Trying To Get A Head Start

I'm trying to soak up as much info as I can about the two industries that I'm interested in by "interviewing" as many people as I can. It's great to read Vault or Wetfeet or blogs or whatever, but it's even better to reach out to anyone you know who works in an industry that you're interested in, and talk to them about what they like and don't like. Every time I have done this, these people inevitably say something like, "You know, if you want to know more about consulting, I could put you in touch with a senior manager at X firm, they're a little higher up so they might have a different perspective."

So as you branch out and keep talking with different people, it turns into a bit of a networking exericse. When you're asking people all about themselves and their experiences, it's flattering to them in a sense and they love talking about themselves. By the time you're done interviewing them, if you've established a good rapport, they'll usually say something like, "Feel free to keep in touch, let me know how school goes, and if you need any help in the job search."

Maybe this is really obvious and maybe a lot of people are doing this, but if you're not doing this, I would suggest it. People really seem very receptive, and they're happy to sit down for an hour and tell you about their glory days in b-school and their early careers.

This also comes in handy in interviews. I had one interviewer who asked me, "So you're interested in consulting. Do you have an understanding of what they lifestyle is like?" and I told him that I did, and that I had spoken with many people and so forth and he said, "Well that's great, a lot of people that I interview say they want to get into consulting, but all they seem to know about it is that it's very lucrative."