Daniela Rodriguez (McDonough, ‘20) came to Georgetown and business school with a desire to build on her career within management consulting. In our interview, Rodriguez shared her journey with navigating the management consulting recruiting process as an international student, and her advice to MBA students interested in careers in management consulting.
MBASchooled: What did you do prior to business school and why did you choose to attend business school?
Prior to business school, I worked for Accenture as a Management Consultant in their Financial Services practice. One year after my promotion to Consultant, I decided that I wanted to improve my leadership and management skills, and I started looking for MBA programs that were strong in those areas. It was very important for me to find a place that felt like home and where I could develop in a safe space, and Georgetown was a perfect fit for what I was looking for.
MBASchooled: What did you recruit for, and what was the process like?
I tried several things during my recruitment process. In the beginning, I started recruiting for consulting and marketing roles but later in the process, I decided to leave marketing on the side and I pursued strategy roles in tech companies. Each industry has different timelines so it is very important to understand when recruiting will happen for what you decide to pursue. For me, consulting started earlier in my timeline; at the beginning, I was 100% focused on consulting cases and networking with practitioners from the companies that were of interest to me. Recruiting for technology roles started early in January but most of the process happened in early February. I was lucky to be able to balance my interviews so I could give my full attention to one company at a time.
MBASchooled: What were some of the highs and lows of the recruiting process?
Definitely the highest highs are when you receive offers! Seeing that all the hard work paid off is a great feeling and it changes the way you look at business school. It was also very rewarding to really connect with someone while networking and building sincere relationships.
As an international student, most of the lows are related to the limited options that we have since several companies are very straightforward when they tell you they will not sponsor you. It was particularly challenging at MBA career fairs when you had to wait in very long lines to see if a company would talk to you and in the end, they didn’t. Nevertheless, experiences like that make you more resilient and help you be more efficient in the process.
MBASchooled: What resources were most helpful to you in preparing for and succeeding in the interview process?
The most important resources during my recruiting process were the Career Center at Georgetown and the Consulting Club. Within the Career Center, Peer Advisors who are second-years coach other students and help them prepare for interviews, were crucial in my preparation as I met with them several times each week to work on mock behavioral and case interviews. Having gone through the recruiting process themselves, Peer Advisors gave me the best feedback and made sure I was ready to face interviewers with different backgrounds and personalities. In terms of the Consulting Club, Georgetown offers many resources such as a case certification program with Marc Constantino (author of Case in Point), Crack the Case workshops with David Ohrvall, access to platforms such as Management Consulted and weekly Lunch & Learns that prepared me for the interviews. Besides that, I also practiced math drills on different platforms to become more agile with math. Lastly, networking with practitioners was very important to determine the culture of the consulting firms.
MBASchooled: What programs, experiences or opportunities did you pursue in your first year that were the most impactful to helping you in your internship?
The most significant experience was being one of the co-presidents of the Georgetown Women in Business Club. I have a passion for women empowerment, so holding this role was very rewarding and beneficial since it also helped me to learn how to prioritize tasks (I had to balance my school workload, recruiting, social events, and the Club’s activities), manage different stakeholders (from the MBA Program Office, other women’s organizations, guest speakers, and women prospective students), and lead a group. I applied several of those skills to my internship, where I had to work on my project, make connections with my team, have coffee chats, work on a separate intern’s project, etc. Another great experience was taking the Leadership Communications class that helped me develop public speaking skills that I used in presentations during the internship. That class also gave me the tools to provide honest and constructive feedback.
MBASchooled: What were some of the most important lessons that you learned in your career search?
As an international student, I think the most important lesson that I learned is that you have to have a plan B, C, and D. Do not put all of your eggs in the same basket but definitely make sure to understand your priorities. Related to this, I believe that starting early in the semester has many benefits, and even more so if you are recruiting for other industries outside consulting. Preparing for behavioral and case interviews requires a lot of time and practice, and interviewers will notice if a student is well prepared or not.
MBASchooled: What skills, should MBA students focus on developing, if they wish to recruit for consulting?
Students that want to recruit for consulting should focus on four critical areas: 1. Problem-solving and analytical thinking, 2. Stakeholder and relationship management, 3. Leadership and, 4. Communication. I think business school gives students the possibility to become better at those four areas both through experiences in and outside the classroom.
MBASchooled: What advice do you have, for students who are interested in consulting or are recruiting for consulting internships?
My most important advice would be to make sure you demonstrate how your past experience and current situation connect with management consulting. Since this industry is very welcoming of people from diverse backgrounds, it is critical for students that want to pursue this career path, to show consulting companies what they can bring to the table and how their skills compare to those that consulting requires. Most of the people that apply to consulting roles are qualified for the job so it is critical to differentiate yourself from other applicants.