What are /r/consulting's favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Few tips that might be helpful.

(1) Check out the book 'Psyched' - https://www.amazon.com/Psyched-Up-Science-Preparation-Succeed/dp/159184830X. Among the many takeaways, the author suggests sticking to the same routine prior to a major event (ex: presentation). Try incorporating music that pumps you up.

(2) I'd like to think I'm good with presentations but I notice many areas for improvement after every single presentation. Make sure to get weekly practice by joining the closest Toastmasters club.

(3) Try to reduce the fear of the audience by interacting with the audience members leading up to the presentation. Additionally, make them receptive to your message prior to the presentation. There are multiple ways to do this - ex: a short write-up, providing an agenda, setting up the stage over emails, etc.

(4) Avoid thinking of presentations as a one-way interaction. This is the biggest error a lot of folks make. Turning the presentation into a 2-way conversation also helps you craft the ideal presentation for the audience in question.

(5) Avoid drinking coffee very close to presentation time. Aim to drink coffee at least an hour before presentation time, maybe even earlier than that if possible.

(6) Absorb the room and the various settings beforehand. Try to walk across the stage couple of times even before your presentation. Walk across the room few times prior to the presentation and let the atmosphere soak in.

(7) Try the superman pose as you're setting up to give your presentation. Take a deep breath. Connect eyes with random people and smile as they're taking their seats. It warms up the audience for you and they're more likely to want you to succeed.

2 thoughts here -

1. There are actually a large number of companies started by former consultants of which you may just not be aware e.g., Bonobos, Riot Games, Gillette, Match.com, CarMax, etc.
2. Consultants are typically trained as and have the temperament for being managers of a business which is usually quite different from the "move fast and break things" personalities that make great entrepreneurs. That is why you see many consultants go on to be great c-suite managers at some of the biggest companies in the world such as Sundar Pachi at Google, and Sharyl Sandburg at Facebook.

I read the CEO of Evernote's "life hack" in 2013 and never went back: https://lifehacker.com/5982051/im-phil-libin-ceo-of-evernote-and-this-is-how-i-work

> My best life hack is actually the opposite of a shortcut and certainly doesn't save any time. It's pretty awesome, though, and makes me much happier and more productive in the long run: I don't work on airplanes. I sleep, I play Minecraft, I read (non-work stuff), I watch movies, I daydream. I don't work. It's great. Makes me look forward to that 13 hour flight to Japan! I work at every other time, though. Sure, I lose some productivity on airplanes, but getting rid of all the pre-flight dread more than makes up for it.

Knowing I can just sleep on planes is awesome. If I get upgraded to business class on a 12+ hour flight maybe I'll decide to do some work because I get bored but not planning on that plus basic time management means it's rarely necessary.

A couple months ago I planned to work ~5 hours of an 8 hour flight and the plane's wifi went down.

This one is pretty slim and has some nice details. Perfect to travel with. Briggs & Riley Sympatico Backpack, Black, One Size https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YFEZW9Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_8RZrDbX38GRE1

Best thing I’ve found is Duet

https://www.duetdisplay.com

It turns your iPad into a 2nd monitor.

I’ve also got a company issued huge ass HP thing but the screen is shitty and it weighs as much as my laptop.

A cheap Timex that I got on Amazon. Based on my hourly billing rate, I take shits that cost more than my watch.

https://www.amazon.com/Timex%C2%AE-Reader-Brown-Leather-T20041/dp/B000B55AEA/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1473391504&sr=8-9&keywords=timex

https://www.amazon.com/Cookie-Monster-Little-Golden-Books/dp/0307010309/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524169907&sr=8-1&keywords=cookie+monster+and+the+cookie+tree#customerReviews

Behavioural economics (and Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational) has huge potential for consulting. There are a few large companies starting behavioural economics practices already, but anyone can adopt it and use it to drive insights for clients.

I'm super excited about its potential and I'm glad other people like the book too!

I like this idea. One of the books I recently read was "The User's Journey: Storymapping Products That People Love by Donna Lichaw". It's a really good one especially when you think about storytelling in our line of work.

See amazon link - https://www.amazon.com/Users-Journey-Storymapping-Products-People/dp/1933820314

I've been a fan of the eBag slim line. It has plenty of compartments but still has a low profile.

eBags Professional Slim Laptop Backpack for Travel, School & Business - Fits 17" Laptop - Anti-Theft - (Solid Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DU0PEA8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_.P2rDbENYH9QS

Well, since Peter Thiel's "Zero to One" can be summarized as "a sloppy cliff notes rendition of Blue Ocean Strategy with pencil drawings of Britney Spears", I think we're safe to dismiss his opinion of us and seek our fortunes where we will.

And, here it is.

A lot of top businesses seem to think that an open layout is beneficial to productivity but I don't agree based on my own experience. Also, there's a great book out there called Deep Work by Cal Newport that touches upon why open layouts can actually impair real effectiveness

>Andrew N. Liveris, Dow

>The Intelligent Investor

I hope this is a re-read or I am terrified.

Also it's cool that Risto Siilasmaa is reading Cryptonomicon because I'm reading now too.

