Tom Spencer

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

The role of a consultant is dynamic and complex, requiring a unique blend of skills that go beyond pure technical proficiency. In this 2-part article, I will outline the 5 key skills of an effective consultant, then discuss how to hone and highlight these skills.

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Tom Spencer

JUNE 2, 2023

years in management consulting, I transitioned to a Fortune 50 US company in an internal strategy role. Having had about a year on the new job, I want to highlight the benefits of this transition to give the many consultants out there some perspective. Last year, after 2.5 Internal strategy isn’t for everyone.

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Tom Spencer

SEPTEMBER 24, 2022

Dave Balter , CEO of social marketing company BzzAgent, argues that: “Most highly successful leaders really aren’t the smartest people in any room. This is also a perfect analogy for how consultants work and thrive. The key driver in consulting is helping clients solve complex challenges. Be selective about what you read.

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McKinsey Industry Accenture Trends 88

Consulting Matters

JANUARY 7, 2020

Almost all the consultants and coaches that I mentor want to become an executive advisor. While these goals make sense - they are missing the heart of what it really means to be an executive advisor and what it takes to succeed in this sacred and noble role. Three Things You Need To Succeed as an Executive Advisor.

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Tom Spencer

DECEMBER 19, 2020

In graduate school, I had a classmate who had previously worked at a boutique firm. She enthusiastically advocated that everyone interested in consulting should only go for boutique firms. There is no established definition of what identifies a consulting firm as boutique. Defining Boutique. Compensation.

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Tom Spencer

JULY 18, 2020

In the consulting industry networking is more than just gaining a few names and LinkedIn contacts, it is about building personal relationships and a portfolio of prospective business opportunities. For students, networking is a fundamental stepping stone on the path towards a career in consulting. Be long term orientated.

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Tom Spencer

APRIL 27, 2019

For those of you who signed a consulting offer, congrats! Now there are just two more important decisions that you need to make. What start date should be requested and what should be done with the soon to be very scarce free time prior to starting? The hard part is over. Combine Global Travel with Learning Opportunities.

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Consulting Matters

MARCH 27, 2018

Interview Transcript: Betsy Jordyn: Well hello there everybody it's Betsy Jordyn of the Consultants Institute, and I am so excited to finally be interviewing Michael Zipursky of Consulting Success. So you have your own business consulting success. Do you have a consulting background yourself? Zipursky: Oh, wow.

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Consulting Matters

OCTOBER 30, 2020

Bosses, colleagues and friends all questioned the wisdom of quitting his high-paying job and steady paycheck for the unknowns of starting his own consulting business. After over 15 years of consistent and growing consulting success - they now understand exactly why he did it. Do you want to start or grow your own business?

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Consulting Success

JANUARY 29, 2018

Today I’m joined by seasoned consultant and passionate leader Ron Carucci. His work has taken him to over 20 countries in four different continents, and he is the author of several consulting and leadership books as well as a regular contributor to Forbes.com and the Harvard Business Review. Ron, welcome. Thanks for having me.

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Makarios Consulting

MARCH 17, 2022

Leadership is a lot like a ropes course – you are confronted with challenge after challenge, each one testing your skills and giving you an opportunity for personal development and team growth. In this series, we are looking at elements of “The Leadership Ropes Course” that all leaders need to face – and master!

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Makarios Consulting

MARCH 17, 2022

Leadership is a lot like a ropes course – you are confronted with challenge after challenge, each one testing your skills and giving you an opportunity for personal development and team growth. In this series, we are looking at elements of “The Leadership Ropes Course” that all leaders need to face – and master!

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Course Leadership Analysis Productivity 52

Tom Spencer

MARCH 9, 2019

Regardless of whichever bucket you fall into, it always helps to see things from the interviewers’ perspective. Some firms, like the MBB (McKinsey, BCG and Bain) will go as far as requesting your GPA, test scores and the names of your undergraduate institutions. But what exactly are they testing for?

