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22 Feb 2015, 11:28
23 Feb 2015, 12:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Part II: Recruiting Advice for the Consulting Industry from Career Development Office Expert |
  Stephen Pidgeon T’07 is an associate director of the CDO and author of the books How to Get a Job in Consulting and Case Interviews for Beginners. Talk about the logistics of the typical interview process for the consulting industry. Going back to the example of today’s students who are interviewing with McKinsey: to get there they had to go through a series of steps. First of all, they go through the application process. They’ll have many, many chances on campus to meet the consultants, get to know the company, and learn what McKinsey’s looking for. Then, they apply with their resume and their cover letter and the company chooses half the students they’ll interview. One of the nice things about Tuck is that the other half of interview slots are given to students to bid on. You can be sure that you will interview with your dream company, which is not the case at every business school. After that, you do a lot of practice—I think the average student here probably does about 50 case interviews as practice, which also means they have to give an additional 50 case interviews to other people, because it’s a reciprocal thing. Second-years are a huge part of that. I was talking to a second-year last week and saw his calendar: from midday to eight in the evening, for seven days, it was full with helping first-years and he was happy to do that. Then, on a day like today, students will have two interviews. They’ll do a case and maybe some fit questions with one consultant, then move into the next room and do the same again. Hopefully, that evening or the next day, they’ll get the good news that they’ve progressed to the second round. That usually means being invited to the actual office that might be hiring them, where they’ll meet more people and do more interviews. So by the time someone has succeeded and gotten a job, they’ve probably interviewed with five to seven increasingly senior people in the organization. For the consulting industry, how important is prior experience vs. performance in interview vs. networking? What I like about consulting recruiting is that it’s very meritocratic and it’s very much about your performance in the interview. It’s not really about your prior experience, per se. They are not hiring you because you were a writer or a doctor or an Army engineer or a banker. They’re hiring you because of the type of person that you are and the skills you demonstrate in the interview. Equally, networking is useful for you to get to know the company and for them to get to know you, but it isn’t going to get you the job. You get the job in the interview, which is a nice thing to know, because when you walk in there, it’s all on you. If you’ve planned and prepared well, give it your best shot, and you’re the person they’re looking for, then you’ll get it. If it turns out that you’re not the person they’re looking for, you don’t want that particular job. Any other advice on how best to prepare for interviews in the consulting industry? Again: know the job and know the kind of person they’re looking for. A lot of people come to business school already having decided their goal is to work for McKinsey, Bain, BCG, or Deloitte. That’s fine, but you need to do more of your homework as to exactly why you want to do that, what they’re looking for and if you’re that person. Put in the time. Case interview prep is like learning to fly a plane: you just need to log the hours. You might have a technical understanding of it early on, but the more you practice, the better you’ll get. Nobody was born good at case interviews, just as nobody was born knowing how to fly a plane. Remember that the type of person they’re trying to hire isn’t measured only in the competencies, but also in terms of the way you portray yourself. From the second you walk into the interview room or even their building and say hi to the receptionist, you’ve got to be the person they want to hire, the person they want on their team, and the person they want to put in front of their clients. If you maintain that all the way through and you’re being true to yourself, hopefully you’ll end up with a job that’s a good fit for you and wasn’t based on you stretching the truth, lying your way in, or just managing to scrape through. Because who would want a job where you have to lie or turn up not being yourself every day? Other advice on how to prepare for the consulting interview: come to Tuck. [Laughs] It’s a good place to learn about this, where you get lots of support. |
24 Feb 2015, 13:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Ask Dawna: Apply in April or shoot for Early Action? |