I've migrated to Leuchtturm1917. Table of contents, two page markers, each page already numbered. Equal or better quality than Moleskine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FWP3POG is a random one on Amazon i'm currently using.

That quote belongs to me. I've read both books. Blue Ocean Strategy was all the rage in the mid aughts and has the pedigree of having been written by two professors from INSEAD and published by HBR. It thoroughly earns a place in the repertoire of fad-management books. It isn't as trite or prosaic as "Who moved the Cheese" but it's more obvious than "The Trusted Advisor."

BOS is, at least, focused and can be summed up as follows: Building new markets creates an opportunity for boundless profit because there are no competitors (sailing the blue ocean). This provides the opportunity to form natural (if temporary) monopolies. Once a market becomes competitive (sailing the red ocean), you have to content yourself with whatever the equilibrium profits of the competitors settles at.

Zero to One spouts basically the same things but throws in a few concepts from the first two weeks of your typical MBA program. Also, it includes Peter Thiel's worldview and more mundane opinions on popular culture. It's basically a copy of BOS with the exception that meanders through its points, suffers for a coherent thesis that ties the whole thing together, and is a picture of Peter Thiel's grandiose image of himself and Elon Musk.

/r/marketing - check the "about" page!

On a side note: - Hire a copywriter - Separate from InboxDollars as your "sponsor" - Successful FB alternatives offer privacy - all I can see here is Ad$$$ - for an ethical approach, check their model: https://brave.com/brave-rewards/ - You might be a few years late to the party

From the perspective of a computer engineer:

- 1bil is way more than the amount of Google Drive users - there were about 250mil who used the service monthly as of last fall.

- When estimating 'lite' vs 'mid' vs 'power' users - usually the distribution is not a bell curve but more like a 'reverse exponential' - i.e. most users will be 'lite' users, then the next biggest group will be 'mid' users, and after that maybe 1% would be 'power' users. Not that it matters because...

- Bandwidth is cheap. Magnitudes cheaper than storage space, for example the cost of storing one gigabyte might be 10-100 times the cost of transferring that gigabyte.

- How much does storage cost then? That's also pretty cheap - maybe a a tenth of a penny or less / GB / month. Google charges to buy additional storage but it's hard to tell whether that covers the cost of the additional space because they could possibly also cover the cost from ad revenue. A better indicator of storage costs would be Amazon. So assuming $0.001 / month / GB, 250mil users at the free tier (15GB space, less than 1% upgrade so paid tiers are negligible):

250,000,000 * 15 * 0.001 * 12 = $45mil / year, or $3.6bil over eighty years (assuming that storage costs stay the same and number of users stay the same).

Also a quick note, Moore's law ("every eighteen months it will halve") doesn't necessarily apply to storage.

Books that have made an impression on me:

• Nothing Less Than Victory (The quintessential war-deals analogy book)
• Homo Deus: A brief history of tomorrow (Very interesting, almost compelling argument about UBI, regulating AI, and other tech policy stuff)
• The Virtue of Selfishness (The best framework for modeling other people's thoughts.)
• Capital in the 21st century (Some useful information about emergent properties in the economy mixed in with Neo-marxist fantasy)
• Notes from the Underground (Incase you have some delusions about inherent goodness in humanity)
• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (because stoicism)
• Zero to One (Mostly for the buzzword, but also good insight about go-to-market and industry building)
• Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Become an übermensch)

I've your company has O365 I suggest looking at Microsoft To-Do. Allows you to manage personal tasks, team tasks from Planner/Teams and emails from Outlook requiring follow up in one app. https://todo.microsoft.com/en-us

Radial Menu v4.

It allows me to use a mouse gesture (swipe down) to open a menu, from which I can access commonly-used folders, files, scripts, macros, etc. I use it to run Python scripts which in turn launch programs or automate daily tasks. Swipe left to create a blank e-mail, swipe right to minimise everything. After having set it up and having used it for almost a year, I can't imagine working without it.

Caution - will make you look like a gigantic nerd in front of the client.

I was able to download the PortableApps.com app to a temporary directory (or to a USB drive, if they are not locked). There are a whole bunch of apps provided in that platform that all run without being formally installed on the computer. Highly recommended.

Here you are: the perfect presentation about presentations: https://www.slideshare.net/thecroaker/death-by-powerpoint

It was uploaded almost ten years ago. However, I believe it is actual for now more than ever.

//The author is brilliant, take a look through his other presentations about [visual] communications [and storytelling].

Not a bad deal to buy in bulk on Amazon and throw a few in your suitcase when you get low... helps avoid the last minute need to cut open the toothpaste tube for that one last brush before heading into the office on Thursday morning.

I also use my own VPN set up on my NAS. If you want a commercial service, there's Private Internet Access and ProXPN. Many corporate networks block VPNs other than their own from connecting, so don't expect whatever you go with to work at your client site (though it certainly may work).

This is awesome. Every time someone shitposts, we should point them to this. Bring something to the table when asking questions.

I'm a pulp sci-fi person, so here's a plug for The Expanse.

