IIM- Ahmedabad
The Consult Club
Oct. 2019
THE CONSULT
COOKBOOK
2nd Edition
PGP2 PLACEMENT PREP GUIDE
FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH
EMERGING TRENDS
UNCONVENTIONAL CAREERS
ACROSS HIERARCHIES
WINNING STRATEGIES
1 | Consult Cookbook
Editor’s Note
Hey everyone!
We are back and with a bang. The second edition of the Consult Cookbook involved considerable effort both
in terms of selection of topics, which were to be as tailormade as possible for the community at large and to
all the sub-classes that one may encounter on this path to consulting glory. This issue has involved extensive
research, both on a primary and a secondary level, with an aim to deliver content in the most precise,
readable, attractive format possible.
In the present newsletter, we have covered topics which we felt were being asked about the most by both
the PGP1s and PGP2s. Combined with the first edition of the cookbook, this should serve as a guide to all
the students interested in consulting as a career. We have talked to various seniors who sat for consulting
placements in their finals and have tried to capture the reasons for their success. Another topic that we
have covered is the talk by Mr Satish Shankar, who leads Bain’s APAC Agri business practice, which we hope
gives readers an idea about what consulting projects aim to deliver as an outcome. We have also uncovered
some light on emerging trends around the field of green consulting. We also had the fortune of talking to
PGP1s who chose to go against the trend, by opting for unconventional careers, and figure out reasons for
their choices. Continued from last edition, we have again continued in our endeavor to talk to members in
consulting firms, and capture what consulting looks like from the inside, by talking to various members of
consulting firms across hierarchies. Lastly, we have also continued with an article from the previous
newsletter, where we tried to capture strategies of winners of various case competitions.
Given these topics, we hope to be a bridge between the campus and the industry, and enable interaction,
albeit through well-researched articles between the both. This, we hope, shall be the beginning of a longstanding tradition, a mere spark in the eventual course of things.
The efforts that each of us have gone into, to put this together have been considerable, to say the least. The
feedback that we have received has been enlivening and invigorating, and we hope that such continual
feedback helps us make systems, processes, and mechanisms that could make the newsletter last for a long
time even after we are gone. A big shout-out to the entire Consult Club newsletter team, and especially
Matteo, for the design, and to all of you, to keep us working.
The names of the team members are
Club Coordinator
Editorial Team
Aaditya Agarwal
Amritha Menon
Anik Ganguly
Cell Managers
Anika Bhasker
Ganesh Mahidhar
Anirudh Swaminathan
Gunish Handa
Krati Agarwal
Matteo Stelluti
Niraj Pande
Purav Shah
Rahul Gupta
For
regular
updates,
do
follow us on our
LinkedIn page.
3 | Consult Cookbook
PGP2 Prep Guide
The article is aimed to give a PGP2’s a sense of what to expect from the final placement process
and how to go about their preparation from the same. To do this we reached out to a few of our
Tucchas who had gone through the final placement process, each of them having different
profiles.
Name: Chiranshu Agarwal
Background: IIT Bombay (Dual degree
Mechanical Engineering)
Internship: JP Morgan (PPO)
Current firm: BCG
Name: Ayush Garg
Background: IIT Delhi (Chemical
Engineering)
Internship: McKinsey
Current firm: Monitor Deloitte
Name: Ashish Amitabh Bharatwal
Background: B. Tech. (Electrical Engineering),
IIT Indore; Fresher
Internship firm: Avendus Capital (Received
PPO)
Current firm: BCG
Name: Yash Agrawal
Background: B. Tech. (Mechanical
Engineering), IIT Hyderabad; Flipkart
Internship firm: Accenture Strategy
Current firm: Monitor Deloitte
Name: Gyayak Jain
Background: IIT Delhi (Mechanical Engineering)
Internship: Synergy Consulting
Current firm: KPMG
Name: Naitik Jain
Background: B. Tech. IIT Kharagpur
Internship firm: Bain & Company
Current firm: McKinsey & Company
We asked them their views about the placement process and tips on how to increase the
chances of shortlists and ace the interviews. We have used their initials to refer to them
throughout the article.
1
What was your aim going into the interviews?
CA: Although I really enjoyed studying finance on campus, the work hours were not
sustainable. No time at home or with peers and friends, even on weekends. Not a life that I
wanted for myself. But I held on to the PPO for security and was not completely averse to it. Till
the end I was making the decision. Although consulting is equally hectic, there are times when
it is good. Consulting was the aim as it would allow me to build strong networks.
AG, YA & GJ: Consulting was the primary aim because of the type of projects it offers and the
networking opportunities.
AB: I aspired to be a consultant and BCG, one of the best consulting firms in the world, seemed
to be a right fit for me culturally
NJ: I really enjoy consulting as a profession. Hence, the aim was to get into one of the top
consulting firms.
2
What do you think are the important shortlisting criteria for consulting firms?
