Questions to Ask When Networking for Consulting

Firms will get at impression of you from all of the following touchpoints:

  • Group circles after the firm presentation – known as the “circle of death”

  • Phone calls

  • Email communications

  • Office hours

  • Case competitions

  • Dinners or happy hours

  • School-sponsored social events

  • “Mock” interviews

  • Your classmates who were summer interns

To get invited for an interview, do more of the positive things in your interactions with the firm. Do less to none of the negative things, and you’ll be well on your way to making the coveted closed list.

For those that are trying to network off-campus, simply find a 2nd degree connection on LinkedIn who can vouch for you - and is connected from someone in your target firm, and ideally in your target office of that firm.

Then ask to set-up an informational chat to learn about the office, the type of work, and do the below. These same principles apply to on-campus and off-campus networking.

This means you want to focus on doing 4 things when networking.

  1. Conveying a strong overall presence

  2. Demonstrating strong interpersonal skills

  3. Asking thoughtful questions

  4. Having a clear reason to 'why consulting'

CONVEYING A STRONG OVERALL PRESENCE
This means a few things. You want to have good energy and enthusiasm. Be perceived as easy to talk to and engaging. You want to be personable, but come across as poised and confident.

DEMONSTRATING STRONG INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
You want to be well-spoken. Have some good stories to tell and keep the conversation flowing. If you have the talent, try to make the other person laugh. You want to have good group dynamic skills and bring others into the conversation.

ASKING THOUGHTFUL QUESTIONS
Do some research on the firm. Don't ask generic questions, but ask questions that are genuine and relevant to your situation. Listen well and ask good follow-up questions based on their response. This shows you're an attentive listener and can think on your feet.

HAVING A CLEAR REASON TO 'WHY CONSULTING'
Even if you don't have a rock solid reason why you want consulting, you should still have one. Is it the variety of work? The intellectual challenge? Making a large impact on organizations? The incredible professional development in an industry of passion? Have a reason.
 
Now that we covered what to do, you also want to avoid doing 4 things when networking.

  1. Having a weak presence

  2. Conveying lackluster interpersonal skills

  3. Lacking attention to detail

  4. Seeming unprepared

HAVING A WEAK PRESENCE
This often takes the form of awkward or passive body language. Don't have a weak handshake or weak eye contact. If you're in a group dynamic, don't fade into the background, and be sure to speak up. If you get shouldered out of groups, you will be unmemorable.

CONVEYING LACKLUSTER INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
This often takes the form of forced conversations. Where the person is not great at small talk and lacks energy and enthusiasm. They come across as too quite or too shy. They may speak too fast or use too much upspeak (i.e., "you know", "like").

LACKING ATTENTION TO DETAIL
When writing a thank you e-mail avoid awkward grammar, incorrect punctuation, inconsistent fonts or colors. The thank you should not be boilerplate/generic, but rather somewhat personalized based on the conversation you had.

SEEMING UNPREPARED
You don't want to ask a list of generic or memorized questions that feel rehearsed, as if you're on autopilot. You want to do a little background research on the firm, so you can ask genuine, relevant questions to you.

At the end of the day it's pretty simple. Do more of the things that look good - strong presence, verbal skills, be thoughtful, and know why consulting. And avoid the bad - having a weak presence, poor verbal skills, lacking attention to detail, being unprepared.

You'd be shocked how many smart students I've encountered at top business schools fall into some of the bad traps.