| Topic Name: |
3 Questions about entry-level consulting |
| Message Name: |
Thank you |
| Date Posted: |
07/29/2003 |
| In Reply To: |
Michael,
I hope that I didn't kill your SBA job. (I posted some harsh messages that day and caught a lot of flack on another board for it.) I mean, the company might have you doing cool stuff--which you have to find out for yourself. I just don't think that at the salary range you quoted you would be doing anything more than selling booths at the next National Rhenologist Association's convention at McCormick Place.
Unfortunately, I don't reveal my identity based on postings on this board, which includes sending private e-mails. However, here are some ideas:
1) Monster does occasionally have some good postings. But a lot of it is garbage you'll have to wade thru.
2) I think that Crain's has a journal in Chicago. Check Crain's Top 100 Public Companies and Top 100 Private Companies list and start working through them. Go to Border's and read Crain's so that you know what's going on in town.
3) Talk with your school's alumni. Your school's career development office can give you a list of Chicago alumni. No matter how senior they are, start calling them and ask if you can have lunch in order to talk about your career goals and what it's like to work in X industry. DO NOT ASK for a job at this point. But, at the lunch, DO ask what companies you should check out. Also ask if they've seen any job postings for jobs that might be appropriate for you. And talk with the people with whom you interned. At the worst, your resume will get passed to HR, but it will come from somebody senior.
4) Have confidence. (Easier said than done, huh?)
Hope that these ideas help. Please post other questions if you want to ask. |
| Message: |
Dear 8439596,
Thank you for taking the time to listen to my questions and offer some suggestions. Your advice is much appreciated and I have enjoyed our discussions.
Please rest assured that you in no way harmed my chances at SBA, I had indicated to them when they first called me that such a salary range was likely to be lower than what I could live on. Additionally, at the interview, the recruiter suggested to me that I was probably seeking something more challenging than what they were offering.
As far as your suggestions go, I will certainly look into Crain's publications. That is an excellent idea. I fear, however, that in this job market, a lot of these companies are going to be looking solely for experienced workers or ivy league grads, despite my excellent grades and strong work ethic.
I will also speak to my campus Career Center once again. They do maintain a database of alumni which I have looked at in the past, but it has been a couple of months.
Since my last posting, I have secured a couple of good leads from monster.com and monstertrak, and am following up with them. However, none of these companies are in the consulting industry. One is an entry-level financial analyst position at an investments research firm (something I would really be into), while the other is a marketing analyst position in my hometown (perfect except for the fact that it is located exactly where I am trying to avoid returning). The latter is promising because I have networking connections with their CEO. I'm just really turned off to moving back to my hometown and not into Chicago Area at this time.
In any case, it's my hope that such positions as these might provide me the experience and training necessary to improve my attractiveness to both MCF's and larger corporations.
If something doesn't pan out soon though, I'm probably going to have to end up working as a long-term substitute in my Dad's school district.
We'll see what happens. In the meantime, I'm just going to keep plugging at it.
Thanks again for everything.
-Michael : )
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