It depends…the people…collaborative
Did they mean, It depends on the people to be collaborative?
I was at an event at my alma mater a couple of weeks ago. A friend from school asked me when my next “entertaining” LinkedIn/Medium post would come out. I assured him that when I -
- Have something to say and
- See a way to blend that with humor
it will be out. Well, that moment has arrived. With MBA Consulting internship recruitment season around the corner, I want to write this post about the Consulting Networking Cliches. The three most common, oft-repeated are -
- It depends
- People in the consulting firm are great
- People are collaborative
Ask a generic question and you get “It depends” as an answer. Ask what a consultant likes about their employer and you get a “People are great”. And finally, ask what about the people in the firm do you like the most and you get a “People are collaborative” as the answer. These answers are quite frankly not helpful and are frustrating for a prospective candidate willing to learn about the firm. On the other hand, the questions that invite these responses, in my opinion, show the lack of intent or homework about the firm on the part of the candidate.
The onus in avoiding these during a networking conversation is as much that of a prospective candidate as it is of a consultant. Let’s tackle this one answer after the other -
- It depends — While this could be a genuine response to a well-crafted question that the consultant may not be aware of, more often than not it is usually the generic questions that get this response. These are “How long is a typical project”, “How many hours do you work in a day”, and so on. To the students I say this — avoid questions that are generic and you know could change from situation to situation. Think of your own experiences in your jobs prior to school, did they last exactly ‘x’ weeks right to the day, assignment after assignment? And did you work exactly ‘y’ hours every day? To the consultants I say this — If it is a well-thought, and a really specific question that the candidate has asked, show appreciation of the candidate’s genuine interest by tailoring it to your personal experience. If you believe the candidate could benefit from insights of another colleague or two for the same question if you feel your tailored response may be narrow in scope, offer to make an introduction for them to learn from others’ experiences.
- People are great — No one is going to say otherwise in an official or an unofficial networking conversation. This is typically a response to a question such as “What do you like most about the firm?”. To the students I say this- ask a follow-up question on what else they like about the firm, if the consultant does not expand on the question with their personal experience (and a response that does not include the word “collaborative”). Show that are you are willing to learn more about their experiences and how learning more about their experiences helps you with your job search. To the consultants I say this- Put yourself in the shoes of the candidate and ask yourself, “Is this response helpful?” This candidate, should they apply, get selected, and accept the job, could very well be working together with you at some point and perhaps look up to you for guidance. This is your chance to be authentic and helpful.
- People are collaborative-Unless you ran your own business with no interaction with anyone else (including customers, employees, or suppliers), you probably had to work with someone to some extent at some point. To the students I say this- ask a follow-up question on how the consultant felt the collaboration in the firm was different from their prior job. Even be willing to share your own experience in your previous job. To the consultants I say this- Try and make your experiences relatable to the students. Students in a graduate school setting are likely already working in groups. Relate it to what you may have experienced during the grad school and how the collaboration on a consulting job is similar/different (and talk specifics on how it is different).
Networking conversations are a great way for candidates to show their genuine interest in a firm and learn from consultants. These also serve as a great tool for consultants to look for future co-workers, mentees, or even workplace friends. I encourage both parties to make the conversations count!
And to my friend who was looking forward to this post, I say this —
