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The world of consulting is often a mystery for students entering Schulich. Although Schulich is a great school for those future accountants, it still has some ways to go before reaching that same level of excellence in the consulting industry. Many students come into Schulich with an idea about what accounting, marketing or finance are, but very few come in knowing much about consulting. In fact, I only discovered consulting in my second year after reading that it was one of the top career choices by Harvard Business graduates.

Consulting essentially means helping businesses identify and solve their problems. Thus a good candidate must enjoy problem solving, creativity, and working with people. The career offers many benefits. Aside from the high salary, it is a challenging field that demands the very best of you. However, on the downside, consultants have to put up with unpredictable hours and endless travelling. In fact, some consultants travel four days out of the week depending on their client needs.

That being said, at Schulich there are many opportunities for students to learn about consulting. It may be very competitive to land a consulting job during one’s undergraduate years, but there are many resources that students can take advantage of. There are student led clubs as well as events arranged by the Career Development Centre (CDC) that help students get exposure. The Schulich Consulting Club is an industry-focused club that serves both BBAs and MBAs. It hosts a wide array of events in which students have an opportunity to learn about consulting and the recruiting process while networking with industry experts. One great initiative last year was the ThinkTank Group in which students were able to gain hands-on experience by consulting for a real company.

Other schools such as Queen’s also hold consulting conferences that provide excellent learning and networking opportunities. The CDC also hosts many events that should be taken advantage of. One of the events that I thought was very helpful was the Consulting Networking Breakfast. Here students got the opportunity to speak to many consultants while having some scrumptious breakfast: anything with free food has my vote! In addition, the career counsellors are very helpful especially when it comes to interview preparation. It would be a great idea to make an appointment and really brush up on those interview skills.

A key element in landing a job in the consulting industry is to listen to a case or situation and manage to come up with creative but effective solutions to the problem. Consulting companies often tell interviewees of a certain case, situation or brainteaser and it is up to the candidate to come up with a viable solution. This means practice, practice, and more practice! The more cases you try, the easier it becomes to come up with practical solutions to real world problems.

Perhaps the most important lesson is to be persistent in pursuing your passion for consulting. Even if it is challenging and a difficult industry to enter, you must never give up if it is indeed your true passion. Everyone’s path to consulting is different. So the first step to your dream consulting job is learning as much as possible about this mysterious world, and not be afraid to ask questions.