My Favorite Business-y Books (Some are more Sociology, but cross over):

• Gang Leader for a Day

• Floating City: A Rogue Sociologist Lost and Found in New York's Underground Economy

• Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if your life depended on it

• Pimp (by Iceberg Slim) (Un)surpringly applicable to consulting

• The Intelligent Investor

• Detroit: An American Autopsy Really only marginally business related, I just like Charlie LeDuff

• It's Your Ship: Lessons from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy

/u/Beer-Warrior is right on 1 and 2

I'll expand on 3 and 4

3) You should do some research on negotiating. There's advice here and there on the net, but Getting to Yes and Getting Past No are are classics. I'm guessing they offered ~$90-95k to start? My gut check says that their top end for the position is in the $110-120 range, but there are always other things you can negotiate.

4) I've been at firms that ranged from grumpy to seriously pissed. It really sucks and I've had the guilt trip laid on me before. (NEVER TAKE THE COUNTER OFFER.) In the end though, as long as your straightforward they'll get over it. It really is part of the business.

> VP of Strategy for Blockbuster

Interesting question... https://www.linkedin.com/in/curt-andrews-9726296 VP Marketing Blockbuster - > CMO RadioShack -> CMO EZCorp -> Now Franchise Owner at Sport Clips Haircuts

Header font: Tiempos

Body text font: Lora

Pitch black bg, white text. Very simplistic designs. Personal philosophy is that if you can recreate my presentation or get the same level of information from the decks as from my talk, I did something wrong. I abhor slides with lots of text on them. Graphics or 5-10 words as most, most of the time. Of course, this means I create a second deck for distribution with actually meaningful information on it.

Seems like a significant amount of the users that subscribe to this subreddit work for actual consulting companies rather than consult on the side like you're doing. I happen to fit into the former group.

But I can at least give you my two cents - In terms of the pricing strategy of it all, I think you could potentially charge more than $200/hr given your credentials (PhD, expert, etc.), so I would imagine you'd be able to at LEAST get that + some equity.

I did find a few links for you:

Gives a brief overview what MCs typically charge

Another website for how a client sees Consultant Cost

I think it is perfectly normal to ask your friend what stage the startup is at in terms of funding. This will leave it open-ended and will also give you an idea of how far along they are on the curve. Do you prefer equity simply because you're worried they may not be able to currently pay you? That shouldn't be a problem - money is flowing into startups by the billion these days, so if they have a great idea and decent salesman, they should have the funds to pay you a salary.

One thing to remember with negotiating - don't show your cards first if you can. Let them anchor the situation and build from there. Hope that at least leads you on the right path.

Definitely won't increase by a net 100K. I calculated it as more of a ~30K increase.

https://www.quora.com/Reviews-of-Accenture-company

This anonymous person says the rate is ~20%. The company has ~350,000 right now. So, they would end up at ~380,000, which is a net increase of ~30,000 (100,000 gross adds - 70,000 churners).

I use a tool called Obsidian - there are others like Roam Research, Notion, etc. but Obsidian (and its Graph tool) works for me.

I liken it to digital gardening or interior design - when it's done well, you just have this really pleasant knowledge base you can meander through.

When I think back on how I did this before (essentially from memory or digging through my Google search history), I cringe, I feel like I wasted at least a decade of good learnings by not having a tool like this to capture it and organize it all in.

Who prices the shares? How are they priced? Who gets to buy the shares? Why do those people get to buy the shares?
Bankers, intentionally below market-value, bankers preferred customers (and the bankers themselves), legal form of bribery

From The Intelligent Investor:
"And finance professors Jay Ritter and William Schwert have shown that if you had spread a total of only $1000 across every IPO in January 1960, at its offering price, sold out at the end of that month, then invested anew in each successive month's crop of IPOs, your portfolio would have been worth more than $533 decillion by year-end 2001."
...
"You could have earned that $533 decillion gain only if you never missed a single one of the IPO market's rare winners - a practical impossibility. Finally, most of the high returns on IPOs are captured by members of an exclusive private club - the big investment banks and fund houses that get shares at the initial (or "underwriting") price, before the stock beings public trading."
...
"If, like nearly every investor, you can get access to IPOs only after their shares have rocketed above the exclusive initial price, your results will be terrible. From 1980 to 2001, if you had bought the average IPO at its first public closing price and held on for three years, you would have under-performed the market by more than 29 percentage points annually."

There's some great research about what makes chess grandmasters so good:

> DeGroot’s hypothesis was that the chess masters would be more likely than the nonmasters to

> a) think through all the possibilities before making a move (greater breadth of search) and

> b) think through all the possible countermoves of the opponent for every move considered (greater depth of search).

>In this pioneering research, the chess masters did exhibit considerable breadth and depth to their searches, but so did the lesser ranked chess players. And none of them conducted searches that covered all the possibilities. Somehow, the chess masters considered possibilities for moves that were of higher quality than those considered by the lesser experienced players. Something other than differences in general strategies seemed to be responsible for differences in expertise.

> DeGroot concluded that the knowledge acquired over tens of thousands of hours of chess playing enabled chess masters to out-play their opponents. Masters were more likely to recognize meaningful chess configurations and realize the strategic implications of these situations; this recognition allowed them to consider sets of possible moves that were superior to others.

