If someone is willing to give you 20 minutes of their time, what is the most value you can extract from that conversation?
I networked my way to an interview. I cold messaged over 200 people on LinkedIn and had 50+ conversations with current consultants. The conversations not only helped me get referrals but also taught me about the consulting industry in a way that only those who are in it can describe.
Here are 10 insights I gained from my journey.
1. Always have a purpose
Having a purpose and clearly articulating the purpose will help you and the person you are reaching out to throughout your entire interaction.
- When you initially contact someone be clear about why you are reaching out and what you want to learn.
- During the call provide an agenda to structure the conversation. Outline 2 or 3 things that you want to learn about and keep to that agenda.
- When closing the call clearly articulate your ask or next step. This could be a referral or connection to someone else in the firm.
2. Keep a structure to your conversation
The structure should be simple with three parts:
- The opening: i.e. your elevator pitch and agenda
- The conversation: i.e. your questions
- The closing: i.e. your ask
I always had at least one question that I would ask everyone. The other questions in my agenda depended on the person, position, and firm. I would also remove a question from my agenda once I felt like I had asked it to enough people and felt like I knew the answer.
3. Try to find a connection
People who were more receptive to talking to me were those who shared a related experience. This could be attending the same school, having similar work experience, or a mutual connection. I was more selective with who I reached out to after seeing who responded to me from my initial connection requests. The filters on LinkedIn can be your best friend here.
I also found that once I had a few connections in a certain firm people were more likely to respond to me. This could be just a numbers game or that people were more comfortable talking to someone who was connected with others in their firm.
4. Personalize the conversation and read the situation
It is important to pay close attention at the beginning of the conversation and get a feeling for who you are talking to. This can help you shape the conversation and could alter the types of questions you ask.
If someone is very open in the beginning and wants to know more about you, there is a good chance you could double the amount of time you talk with them and you will have their full attention. I once talked with a manager for over an hour on a Friday night, this was beyond my expectations and the conversation was very cordial and informative. However, if someone is walking to get lunch, they are probably doing you a favor by fitting you into their day, and you won’t have their full attention.
5. Everyone has their own consulting experience
Everyone has a unique journey into consulting. From their educational background, their interests and career goals, as well as their life and work experience. I talked to people who got numerous offers at top firms and it was interesting to see how they made their decision to join their particular firm. There were differences when talking to people from target versus non-target schools. The type of graduate degree also helped shape their experience. It was very interesting to talk to people who had families and seeing how they balanced work/life responsibilities and how family life may have impacted the firms they targeted.
By talking with people whose experiences are close to your own it can help you to create a plan and set expectations going forward.
6. What you want to know will change
As you talk to more people your knowledge and understanding of consulting will grow and the types of information you seek will change. Be prepared to change your questions or ask for more detail and examples in order to better understand the nuances of consulting. However, the more granular you get the more likely it is that the answer you receive will be “it depends”.
If you can correctly predict the answer to a question then it is time to move on from asking that question and ask something new. It is important to keep your focus on “getting the job”, however learning more about the industry and where you fit within it is just as important.
7. You won’t always learn new things from talking to different people
Don’t expect every conversation to be life changing. Sometimes it is good to get the same answer or a variation of the same answer from people in a certain position or firm. For example, when asking about culture at a firm it might be a red flag if everyone gave you a different answer.
It’s good to keep in mind people’s perceptions of other firms and which they would recommend applying to and the reasons behind that decision. This process of independent consensus building can be helpful in narrowing your list and finding your fit.
8. Talk to people at different levels
I tried to talk to people from different backgrounds and at all levels of the firm. Talking with people who were at a firm for less than six months was just as helpful as those who were at the firm for 2 years or 10 years. These conversations helped me understand the process of starting a career in consulting and how to succeed.
Don’t feel like you can’t reach out to people at the partner level. Make the offer to connect and let them decide if they want to follow up with you. One conversation I had with a managing director helped reduce some of my nervousness as they said they would feel comfortable putting me in front of clients. Getting that feedback helped me to be more comfortable just being myself during future conversations.
9. Take notes and review them
I took notes on every conversation and almost filled an entire notebook. These were very helpful when applying and preparing for interviews as I could look for trends and themes to better characterize the firm I was applying to.
The value of these notes compounded the more people I talked to as I could obtain greater insights into the consulting world as my conversations became more diverse and gained greater depth.
10. Be thankful and send a thank you
I was very thankful to the people who took the time to talk to me, with no incentive to them (except for the one who got a referral bonus). It’s important to let others know how much you appreciate their time. You can do this when you are closing the conversation and by sending a quick thank you note.
Most importantly, when you get into your consulting role remember to pay it forward and make time for people who are in your former position.
Summary
Consulting has a culture of learning, growth, and professional development. Consultants also embrace the unknown and unstructured.
The 10 things I learned helped me create my process for networking and more importantly identifying and learning key pieces of information from others who are already a few steps ahead of me.
Once you join a firm the networking gets easier in the sense that the people you are trying to talk to are more available and there is often an expectation that colleagues make time for each other. Although accessing people may be easier, the process around extracting information stays constant.
How you learn, what you learn, and who you learn it from will depend on your situation – the important thing is that you keep learning.
Andrew Kuczmarski is a PhD candidate at the University of Delaware whose passion lies at the intersection of science and business.
Image: Pixabay