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Interviews Case Interview Consulting ROI 110

Tom Spencer

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with another blog contributor to the SpencerTom community, Jason Oh, to share our experiences about the consulting recruiting process. Why did you decide to pursue management consulting? In university, what inspired you to take this path?

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Recruiting Recruitment Case Interview Consulting 78

Comatch

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

The world is changing rapidly, and the way that companies operate within it needs to shift as well. More than ever, organizations are using independent experts and freelance management consultants to address critical challenges. At COMATCH, we expect to see the importance of independent consultants continue to increase.

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Consulting Success

JANUARY 29, 2018

Discipline and patience are two of the essential keys that will bring you the greater consulting success you are seeking. Description: Today I’m joined by seasoned consultant and passionate leader Ron Carucci. Ron has over 25 years of experience, and he has worked hard to position himself as a truly successful consultant.

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Tom Spencer

AUGUST 18, 2018

Student consulting would seem to most students as an obvious first step towards a career in consulting. It offers experience in dealing with clients, solving real-life problems and demonstrates your interest, all of which can add a lot to your CV. However, there is a problem with Smith’s view.

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Consulting Case Interview Cover Letters Comparison 60

Consulting Success

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

Find your focus, share your knowledge, and write to win your place as a consulting expert. Description: Self-described “recovering consultant” Blair Enns is the CEO of Win Without Pitching, a sales training organization for creative professionals in the design, advertising, and public relations fields.

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Advertising Consulting Productivity eBook 115

The Source

DECEMBER 21, 2018

Growing East : When we crunch all the data for 2018, we expect to find that demand for consulting services has been patchy. Underlying willingness to use consultants is strong, but that won’t stop clients looking constantly over their shoulder out of fear of a potential downturn. Two plus two will need to equal five.

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Consulting Agile Software Energy 55

Management Consulted

OCTOBER 30, 2016

As consulting has become more popular (frantically so), we are getting increasing numbers of emails from undergrads – and even high schoolers – begging the question – if you want to break into consulting, what should you major in – and what majors are deal-breakers? The problem with Econ majors?

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Consulting Engineering Finance Case Interview 100

Management Consulted

JANUARY 2, 2014

To start the year out on the right foot, we’ll be continuing our series of posts on consulting salaries with compensation information for those starting in a consulting firm this year – the big 2-0-1-4. We’ve been compiling data on management consulting salaries now for 4 years. What have we seen?

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Tom Spencer

JULY 13, 2019

If you’re trying to get into consulting, it can be more than a little confusing trying to understand the various types of firms and their practices. In this post, you will learn about the 4 major types of consulting and the firms that are typically associated with them. Strategy Consulting. Specialised Consulting.

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Consulting Turnaround Healthcare Deloitte 60

Nash Consulting

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023

By Nash Consulting Where have we been and where are we going? Our expedition into the realm of healthy conflict started by establishing firm foundations in the theories of conflict styles (see Part 1 here). Examining these underlying needs can facilitate the cultivation of constructive behaviors. Also – watch your airtime.

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Construction How To Emotional Intelligence Exercises 52

Consulting Success

FEBRUARY 8, 2018

Self-described “recovering consultant” Blair Enns is the CEO of Win Without Pitching, a sales training organization for creative professionals in the design, advertising, and public relations fields. Join us to hear solid advice for increasing your revenue from Blair Enns in this episode of The Consulting Success Podcast.

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Consulting Productivity Advertising Training 114

Tom Spencer

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

The question of when to leave your first or second job is intimate and messy. Especially if your first job is management consulting as you will be presented with many opportunities to jump into industry. Prior to making career decisions, you should write down your guiding principles.

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Strategy Strategy Strategy& Management 78

Tom Spencer

NOVEMBER 11, 2017

As an aspiring management consultant who has also been working as a music producer for several years, composing, arranging, and producing songs for multiple artists, I get a lot of questions about this seemingly strange combination of interests. “If Nevertheless, I don’t think there needs to be a conflict between passion and profession.