Long story short, one surefire way to improve your critical thinking skills is to expand your consideration set. Here are some top-of-mind business books that I've found useful and enjoyable:

a) IDEO - Ten Faces of Innovation

b) Jenny Blake - Pivot

c) Brad Stone - The Everything Store

d) Bruce Greenwald - Competition Demystified

Now if you want to flex your thinking processes, I think the bible on this is Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow. It's a bit dry, but it will change how you approach problems.

It's called 'Forest' and it's available on iPhone and Android!

Pretty much this. Just check out this recent survey of /r/consulting:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-DS2BVKPY/

% of Respondents

Deloitte = 16%

Accenture = 12%

PWC = 9%

EY = 7%

Mck = 4.8%

BCG = 4.4%

Bain = 2%

you look into general assembly or even a nano degree from udacity?

At the end of the day, certs like PMPs and all that trash are corporate scams that don't do much for increasing your knowledge. Think about what you could do to actually walk away with a tangible skill in something like coding, data science, etc.

Definitely check out Thinking Fast and Slow. I also recommend: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (or really any of his books); Nudge by Richard Thaler; Sway by Ori Brafman; Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz; Drive by Daniel Pink; How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer (he also has a new one out this year that I haven't gotten to yet, A Book About Love); and The Power of Habit or Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg.

For those who drive a lot, you can learn quite a bit about BE via podcasts: Freakonomics, Hidden Brain, and Invisibilia all cover BE in a lot of their episodes.

Honestly you need to take a step back and grow thicker skin, worse things will happen with real clients. There are nuggets of wisdom in all shit, here and in real life. Learning to pick that out will make you better at consulting.

Also, learn how to google. This came from a Google search: "how do undergrad consultants find new clients"

> Where do I begin?

Pen and paper.

Mind-map.

https://www.slideshare.net/thecroaker/death-by-powerpoint - a perfect fit for your request.

There are also some good lines on the local wiki of this sub (in several places).

Good point, but I've see quite the range of mistakes so far. People are fairly unique, but the overarching mistake is not quantifying achievements. We're consultants; don't try and throw keywords at us and hope we buy it. I've linked some people to /u/Laszlo_Bock's post (A past MBB consultant himself) that applies to most people: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140929001534-24454816-my-personal-formula-for-a-better-resume

I volunteer as tribute!

Also would, anybody mind looking at my resume as well below? https://www.scribd.com/doc/271529179/Resume-Reddit?secret_password=4ZS1QW9wcjggQRGedCOt

In other news, sinister has been super helpful - I've seen him very active in these threads trying to help others. And to everyone else out their volunteering their time, you all are doing a great service for this sub.

Johns Hopkins' Data Science Certificate on Coursera

There's an ongoing debate about the value of these types of programs, however I'd consider earnest participation in this verified specialization certification program to be at least as valuable as any of the bootcamps or short courses for which your organization is likely willing to reimburse. The linked program, in particular, focuses on developing theory and skills that are useful in business intelligence/analytics tasks.

I use a self hosted instance of vtiger in my IT business. It has a ticket management module and a customer portal that lets your customers create, view and respond to tickets. It uses SOAP api so you can do custom integration from other apps. It has really useful workflow automation and also syncs with Google.

I am an undergrad hire starting at McKinsey in September. I want to beef up my Excel and PowerPoint skills in the meantime and am considering taking an online course. I saw the options in the "Before Starting as A New Hire" section but both courses are fairly short (~2 hrs) and, since I have the time, I may try to find some more comprehensive courses. Any suggestions? Or are my concerns about the recommended courses unfounded?

Here is one of the other Excel courses I am considering: https://www.goskills.com/Course/Excel/Lessons

Thanks!

Zoom has a browser-based version, they just try really hard to hide it from you. Change your invite link to the following, and people can join without a plugin:

https://zoom.us/wc/[meeting ID]/start

https://toggl.com/ is pretty good especially the integrations (say Google docs, it adds a start/stop on the top right of the doc, and it captures the window title/document name - same for spreadsheets etc)

I'm pretty sure the Toggl desktop app can track all apps too, so you could track time spent in email accurately.

https://www.getharvest.com/ gets decent reviews also

Flawless Consulting Book

Better: make a habit of trying to read a book each week. Over time you will mix and match learnings from both fiction vs non-fiction and across genres. As for the business books that stood out for me over the past 2 years:

How to win and influence friends - Dale Carnegie

High output management - Andrew Grove

The hard things about hard things - Ben Horowitz

The Lean Startup - Eric Ries

Zero to one - Peter Thiel

Enjoy reading!

So just to recap:

• You don't want their proposals to win because 1. they aren't yours, 2. they're from big city "eneny" consultants that couldn't possibly grasp your market, and 3. although you don't know what they are, you know they must be expensive.

• According to you, they've spent four weeks with you for free and you think thanking them for this is unbecoming.

Maybe you should read The Prince instead of The Art of War.