 We're often asked which application round will maximize a candidate’s chance at admission. Tuck doesn’t designate a specific number of offers to each round, but rather bases offers on the quality and quantity of the applicant pool during that particular round. Though April is a bit more competitive since many spots in the class are full, we try to be equitable throughout. On that note, it’s best to apply with the strongest application possible, whether that means shooting for Early Action or April. Bottom line, a strong application will stand out regardless of the round you apply in. Good luck as your prepare your applications – we look forward to reading them! Our next application deadline is April 1, 2015. Start your Tuck application here. |
24 Feb 2015, 14:29
24 Feb 2015, 14:59
24 Feb 2015, 17:47
25 Feb 2015, 00:40
25 Feb 2015, 10:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Team-Building, Networking, & Strategy: IPADE Case Competition |
  By Edward Harding T'16 Ed Harding is a first-year student at Tuck. He graduated with first class honours from Oxford University, and has spent the last three years working in strategy consulting, advising financial services clients in Europe, South America, and the US. He enjoys playing rugby, rock climbing and hiking, and recently became the co-chair of the Tuck Rowing Club. As an Englishman, studying at Tuck has been an adventure: I left my home to immerse myself in small town college life in America, and have enjoyed hiking in the mountains and enjoying the peaceful woodlands—even as the temperatures dropped below zero. Last week, however, I left behind the snows of New England and headed down to Mexico City—where it was 40 degrees warmer, and with a lot more traffic on the roads—to take part in the annual IPADE business school case competition. The journey down may have taken more than 12 hours, but the four days we spent in Mexico were worth the effort. Tuck is one of seven top business schools that is invited to this competition (three from the USA, one from Argentina, one from Canada, one from China, and IPADE itself). The competition takes place at one of the most prestigious business school’s in Latin America, IPADE, which is truly a beautiful school, located in a converted 17th century hacienda. It is comprised of several buildings built around cobbled courtyards, interspersed with lush green manicured gardens. The competition itself is a little bit unusual. Rather than sending a full team to compete, each school sends two students (Erin Wall T'15 and I represented Tuck). The teams are then randomly selected on the day of the competition: this means that you end up working with a group of strangers, from different cultural backgrounds, and need to work together to crack the case. The school held an official opening ceremony on Thursday evening, followed by a cocktail party held on a large balcony overlooking the gardens. The school’s president, and the two sponsors of the competition, pharmaceutical firm Novatis and professional services firm Deloitte, addressed the audience and announced the teams. We then retired to the hotel to rest up before the big day. The details of the case were announced at 9:00 a.m. on Friday. We had until 9:00 a.m. the next day to digest the information we’d been given and present our proposals. The case this year was about the bourbon company Maker’s Mark. We had to determine a strategy and production schedule for the company, given several competitive pressures, such as the rise of craft distilleries and younger demographics becoming interested in whiskey via ‘flavored’ brands. My team was comprised of myself, and four Mexican students. We worked hard through the day to build out a clear strategic vision, a financial model on which to base our recommendations, and a slide deck to present the next day. We went to bed just after midnight. The next day, each team presented their recommendations to the panel of judges. While my team didn’t win, it was a great experience to be able to present to senior management from the two sponsor companies. That evening, our hosts showed us some true Mexican hospitality, as they invited us to an all-school party in the high-end Polanco district, where we unwound after the previous day’s hard work. The next morning, we had a delicious traditional Mexican buffet breakfast before heading to the airport. It was a whirlwind experience but one I will remember for a long time. It was my first time in Mexico, and a chance to really test my team-building skills. It was also a great networking opportunity—I will be keeping in touch with many of the people I met over the course of the competition, and I’m looking forward to April, when the IPADE soccer team (including many of the competition’s participants) will be venturing up to New Hampshire for Tuck’s annual World Cup competition. |
26 Feb 2015, 12:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: The Stories We May Have Missed |