AG, GJ & CA: Well, CGPA, a balance between academics and other things, work experience, and
internship firm matters a lot. Having a PPO also helps.
YA: In ascending order, Consult PPO, CGPA, Non-consult PPO, Internship firm, PoRs,
Extracurriculars(competitions, paper presentation, case competitions, sports, etc.)
NJ: It helps to have some very unique positive points in your CV.
CA: Coming to specific firms,
•
McKinsey: They were very selective shortlisting 12-13 people only.
4 | Consult Cookbook
Only top 10-15 rankers, or people with PPOs in Bulge Bracket Investment
Banking/HUL/P&G PPO or Tier 1 consulting.
5 | Consult Cookbook
-
Rankers were also shortlisted selectively. I don't think competitions was a factor.
I am also not sure about PORs, since the POR holders I know applied to only BCG,
since they could apply to only one firm since they held consulting PPOs.
• BCG: Similar criteria, but more broad ~ 25-30 shortlists.
Top 20-30 rankholders were considered
PPO holders of tier 2 consulting firms
PORs also mattered quite a bit like a Gen Sec and a Rec Sec.
Only case competitions may not make a good candidate for consulting in top tier
firms. CGPA and PPO are also required.
• Bain - Bain was also a bit selective shortlisting 25-30 people.
PPO and CGPA were given primary importance. Bain saw a lot of people with not so
good CGPA and PPO. People with good ranks and good PPO’s generally make it to
the Bain and BCG shortlist.
AB: Strong presence in at least one of the following (decreasing order of importance):
• Academics (especially PGP)
• Summer internship (from a consulting firm, bank, or a reputed marketing/general
management role, preferably with a PPO)
• PoR (during MBA - SAC, PlaceCom, career clubs)
• Competitions
3
What shortlists did you have?
CA: McKinsey, Bain, BCG, a few other general management firms.
AG: Monitor Deloitte, Bain, AT Kearney, Accenture Strategy
GJ: KPMG, Accenture, Deloitte USI, Gartner, Arete Advisors, Feedback Infra.
AB: BCG, AT Kearney, Oliver Wyman ( I had only dreamed for these 3)
YA: Analysis Mason, GS GSAM, Monitor, Arete, Accenture, JP Morgan (Quants)
NJ: McKinsey, BCG, AT Kearney
4
What do you think were the components of your cv/profile which led to you getting final
shortlists?
CA: Good academics and PPO helped
AG: Academic performance (scholarships, CGPA), Extracurricular, Diverse internship experience
GJ: Previous scholarships, Work experience, decent CGPA
AB: PGP2 institute rank 16, PPO from Avendus, and SAC position, apart from pre-IIM PORs
6 | Consult Cookbook
YA: My summer internship experience and work ex were the highlight of my CV. All my
interviews and buddy calls revolved around these things. In my opinion, grades and internship
work play a major role in finals. Recruiters look for a quality intern. However, regarding a
second internship, I have been there and done that. But, I didn’t see it adding great value to my
CV. Though aesthetically, it looks good to have a bulky internship section, recruiters are not
aware of many of the firms in which students opt for a second intern (mostly because it is
through family and friends). So unless it is a known firm, I would recommend looking for other
ways to build CV.
NJ: CGPA and past internships
5
What was your preparation strategy when you started
consulting preparation? What resources did you use? What were the
timelines which you followed?
CA: Finals are very similar to internship preparation. The only difference is
that the buddies tell you that the conversion rate is lower. The bar is also
higher and business insights are expected. I prepared from Case Interviews
cracked, buddy cases and internship buddy cases of people who had
interned at consulting firms. I started around the beginning of Jan. It exact
timeline varies from person to person. In my case, I had prepared during
under graduation as well, hence I had my basics in place.
AG: Having already done it for the summers, I just focused on case preparation and HR
questions. I used the IIMA casebooks and ensured that I practiced with multiple people
GJ: I believe preparing cases with a dedicated case partner (group) helps. Also, allotting a
specific time every day doing cases has proven beneficial for me. Reading case studies from old
casebooks to get understanding of the case types also helped. I used resources like the IIMA
Casebook, Case in Point, Case Interviews Cracked and ISB casebook. I was pretty late in starting
preparation as I started in late December. So I had to put in more effort later.
AB: IIMA, IIMB casebooks and cases solved by peers (with buddies, etc.) during summer
internship were my go-to resources. I started reading up on cases by mid-December and went
full throttle (2-4 cases per day) by first week of January
NJ: I followed a standard case preparation strategy which was similar to summer internship
preparation. I used CIC and the IIM A casebook. I started case preparation in December/
January and concluded a week before placements.
7 | Consult Cookbook
YA: Post my PPO rejection, I started building my CV. My goal was to maintain a decent CGPA
with other significantly stronger sections. Key things that I relied on were case competitions
and my winter internship. However, I didn’t think any of those added much value to my CV. My
interviews and buddy calls were focused mainly on my internship work. That was always the
primary conversation topic in all my interviews/interactions. I will suggest rehearsing internship
work very well. While preparing for finals, I focused on case preparation for which I used IIMA
and IIMB casebooks. Apart from that I went through current affairs, especially related to my
work ex and intern. In addition, I revised basic finance courses like FRA and FM.