Your tech skills are probably fine as is. For consultants in the tech industry, the secret to standing out is to develop excellent people skills. Go take an honest look at your wardrobe, and make updates as needed. Polish your shoes. Find a good dry cleaner. Read "The Art of War". When you land at a client site there are enemies everywhere, and you'll need to distinguish threats and allies quickly. If you're single then go on some dates with girls off the internet. Learn how to manage awkward silences. Learn how to recover quickly when you say something stupid. Read "How to Make Friends and Influence People" (still a classic). Especially as a BA, learning how to manage and influence people will serve you better than any other skill.

I'm gonna go get fucked up now. Have a good weekend.

I've been very interested in the concept of data presentation, more from the perspective of written memos vs. presentations. I'm considering purchasing The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Tufte - any thoughts on similar materials on developing tables, graphs, that you've found useful?

Hello everyone,

I applied extensively for summer internships this year but unfortunately couldn't get any. The feedback that I received from two of the biggest names was that I lack the experience and there were people from my school who were more experienced and qualified. I have accepted this and now I'm trying to find out ways with which I can make myself more competitive.

I was thinking that since I couldn't get any internships may be I should focus on getting some certifications and bridge the gap to some extent.

So my question is how valuable are certifications in general and if I which one should I focus on. I'm thinking about CAPM or SAP terp10.

I'm interested in going in for Risk Assurance and related fields and I have attached my Resume to give more idea about my background.

I have this backpack that I use for all of my travel. It's honestly the best bag I've ever used, plenty of pockets for everything and easy side access to pull out your laptops for TSA.

You don't necessarily need active noise cancelling on a pair of in-ears.

I'd get a pair of cheap IEMs and stick some aftermarket foam eartips on them. You basically end up with earplugs that play music for you :)

I recommended these KZ ATEs to a friend who's been really enjoying them so far. Can't go wrong for $10.

I've posted my resume before (and have gotten some very helpful feedback) but I made a few updates so if anyone wants to check it out, you'd be super helpful.

Apologies if the sales & trading descriptions (besides the first one) are bad, I'm currently doing this internship so I'm making stuff up / writing down what I think would write if I were submitting this resume

For some background I'm an engineering triple major and rising senior at a non-target currently in sales & trading (though not quite by choice) but I want to move into strategy/management consulting. I've started networking with various consultants (but haven't had much luck) and want to apply for full-time roles in September/October. As of now I'm comfortable giving up a full-time offer in my bank to apply to consulting, but any resume feedback telling me that I'm suffering from delusions of grandeur or something similar would be greatly appreciated

Hi all,

Very excited to have found this subreddit. I have read almost every post in the past year or so. I am hoping to get feedback on my resume as I am eager to make a switch to a more reputable consulting firm.

My background:

• Attended a very average university (business major). Had very average jobs before grad school

• Got in to a top 5 school master's program with a focus on energy economics/finance

• Learned about consulting in my second year of grad school and knew that this is what I really wanted to do

• Got interviews with all 3 MBBs no offer from any (2nd round McKinsey, 1st Bain and BCG). Went to final round with ATK - no offer, and a couple of final rounds with German-based internal consulting practices, which I also didnt pass

• Did get a couple of offers from energy companies for leadership programs and one from an energy analytics/consulting company

Since I wanted to get into consulting I took the only relevant position on the table, which I am currently in. I currently focus (1.5 years now) on strategy consulting and advisory projects in oil and gas industry, with what I would call a 3rd tier firm

I am not certain what are my chances with MBBs again, however I am aiming at the big 4 (strategy consulting) both in US and Europe/Asia if possible.

Would highly appreciate any feedback on my resume or advice.

Happy holidays!

It's a holiday weekend but if anyone wants to take a look at my resume (rising senior) that'd be appreciated! Going for strat consulting Resume

Hi, thanks so much for the thorough feedback, I really appreciate it! Here's an updated resume reflecting the changes that were suggested, could you please take another look at it?

Thanks again!

• Obamacare

• Private major medical policy (BCBS, Cigna, etc)

• Retroactive Cobra if and only if you need it. Think you have 45 or 60 days to retroactively apply, so it's not a solution for the whole 6 months. You'd still need something for the remaining ~4 months.

Also, don't forget that if you're not insured for the entire year, you may owe penalties come tax time. I don't know much about the mechanics, but you should be able to find more info at /r/tax and here: https://www.healthcare.gov/fees/fee-for-not-being-covered/

If you want to kick it up a notch, I like to listen to film scores with this playing in the background on another open tab. The rain + music blocks out everything else and I'm just a productivity machine*.

*For the one hour a day I'm not stuck on some awful meeting.

I appreciate the well-researched and thoughtful answer! I agree that I don't have a convincing definition of "moderate" stress. I'm kind of torn on how to strike the
right balance myself - consulting really wore me out after a few years, and I'm grateful that I looked more seriously at managing stress in my own life (including hours worked) before it got worse. But on the other hand, you see pieces of work like Angela Duckworth's Grit (https://www.amazon.com/Grit-Passion-Perseverance-Angela-Duckworth/dp/1501111108) which also align with some of my lived experiences and how much I gained from the "grind" of certain things i've done like competitive sports, etc. So I feel like I'm always flopping back and forth between feeling like I should actively invest in taking downtime vs. pushing myself.