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Productivity Consulting Management Industry 60

Management Consulted

AUGUST 28, 2013

In reality, McKinsey, Bain, and Boston Consulting Group are tied for first, so Booz & Company is a close 2 nd place. at least, Booz & Company is recognized as one of the most prestigious firms to work for, and it is most certainly the oldest. You created not just a firm, but an industry we are all now proud of.

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Management Consulted

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

NERA ECONOMIC CONSULTING. Interviewing with NERA Economic Consulting? In fact, if you look at a list of top 20 consulting firms, NERA won’t be on it. That being said, NERA is still a major player in the consulting industry and here’s why: NERA Economic Consulting is the top econom ic consulting firm, period.

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NERA Economic Consulting Interviews Oliver Wyman Consulting 147

Tom Spencer

JUNE 13, 2021

In management consulting and many other sectors, people spend a lot of time creating PowerPoint slides as it has become the basis for communicating, both internally and externally. Answer the “so what?”. Customize the story flow based on your audience. Explain what the problem is and why it is being addressed.

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Benchmarking Case Interview Groups Analysis 88

Management Consulted

DECEMBER 23, 2013

We’re starting a series of guest posts offered by staff, readers and interns that are reviews of books we think are helpful for those interested in consulting (specifically) and business (in general). If you are pondering how management consulting got this far, this book is for you. Quick overview. 3 interesting book insights.

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Management Consulted

DECEMBER 7, 2014

Today we continue our firm profile series with an in-depth review of Bridgespan. Founded in Boston, MA , and containing the heart and DNA of consulting industry giant Bain & Company, Bridgespan is the key non-profit consulting firm in today’s consulting industry. Strategy Consulting.

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Management Consulted

MARCH 13, 2016

A Stanford graduate who worked in consulting during his early career, Victor speaks from his experience as someone who sat on both sides of the interview table. Namaan, one of our rockstar interns, shares what he thought about this seminal piece of consulting literature after reading it cover-to-cover. WHY READ IT? QUICK REVIEW.

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Case Interview Interviews McKinsey Cover Letters 100

Management Consulted

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

You’ve bombarded us with insightful questions about resumes, interviews, applications, and how to pick up the pieces and consider alternatives to consulting when you don’t make the cut. While each question comes from a unique personal perspective, many of the issues apply to our entire reader base of consulting wanna-bes.

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Resumes Consulting Case Interview McKinsey 133

Management Consulted

JUNE 26, 2016

Today, we continue Part 2 (see Part 1 here ) of our interview with Charlie, an experienced Harvard grad who took an unusual path into healthcare consulting, yet leveraged his experience and hard prep work into an offer at Putnam. They’ll be able to tell you a bit more about the culture of the firm and what they do.

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Healthcare Case Interview Consulting Interviews 140

Management Consulted

OCTOBER 3, 2012

Last week we held an MC exclusive subscriber giveaway contest – entrants told us in 200 words or less how they became interested in consulting. The prize for best answer was a FREE Consulting Case Bank and The Consulting Bible 3rd edition – a HUGE giveaway – so we weren’t surprised when we heard from so many of you.

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Consulting Case Interview Interviews Engineering 204

CaseInterview.com

MARCH 3, 2021

At the time of writing this article, many firms are not meeting candidates face-to-face due to COVID-19. This is especially true when you need to show the interviewer your notes and framework drawings. Remember that all consultants are doing these video conferences with their clients right now. Technical Setup.

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Management Consulted

APRIL 20, 2016

Going to a top notch business school to get an MBA is high on the list for many aspiring consultants, especially those based in or desiring to work in the U.S. MBA programs should you apply to if you want the best inroads to consulting? MBA programs for Management Consulting – and the results may surprise you.

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