  By Remi Evans T’16 Remi Evans T’16 grew up in Colorado, loves endurance sports, and can often be found exploring the outdoors. She graduated from Trinity College in 2011 as a neuroscience major, spent the past few years as an investment banker in NYC with Citigroup, Inc., and is now immensely happy to be a member of the Tuck community. During my Tuck orientation, I found myself sitting outside in the midst of a group dinner composed of fellow new students. This was my first interaction with the majority of my group, so I was curious what would be discussed. As time passed, the conversation grew comfortable, and suddenly, I found myself listening to a classmate speak of his struggles in coming from South America to Tuck. It was a very personal, deep, and heart wrenching story, and I was both incredibly happy that he had shared it with me, and sad that others would likely never hear his unique story. As a global community, we have a diversity of stories and perspectives, and yet somehow we have all arrived at the same place: Tuck. Unfortunately, in an environment where everyone is incredibly busy, the depth to which we know the people around us can vary drastically. Yet, so much of what is important to our two years at Tuck, and those that follow, are the individuals around us and the depth of experiences and knowledge they possess. Luckily, two incredible classmates in the class above me, John Wheelock T’15 and Pasy Govindarajan T’15, had spent their first year at Tuck also thinking about the value of shared experiences and ways in which these stories could be heard. Together, we created Tuck Talks, an evening for sharing stories and a powerful opportunity for the Tuck community to meet and take the time to learn about each other. Each session of Tuck Talks features a small group of students and professors who each speak for ten minutes about something they are passionate about, thereby sharing to a greater degree who they are. By providing “Talkers” with the freedom to speak about their passions, but asking that their stories ultimately have a “take away,” audience members are able to learn from the Talkers’ genuine, honest stories and walk away from the evening with lifelong lessons and new perspectives. In one evening, audience members may hear about the lessons learned from sitting down for a meal together at the kitchen table, or the power of living fully in the moment as taught through the lens of fatherhood, or how taking the time to tell others that they are doing a great job can transform a rock band from playing to an empty bar room to playing for the masses. When the night ends, we hope to have generated new connections, sparked conversation, and fostered a stronger sense of community. Talkers in the winter term included Charles Christianson T’15, Professor Vijay Govindarajan, Jacob Johnson T’15, Michael Mirandi T’15, Lyusha Goldberger T’15, Ian Bomberg T’15, and myself. Tuck Talks … what stories will you hear and share? (Photo above, from left: Professor Vijay Govindarajan, Dean Stocken, Michael Mirandi T’15, Charles Christianson T’15, Lyusha Goldberger T’15, Jacob Johnson T’15, Remi Evans T’16, Ian Bomberg T’15, Pasy Govindarajan T’15, John Wheelock T’15, Jay Boren T’16) |
27 Feb 2015, 10:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Leadership, Love, Camaraderie: The Tuck Band |
  By Lindsey Windham T'15 Lindsey came to Tuck after spending five years as a teacher and director at a Texas-based charter school system. She has used her time at Tuck to transition into retail and technology, and will be working and playing in Seattle after graduation—at Amazon.com. Lindsey has a BA in public policy from Vanderbilt University. The lights are bright, the pressure is building, and the excitement is palpable. A nervousness about saying the wrong thing flutters up into my throat, but I know we have prepared ad nauseam and are ready for this moment. Hundreds of other MBAs have descended upon Hanover for this event, and they’re all expecting something great from us. I look out into the crowd and all I can see is … NEON. No, we don’t require neon at the Dartmouth Ventures or Women in Business Conference. But we DO ask people to don the hottest pink, yellow, green, and orange they have for Tuck Winter Carnival, a historic and epic ski-themed weekend! The Tuck Band was about to perform live—for 700 screaming people. The Tuck Band. Or, the T’15 Band. Or, “That Tuck Band” as some venues have referred to us … is a group of musicians and singers—all T’15s—who are passionate about music and performing, especially for audiences chock full of our best friends at Tuck! So, now that you’re dying to be in a band of your own, (or dying to be in the next Tuck band), we should talk about how to get there. What does it take to be in a cover band as successful and outrageously fun as ours? A little bit of the following:
