T.J. Smith
T.J. Smith is a 2016 graduate with a politics and international affairs major and biology minor who works as a Consultant with Deloitte. In this role he supports public sector clients (mostly in healthcare) in solving their toughest challenges, with a particular focus on innovation, strategy and leadership alignment, and organization transformation. He also spends a lot of time supporting business development for the broader human capital practice.
What advice would you give students who have an interest in consulting?
Focus on developing your critical thinking and problem solving skills and then look for opportunities that will give you resume items demonstrating the impact of those skills. Also, be sure to do your research early as it is difficult to prepare for the consulting recruiting process without adequate time.
What WFU career resources did you utilize that were most helpful to you?
I credit the OPCD career treks, mock interviews, and trainings on networking/professionalism with helping me land in consulting.
What courses, activities or experiences gave you an edge in the job search process?
There is broad diversity of academic backgrounds in the consulting workforce, so I recommend focusing on how your majors/minors have equipped you. For politics and international affairs, I honed my research and writing skills as well as gained a broad understanding of the federal government and its bureaucracy. As a biology minor, I was trained to think at the systemic level and still use very similar frameworks and thought processes from my STEM work in my day to day problem-solving. Transferable skills are critical to the recruiting process! Likewise, for your extracurriculars, consider what skill sets you have developed and how that might help a firm.
What specific advice would you give regarding effective networking?
Networking can be scary, but once you learn the tricks of the trade it can be fun! My recommendations are:
1. Know that at consulting firms, staff volunteer to do networking and recruiting. That means the individuals you meet are excited to meet you, so no need to be nervous.
2. Do you homework and research to the extent possible (e.g. a list of companies or a list of attendees).
3. Send a follow-up note after the event thanking individuals for their time and mentioning any action items (e.g. reading an article they referenced or looking into an internship) and connect on LinkedIn.
What specific advice would you give to students regarding effective interviewing?
Practice makes perfect. For the consulting recruiting process, you should give yourself ample time to learn how to do case interviews and behavioral interviews. Consulting interviews are unlike traditional interviews, and it takes time to understand the nuances. You should also research the firms you are interviewing with and try to tailor your approach to their individual cultures, missions, and quirks.
Are there any books, magazines, websites, etc. that you would recommend to students who are interested in consulting?
In general, I recommend reading broadly to be well-rounded and develop those critical thinking skills! But I recommend a good news source to stay up to date on current events and how they influence the market and our clients (e.g. NYT, WSJ), Harvard Business Review to stay on top of the latest research and insights in the business world, and any prep books for the recruiting process. Lastly, all firms publish research articles and insight papers for the general public. Read these to understand your target firms’ POVs and approaches.