I think your last paragraph / article is definitely an area where companies can do better. I've always hated how companies are eager to stack offices with a bunch of super unhealthy snacks, but got forbid they give employees a gym subsidy or protect time for them to be active.

Think beyond your tools while naming your company. I'm sure you'll incorporate newer tools in the future. Your focus should be on picking a name inspired by your core "job to be done" for the customer.

You can also use this book to figure out few names - https://www.amazon.com/Hello-My-Name-Awesome-Create/dp/1523099984

Thia is the one I have, but there are a ton on Amazon that are in the same price range and also have great ratings: Lemontec Portable Travel Garment Steamer 180ml Handheld Fabric Steamer Fast Heat-up Powerful Garment Clothes Steamer with High Capacity for Home and Travel https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DHWW23K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_8CmSBb4CR8Q9Y

I can't seem to find the exact model, but it's pretty similar to this one.

I highly recommend it if you spend a lot of time in front of the computer.

Much easier to take notes electronically, that way they're searchable. I second OneNote. Just pop your agenda in and take notes right on there.

Otherwise, just get a Moleskin or something. But chances are you won't read back thru your handwritten notes.

I use something like these. I have a roll of a million. I attach them to all my cables.

https://www.amazon.ca/GWHOLE-Gripping-Reuseable-Fastener-12x200mm/dp/B07DHFFTMY/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=velcro+strips+cable&qid=1552695961&s=hpc&sr=8-1

In China rn on vacation; buy a subscription to ExpressVPN so you can access Facebook and Google!

I like Shanghai and HK a lot more than Beijing quality is definitely worst in Beijing and it’s very spread out; car traffic is as bad if not worse than DC or LA there and while the Subway is efficient, it sometimes only takes you 0.5 miles of where you wanna be...

WeChat pretty much does everything for you in China. (They have a really efficient bike sharing system that is accessed via WeChat even) I’ve eaten in restaurants where they default ask you to pull up their menus on WeChat and I’m like the only person in Starbucks who pays without their phone lol.

Also, they don’t even list a normal coffee on the main Menu in Starbucks, everyone there defaults to Flat Whites or Mochas!

In becoming an overall more efficient worker and leader in and out of the office, I'd have to say The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Learning never stops, and understanding how to make the changes you want to see in your life is crucial to personal and professional development. It all starts with forming better daily habits and optimizing your time.

Most of these just help refresh your thinking, and get you to consider your actions more carefully.

• Art of War
• Nothing Less than Victory
• The Fountainhead
• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• All of Nietzsche's works, because ubermensch
• 4 Hour workweek, so you have material to shit on people who don't like to work.

Excellent list. As far as non-fiction & philosophy goes, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is another must.

I've started following the advice of Tim Ferris to read fiction before bed in order to put the mind at ease. Currently working on Dune. Prior to this, Goldfinch. Both great.

We used two books in my course:

The Mind and Heart of the Negotiator by Leigh L Thompson (a Kellogg professor)

Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher

We had a coursepack as well, but it's buried somewhere and the contents with article names weren't online.

Hi all! Starting an MBB internship in NYC this summer.

Just have a question about shoes -- I have a pair of black dress oxfords which I wore to my interviews, and was wondering what other shoes I should rotate them with. I've heard conflicting things about bit loafers: are they acceptable from Monday-Thursday? Heard they would be useful when traveling. For reference, I'm looking at these.

Nobody else has mentioned these so I’ll chime in, try these Micron pens. They are some of the best that I have ever used. You can find them in arts and crafts stores as they are mainly used for artistry, but they are some of the finest writing instruments that I’ve been able to use beyond my fountain pens.

Something like this will allow you to connect the router to the hotel's wifi and then connect your laptop to the router (using your own username/password that you can configure).

This is the easiest solution, by far.

There are a few change resources in https://www.notion.so/templates/business-frameworks if you use notion.
As to your question about what questions you should be prepared to answer. I would be prepared To talk about projects where you have designed change, measured change impact, conducted as-is research to understand the culture within the group that was expected to be impacted by the change. There will be questions around communication strategies and learning strategies that will both come with metrics.

A friend used women's nursing pads as a hack for this. Cotton pads that you can stick to your armpits that are designed to be quite absorbent but also thin. Prevents sweat stains! And you can easily change them throughout the day.

This type of thing, though there are a million brands: https://www.amazon.ca/Medela-Ultra-Disposable-Nursing-Count/dp/B07K8BQFB4

You essentially need two skills (at least) to start consulting.

1) Identify and solve the clients real problem (and not just the symptom) 2) Precise communication of the solution (or suggested approach to solve the problem)

I saw a post here earlier when someone recommended the book: Bulletproof Problem Solving. You need to learn a structured approach to problem solving. This book contains a great framework of 7 steps.

https://bulletproofproblemsolving.com

As of the communication part: All consultants would recommend The Pyramid Principled by Barbra Mintu

https://www.amazon.com/Pyramid-Principle-Logic-Writing-Thinking/dp/0273710516

As an idea, I have one of these docking stations for my Dell laptop

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Precision-Latitude-Replicator-Docking/dp/B07N8HC5N1/

You have to check the specs to make sure it's compatible with a newer model, but AFAIK Dell has been good at keeping the models compatible for many years.

