue for 6-12 months still.

So I wonder, are the markets forecasting the future evolution of the economy?

In any case, what is clear is that there is quite a lot of uncertainty about the future out there (and, from Finance I, uncertainty = risk = volatility).

and there goes another application...!!

yes, another one!! So far the internship search has not been very successful. Have some 3 interviews lined up this week, but if they fail....I still have not heard from any other firm!!

I didn't know this period was going to be this stressful. You see people on campus on suits, usually with sad faces (after pressure interviews). Don't know many people with offers yet, although rumor has it that some banks have already extended some.

Of course they told us that the so-called 'milkround' provides summer internships for only 30% of students....but one always thinks that s/he won't be in the other 70%!!!

So, have to come up with a backup plan. Industry companies, are you there?? the London Business School Summer Consulting Team is another good idea, although competition to get a position in it is at least as tough as for a position in a major consultancy.

Worst case scenario, I could explore some opportunities in Entrepreneurship...although that does not pay the bills!! Or just take a loooooooooong holidays and recover from all this stress :))))