The MBA consulting internship. It's the holy grail for many people
that are going into their MBA thinking that consulting is where they want to end up.
Because consulting firms hire a large portion of their class, from the internship process,
actually larger than full time. And also, because it's a super competitive process.
And where you go to your internship, whether it's to MBB or not,
will determine whether you are going to get the job that you want in the next cycle as well.
So, this MBA consulting internship is an all-important, kind of stressful, process,
that you're going to need to be aware of when you join your MBA.
I'm Jenny Rae Le Roux, the Managing Directer of Management Consulted,
and I'm a former Bain consultant, along with my McKinsey & BCG former consultants,
we've built a really cool company that matches up talent, and great firms.
And our focus is on making sure that you've got all that you need,
to succeed in the consulting MBA internship process.
Let me first just walk through the overview of what the process looks like.
First of all, different MBA programs have a timeline for when you can start talking to firms.
Some of them, day 1- before day 1. You can reach out using the alumni network.
I actually worked with somebody at one of our target schools, and right before he got his academic offer,
to join the program, he began reaching out to people.
For other schools, they really limit your access to the alumni network, and also to the recruiting process,
until a little bit later in the fall semester. Usually after Fall Break.
And at that point they'll open up the season to talk a little bit about, just what the heck is consulting anyhow?
And what is it like to be there? And then they'll dive into some other more advanced stuff,
like case training. So, when the firms start to come on campus, is largely dictated
by the schools work relationship with them.
And so that could be anywhere from the first week of the program,
in your orientation, or even before if they're going to have access to you through other channels,
or it could be somewhere in that Fall break period.
However, for all the firms, the timing winds up starting November.
So most firms to resume drops in November, and then they release their interview targets in December,
and then they interview in January.
So those three things: the resume drops, the interview date releases and names,
and then finally the actual interviews, are all pretty well stacked across the organizations.
They're giving offers at the same time, and doing everything else as well.
Let's just jump back for a second and talk about at a high level,
What is a consulting internship? And , Why does it matter to you?
Also, What is it not? So, first of all, a consulting internship
for the MBA level, is usually 10 weeks, in the summer after the first year of your MBA.
And, what it is, is the opportunity to do usually one project, with the expectation
that you will succeed at the firm.
It is for the firm, from the firm's perspective, an opportunity to snag you,
as a great talent, for somebody that they would like to have onboard,
without trying out any other organizations.
And, the kind of converse to that, what it is not, it is not a "tryout".
The firms are not bringing you on to say, "Hey, we'll try out a bunch of people and pick the ones that we like."
Their predisposition is they want you at the end of the summer.
So, you don't go in with kind of just a, hungry appetite and willingness to learn.
You are in it to win it, from the beginning, because they are expecting that you are going to perform really well.
They in addition, are going to have this 10 week program be highly structured,
on other elements. Such as, getting to know different people in the firm through mixers,
such as professional development and having a mentor and some conversations,
such as getting insight into what your other interns are working on,
so having some having some sort of job sharing or insight sharing aspects of the work,
on top of the specific task that you will be assigned.
What can you expect to do as an consulting intern?
Well first of all, you can expect to be on one project and one project alone.
In fact at Bain, we didn't really charge for our consulting interns.
They were just assigned a small portion of the insight gathering,
and our focus was on trying to see if they could deliver something, anything of value.
Two slide would have been miraculous. Five slides or a whole section- unheard of!
So in general, the expectations, in terms of final deliverables, were really low.
In fact, our MBA consulting interns usually performed lower than our undergrads,
that had been at the firm for one year.
So, it's a ramp up period, it's an opportunity to get to know the process,
you'll get one project assigned, the goal is multiple deliverables,
hopefully one of them will be useful in the final deck.
In addition on top of that, lots of watching. As a consulting MBA intern,
you don't have the ability to contribute a ton to the final product.
You're not going to be put in front of the client, they don't even know if you're going to be there,
10 days from when you're actually working with them.
And so in general, you're kept mostly in house, you're watching and listening,
and you're learning by observation, as well as a little bit of doing.
In addition, not all consulting internships are created equal.
The MBB firms, I remember working with a client a couple of years ago at a top 5 MBA program,
and she said it was fascinating, she had a tier 1 firm, a top 3 firm,
that had given her an offer, and they sent her as her offer present, a bag of popcorn.
It was basically, "Please come work for us, here's some popcorn."
Just like, nothing fancy, kind of low key, and she said another firm,
that was a boutique firm, that really really loved her, they sent out offer presents
and it was like Tiffany's jewelry! She said that that exact issue paralleled the difference
between the firms for her. That the top 3 weren't trying too hard,
they knew that they had already made it, and you as a result would make it as well.
Whereas some of the other firms were trying to gain share, trying to gain favor.
And so a Big 4 internship, you're likely to be on the road a lot.
You're going to be a lot more implementation focused work.
You're unlikely to begin at the start of the project, because the projects in general are a lot longer.
Whereas the strategy roles, you might jump in in the middle of a project,
just because in 10 weeks, not every project is going to start.
But it's much more likely that you're going to be involved in the strategy portion of the phase,
and you're also going to be in a culture that expects that you're going to love it,
that everybody around you loves it, that everybody performs really, really well.
So there's going to be a lot less process and maybe drama in the top 3 firms,
versus at some of the other organizations. In a boutique firm,
you're going to learn a lot about their point of view,
but not necessarily the breadth of everything that you could be doing.
In addition, "What programs do consulting firms hire from", and "What do you do if they don't hire from yours?"
Well consulting firms, like I said, from their perspective, this is an opportunity to snag talent early.
So they have target MBA programs, where they expect their gunna get the bulk of their talent.
And those are the firms that hire at the schools, that are their target schools.
So, most consulting MBA internships are not open to the general public,
they are specifically for a target firm, and they are specifically targeted at early recruiting.
Now, if a firm doesn't come to your MBA program, you've actually got I think 4 good options for what you can do.
Number 1, reach out to alumni. Whether they went there directly, or whether they took a circuitous path,
the alumni are going to be willing to speak up on your behalf,
and if you're a total rock star in your class, they are going to advocate for you.
And if it's not going to work out, for sure, the alumni will tell you, and they'll tell you what you should be doing,
instead of a consulting internship.
Because there are pathways, if you don't get a consulting internship,
to get consulting full-time roles later.
Second, your school's career center and career development office will often have
some unique, one-on-one, relationships with consulting firms.
So they won't necessarily have a programatic relationship, but they'll know a couple of people.
And so, if you are a superstar, they pass on just a few names to those organizations.
Number 3, you can go to diversity conferences.
Diversity conferences are a great way to get your name out there as an affiliate of a diversity group.
For example, the National Black Conference, the ROMBA LGBTQ+ Conference.
If you focus on a lot of those areas, then you'll find people that are interested in
hiring folks based on affinity and the MBA, not just at a specific MBA program.
Finally, it's just a little bit of blood, sweat, and tears, called old-school networking.
So if you have a friend of a friend, that works at, or an uncle of a friend that works at a consulting firm,
reach out to them. The fact that you're a student, means that they're going to be a lot more open
to having a conversation with you. And that could lead to either advocacy later,
or even, the opportunity to apply for an internship.
Overall, getting a consulting MBA internship is no joke.
There is a lot to it, and there is more to come in future videos.
We're going to tease-out some of the ideas of how you dive into,
breaking down what makes a consulting MBA applicant successful, and what doesn't.
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