So the dock is stationary on the desk, connected to power, mouse, keyboard, screens, etc. Then it's super easy to come in with the laptop and plug in to the desk by docking. So if both your work and personal laptops are docking Dells, then it's as easy as re-docking in 15 secs to switch environments.

https://www.amazon.nl/KVM-switch-HDMI-switcherbox-toetsenbord-ondersteunt-HUB-poorten/dp/B099N3FZ9F/ref=asc_df_B099N3FZ9F/?tag=nlshogostdde-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=542242364323&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3164901428362265631&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1001004&hvtargid=pla-1430998934845&psc=1

Hope it helps, I would look around for one you need with the right ports though (display, right amount of USB etc).

Good luck!

I haven’t used it, but this one is on sale at the moment on Amazon:

Portable Monitor - KYY 15.6inch FHD 1080P USB-C Portable Laptop Monitor HDMI Gaming Monitor w/Premium Smart Cover & Dual Speakers, External HDR Computer Display for PC MAC Phone Xbox PS4 Switch https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B09KZV29KB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2D704ERJ0YDQX15VBB63

How far is the office from your gym?

I used to just block out a 1hr "lunch" period from my calendar, mark it as "free" so it's flexible to get booked if absolutely needed.

As long as I got the time in noone seemed to care in my case. In fact for about 2 month my Dept Director started coming with me.

I would also highly recommend these:

HyperGo Quick Mint Refreshing Body Wipes - Gym, Hiking, Travel, Camping, Post workout Wipes for Cleansing, Biodegradable, All-Natural Ingredients, 12" x 12" - 20 Count Bathing Wipes (1 Pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077H4C65Q/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_2X4H31G2X7DXPMCYRG81?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

There are so many project management tools options out there! You have to choose the one which you collaborate with your clients. I like Asana, but it can be pricey. You can also try Quire for a cheaper option, easy to use and has collaborated with many platforms as well. They also allow external members to join your projects, which is nice.

I keep a notepad file for daily activity, like a paper journal but in a text file. I make notes through meetings in that journal, and structure tasks like a to-do list.

I check that journal as I'm working, and will review a couple days worth of notes as I get stuff done.

For activities that will take longer than a few days, or when I'm planning something for the future that requires a better layout, I use Todoist. Their board view makes it super easy to lay out a structure very quickly. I find that a few minutes of planning is all it takes to organize any project, but the platform allows more detail if needed including deadlines, priorities, alerts and all the misc stuff like discussions, comments, links, attachments. I can also share that project with a client and let them see what I'm doing, and even contribute directly.

We all have more complex tools available, but these days I do 99% of my activity management with these 2 things + a time billing tracker.

Jabra Evolve 75 UC Stereo Wireless Bluetooth Headset / Music Headphones Including Link 370 (U.S. Retail Packaging), Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072JWYJMC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ZQZCRPXXQ6SS80ADB83E?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

In general, all partners sell. But in some partner roles, that's almost all they do, whereas in others, they have huge responsibilities in project delivery, apprenticeship (training others), firm leadership etc. So as usual in consulting, "it depends". How? Well, it depends hugely on the type of consulting - principally the degree of standardisation vs customisation of the services offered, and degree of trust/client intimacy involved in the work.

Highly customised/high trust engagements lean towards more senior involvement in *delivery* of the work and "apprenticing" the next generation, as well as the sales process (and low ratio of non-partners to partners - maybe 7:1). e.g. strategy consulting at MBB. These firms are also privately owned by the partners, which means firm leadership roles also fall on the partners.

Conversely highly standardised, lower-trust/intimacy work lends itself to the partner being primarily focused on sales, and having little involvement in execution, which is carried out by a larger number of execution resources per partner (Maybe 15-20:1). e.g. implementation consulting at the Big 4.

David Maister (who is well known as a consultant to consulting firms!) writes about these kinds of structural differences e.g. his book Trusted Advisor. Or this article: https://davidmaister.com/articles/the-anatomy-of-a-consulting-firm/

Not quite.

Anchoring, or arbitrary coherence is the phenomenon that causes us to bias to the first number we see/hear. Our sense of reasonableness of subsequent numbers will be biased to the first number.

The book Predictably Irrational tells of an experiment in which 100 grad students were broken into two groups; 50 in the control group and 50 in the test group. All the students were given credits to bid on items in an auction. The students in the test group were asked to look at the last two digits of their social security numbers, and then make a bid. The control group students just put their bids in. The students with the SSNs ending in higher numbers bid 4-5 times what the students with the lower numbers bid. The size of the first number influenced their reasoning about the value of the item.

Of course, the anchor is only a small factor in who comes out "on top".

There has never been a time in recorded history when the rich and powerful have not needed expert advisers of some description. Biblical kings had prophets, Persian sultans had viziers, and Greek city states had the Oracle at Delphi. Even the Mafia had their consigliere. In many ways these are not vastly different to many of the single-employee consultants providing advice to CEOs and board members.