Tuck has created a space for me to be my most authentic self—at work and at play—and being in the Tuck band is just one part of that. The joy, release, and excitement of music, of sharing it with people I love, of pushing myself to be a better performer and singer has been a huge and amazing part of my student experience here. And, based on the list above, I would suggest there is also something to learn about strong, healthy teams—professional or otherwise—from the way our band operates. Be open minded. Receive feedback gracefully. Keep commitments. Communicate honestly. Be the leader when a leader is needed. Support your team. And, for the love, when the situation calls for it, wear a full-body white tiger suit. I have learned more about business, music, and life from this group than I ever thought possible, and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to make music with them. ... BAND! |
02 Mar 2015, 10:45
02 Mar 2015, 14:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: Tips for Consulting Recruiting from a First-Year Tuckie |
  By Zhe (Hardy) Huang T'16 Hardy was born, raised and educated in China. Prior to Tuck, he worked with the management consulting arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, based out of Shanghai. Since coming to Tuck, he has fallen in love with skiing and thinks Tuck is a great place to be. *Note: Tuck will be hosting a live "Ask Me Anything" chat with Tuck Career Development Office Director Jonathan Masland on Wednesday, March 4, from 12-1 p.m. EST on Facebook. Bring your jobs-related questions! During the past recruiting season, I was humbled to receive offers from both McKinsey and BCG Shanghai, and decided to accept McKinsey’s offer for my summer internship. I know this wouldn’t have been possible without Tuck. You can prepare for your consulting interviews anytime. I received this great advice from a second-year student. Consulting interviews, to a large extent, are a chance to demonstrate how you think about business problems. You can practice your technical skills through lots of casing, but you should leverage opportunities in class and in real life. Take the AGM (Analysis for General Managers, our Fall core class) for example. Every time I analyze a case, I try to put myself in the shoes of a general manager, pushing for more possibilities, and testing my thoughts with my study group members. I found the training from our AGM class extremely helpful during the interview process. In almost every class at Tuck, you can always ask yourself “what else?” when the professor raises a question. You practice to speak concisely and logically, and learn different perspectives from your classmates. This may sound nerdy but you can also practice while you are travelling. I visited Cuba during the winter break and had an amazing time there. Cuba has two different currencies. I found that interesting and learned more about its monetary system while talking with taxi drivers. I came to understand that it’s very similar to China when it was still in the planned economy stage despite that “coupons” are used to purchase everyday goods. You always get a chance to ask “why?” when you are in a different country or experiencing something new. Follow your curiosity and you will find it extremely rewarding! The CDO is a great resource to turn to for a consulting interview. Tuck’s Career Development Office (CDO) was a huge help throughout the process. I turned to Stephen Pidgeon—associate director of the CDO and a former McKinsey consultant—for resume and cover letter advice, office selection strategy, interview preparation tips, alumni who I could reach out to, and of course, lots of casing! Arrange your appointments early and try to make your mistakes before the real interviews. I once wrote 1,100 as 1,000,100 during a mock case with Stephen because I pushed myself too hard to do well in mock interviews. Relax and enjoy the process of casing. Make it conversational. Ask for advice. Mark your improvements. You may be surprised to see how you progress. Never panic during the interview and always ask for help. During my interview with BCG, I had a graph with two hand drawn lines in front of me: an upward investment curve, and a downward ROI curve. This was what happened to the petrochemical industry in China in the past five years. My case prompt was to analyze why this happened and predict what the trend of these curves would look like in the future. This is the most ambiguous case I have ever encountered! I tried to do some “standard stuff” at first, but was cut off by the interviewer. I knew frameworks and calculations wouldn’t help me this time. I listed out my hypotheses and tested my thoughts with him. We were literally discussing the case. When I finished the case, he told me that I did a pretty good job. That was NOT AT ALL how I felt during the process.