See Mahoney, J. Markham, C. Management Consultancy. Oxford University Press.

If you want some insight into the McK world, read the book titled The McKinsey Way. GREAT book!!

https://www.amazon.com/McKinsey-Way-Ethan-M-Rasiel/dp/0070534489/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3UD1UVU0RAOYC&keywords=mckinsey&qid=1644061378&sprefix=mcki%2Caps%2C78&sr=8-1

For GPA I still want to highlight the SAT score somewhere is the thing and don't want to give it its own line. But I agree it's cluttered - I cleaned it up a bit if that's better (link on bottom)

For 2 I don't want to give myself too much credit, but I reorganized some of it to make it sound more managerial.

Fixed 3

Updated link.

Do you have an idea of where I should be targeting (caliber of firms or specific names) with this resume?

The bullets totally are off-centered and it's bothering me so much. Updated the rest though

Also what firms should I aim for w/ my GPA and resume, especially from a non-target school?

Resume bump. For some background: I'm a rising senior at a state school majoring in engineering and working in sales & trading this summer. My plan is to network (currently doing) the rest of this summer, then consider sometime in August if I have a decent shot at full-time offers in consulting, and, if so, decline the full-time offer from my bank (assuming I earn that) and go through the full-time cycle for consulting instead

Hey, as someone interested in getting into consulting, great podcast! One small thing, I cannot access it on my podcast app of choice, playerFM. Here is the place you need to drop your RSS feed link into: https://player.fm/importer/feed . Good luck!

I googled McK Lean Consultant and a couple job listings describing the goals of a Lean Consultant that might be helpful: https://mckinsey.secure.force.com/EP/job_details?jid=a0xA000000EGDE8IAP

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/22742650?trk=jserp_job_details_text

Assuming those descriptions are accurate, you can probably draw a contrast with traditional management consulting pretty easily.

I don't want my guessing to throw you off track :) your best bet is probably to just email them about the position and ask for details. Good luck with slaying the interview!

FMLA is a pretty poor example. Most other developed countries provide for 6 to 12 months of paid leave. It is objectively true that parental leave policies in the US flag the rest of the world. There is a good documentary on the topic here

https://www.amazon.com/Zero-Weeks-Tom-Perez/dp/B07JJQZ9ZC

I was recommended to purchase Ace the Case by a recruiter. I found this website and this book. I've bought the book but the website ebook won't download. Does anyone know which one they were likely referring to? Or have a copy of the e-book version of either one?

Could someone critique my resume please? :)

resume

Some weaknesses I spot are: 1. lack of quant/data experience: I just switched from Philosophy so I don't have any relevant courses but am going to be taking an Econs course next semester and have been doing a Corporate Finance course on Coursera over the summer. I've also finished studying a basic financial accounting textbook on my own. 2. lack of corporate internships: I am actively looking for part-time work at a bank in the fall. Travel not an issue and I will be taking fewer credits anyway because I attended summer school in my freshman year. 3. not outstanding GPA: I know.

If it helps, I am planning to work in Asia-Pacific, perhaps in Jakarta/Vietnam/Singapore/Australia, if anyone can tell me how recruiting operates there I highly appreciate it!

Funny, because Gates was excellent in subjects that interested him, even so far as having some of his work published in mathematics journals:

https://www.quora.com/What-were-Bill-Gates-grades-at-Harvard

Gates could have graduated at the top of his class, he chose not to in lieu of starting his company. You just blew off college.

Greetings. I work for corporate at AIM and can answer these questions about the company.

To the OP: The reviews on Glassdoor are legitimate. The page was branded just last year and we follow Glassdoor’s guidelines for employee engagement.

Regarding the first comment thread, I am missing the context due to the deleted original post, but AOL is not a client of AIM’s.

The original post in the comment thread about Denver has also been deleted, but we try to provide rewarding relationship-focused experiences to all of our consultants in all of our markets. If your experience did not meet that expectation, please reach out so we can get the details and correct what went wrong.

Regarding the most recent comment, we do offer staff aug to clients (both individual contributors and teams delivered as a managed service) as part of our engagement model, but we also provide strategic consulting and take on projects with consultant teams led internally by Solutions Directors. Our model is designed to be flexible and scalable so that clients get the most value for their needs and allows us to work with the best talent in the marketplace however they want to engage.

If you have other questions or feedback, you can use our Open Feedback Form (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AIMOpenFeedback). We are always looking to continuously improve.

These frameworks are interesting and can help you think about the industry, but they miss many of the realities of the business. For example, everyone here will tell you that relationship-based sales are the core of high-margin work, yet that doesn't show up under selling position, org capability, or professional skills on this chart.

That said, if you like reading about the theory of the industry, I'd recommend David Maister's Managing the Professional Service Firm.

Gunnar are supposed to be the good ones but the $10 amazon pairs have sustained me for years. I do tend to be more of a cheapass than other consultants (i.e. they are always complimenting me on my beats but they are skull candy).

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Blocking-Glasses-Amber-Tinted-Blue-Blocking/dp/B01N7W61E7/ref=sr\_1\_6?keywords=gamer+glasses&qid=1639163652&sr=8-6