Getting a job in consulting isn’t easy, but it is also not really hard. Practice whenever you can, leverage resources such as the CDO, and be confident in the interviews. You will get what you want! Photo above by Laura DeCapua. |
03 Mar 2015, 07:00
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: A Diverse Student Body |
  Tuck draws students from all walks of life. Our goal is to create a community in which diversity is accepted and celebrated. At Tuck, diversity means encouraging and including each person's ideas, perspectives, and life experiences. There are a number of organizations at Tuck specifically designed to celebrate this diversity as well as two student-run conferences. We also offer several resources for women and underrepresented applicants. The following post was originally published by Dia Draper, former Associate Director of Admissions and current Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives for the MBA Program. One of my favorite things about working at Tuck is how diverse our student body is. For all the things that Tuck may not be (urban, large, surrounded by corporations), one thing we definitely do well is create and nurture a wide range of people with a wide range of backgrounds, contributions and interests. I am particularly fond of the fact that some people who thought they were "too old" for a full-time MBA are now alum, or current students. Some of my closest friendships have been with these folks (some of whom call themselves the "silverbacks") and it is gratifying to see them not only survive at Tuck, but to see how they thrive here. The contributions these women and men can make due to their maturity, life experience, genial natures and desire to mentor and guide their peers is inarticulable. It is one of the components of Tuck that you can't really describe, but you can certainly feel about the place. One of our recent students entered in his 40's and has had (his words, not mine) "the time of my life", he said to me yesterday "Tuck does an even better job preparing us for the next level than they even think they're doing. My worst option was to return to my old [fortune 500] employer, even better armed than before I left. Now, I'm headed to a great investment management firm which was all I wanted." And he has had more of an impact on his class and the two classes below him than any other young alum I've seen (my words, not his). We have students in their mid to late 30's, and students as young as 25 who will benefit from their wisdom, and hopefully value the opportunity to learn from their successes and challenges. As an MBA program we are committed to supporting the whole person, we are committed to enhancing the entire experience, we are committed to maximizing our students strengths while helping them address their areas for improvement. And that type of support doesn't get old no matter how many years you've rotated around the sun. ADMISSIONS TIP: Age is not a factor we consider during the admissions process. However, if you feel like you're either quite a bit above or quite a bit below the average years of work experience, make sure you clearly articulate the quality of your experience, why an MBA is needed at this point in your career, and how you will contribute. |
03 Mar 2015, 07:07
| FROM Tuck Admissions Blog: A Diverse Student Body |
|
Tuck draws students from all walks of life. Our goal is to create a community in which diversity is accepted and celebrated. At Tuck, diversity means encouraging and including each person's ideas, perspectives, and life experiences. There are a number of organizations at Tuck specifically designed to celebrate this diversity as well as two student-run conferences. We also offer several resources for women and underrepresented applicants. The following post was originally published by Dia Draper, former Associate Director of Admissions and current Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives for the MBA Program. One of my favorite things about working at Tuck is how diverse our student body is. For all the things that Tuck may not be (urban, large, surrounded by corporations), one thing we definitely do well is create and nurture a wide range of people with a wide range of backgrounds, contributions and interests. I am particularly fond of the fact that some people who thought they were "too old" for a full-time MBA are now alum, or current students. Some of my closest friendships have been with these folks (some of whom call themselves the "silverbacks") and it is gratifying to see them not only survive at Tuck, but to see how they thrive here. The contributions these women and men can make due to their maturity, life experience, genial natures and desire to mentor and guide their peers is inarticulable. It is one of the components of Tuck that you can't really describe, but you can certainly feel about the place. One of our recent students entered in his 40's and has had (his words, not mine) "the time of my life", he said to me yesterday "Tuck does an even better job preparing us for the next level than they even think they're doing. My worst option was to return to my old [fortune 500] employer, even better armed than before I left. Now, I'm headed to a great investment management firm which was all I wanted." And he has had more of an impact on his class and the two classes below him than any other young alum I've seen (my words, not his). We have students in their mid to late 30's, and students as young as 25 who will benefit from their wisdom, and hopefully value the opportunity to learn from their successes and challenges. As an MBA program we are committed to supporting the whole person, we are committed to enhancing the entire experience, we are committed to maximizing our students strengths while helping them address their areas for improvement. And that type of support doesn't get old no matter how many years you've rotated around the sun. ADMISSIONS TIP: Age is not a factor we consider during the admissions process. However, if you feel like you're either quite a bit above or quite a bit below the average years of work experience, make sure you clearly articulate the quality of your experience, why an MBA is needed at this point in your career, and how you will contribute. |
03 Mar 2015, 07:24
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