6
Could you share the kind of cases that you were asked in your interviews? Also, where
they related to your previous experience/internship domain?
CA: The kind of cases are generally related to the partner.
• McKinsey: both cases asked were unconventional cases : IB wanting to enter a market, and
a random case on director wanting to cast an actor in a movie.
• BCG: (growth and profitability) : quick service restaurant growth, another case on cement
manufacturing
GJ:
•
•
•
Guesstimate on the number of seats which can be won by CongressPayPal entry strategy
(criteria) in India,
Evaluation by govt between 2 locations for an airport
Cost reduction strategy (logistics cost).
AB: I was asked cases which were not at all related to my previous experiences:
•
•
•
RBI is considering banning the 5-rupee coin. Discuss the costs and benefits of this initiative.
Discuss the veracity of Uber's claim that it reduces traffic jams in SE Asia
Drug pricing (based on scenarios)
YA: For Monitor, it was a quant-based case, likes of which can be found online easily. For
Analysis Mason, they gave a market entry case for a telecom company.
NJ: I was asked cases on banking and pharmaceuticals. These were related to past internship
experiences.
8 | Consult Cookbook
7
Do you have any other inputs for the PGP2s which you might want to add?
CA: Work on mending CGPA in the second year, although your first year might not have been
great. Courses might matter, but getting a good CG in even random courses requires effort, and
the firms know it. The only way to judge between two people is that for the same CG, if one
person took random courses, while the other took really difficult courses.
GJ: Knowledge about current happenings and logic behind them helps. (I explained the working
of defense manufacturing sector of the country and policy logic of ADAG collaboration for
Rafale in my interview). Also, sector knowledge about any sector is a plus as you can give
examples from that sector in the discussion if you're stuck.
AB:
• Have an idea of where you stand in the batch in terms of your profile by November-end
and start discussing with seniors
• Focus on getting CV proofs in the first two weeks of December; academics can be put on
the backburner in that period
• Work on what content you would use to make a strong presence in post-shortlist dinners
• Be mindful of your firm preference on C1; discuss your dilemmas with trusted and
experienced peers/senior
YA: I just want to say that finals interviews are way more stressful than those of summers. My
Monitor interview was of ~2.5 hours, split in two sessions and 5 interactions with 2 partners
and a Director. So just keep your cool and be thorough with your work ex and intern work.
NJ: Practice HR questions as well. They come really handy in creating a point of difference.
«Final interviews are way
more stressful than those of
summers… just keep your
cool»
Written By:
Anik Ganguly, Ganesh Mahidhar, Niraj Pande, Anirudh
Swaminathan, Matteo Stelluti
From The
Horse’s
Mouth
Mr. Satish Shankar, an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, is currently leading Bain APAC's agribusiness practice. His experience spans a variety of sectors, such as airlines, consumer
products, and digital transformation. He has previously served as Bain's head of the
mergers & acquisitions practice in the Asia Pacific region, doubling the firm's business in
just four years. In an interactive session with the students, he discussed The Firm of the
Future, a study by Bain of the fundamental shift in the way firms are organized, and its
implications for business and managers.
Excerpts from the talk
When Bain traced the evolution of business, they observed five distinct eras since the advent
of the industrial revolution, each representing a paradigm shift in the way in which firms
operate.
The era of trading empires was dominated by companies like the Dutch and British East India
Companies which had government-financed business models, explored new markets, built
trading links in these markets and colonised them In the 1790s, trading empires made way for
the era of scale apprenticeships. The founding idea was to enable people to work individually
as tradesmen. Firms were owned by individuals, families, and partnerships. They created high
specialisation of labour and economies of scale, resulting in a drastic reduction in costs and
created a mass market. Companies like Wedgwood which are still in existence were formed
during this period.
9 | Consult Cookbook
10 | Consult Cookbook
As costs continued to reduce and consumerism began to take off, a new era emerged in the
1870s known as the trust era. This era heralded the entry of innovative companies like Ford
onto the corporate stage. Henry Ford, in his endeavour to make automobiles a mass-market
product, introduced several innovations. Firstly, he created assembly lines and standardisation,
which brought down costs, improved quality, and enabled payment of high wages to
employees. Secondly, he realised the importance of horizontal and vertical integration of firms.
Such integration meant that the production of many commodities and services was
monopolised by large companies, leading to trusts being outlawed.
Consequently, the era of professional management began in the 1920s. As people became
more affluent, the needs of different segments of the market diverged. Realising this, Alfred
Sloan (founder of General Motors) created divisional structures to cater to these segments.
GM created vehicles like Buick and Cadillac for high-end and Chevy for low-end customers.
Sloan was among the first to realise that data could be used to improve quality, monitor
performance, and run businesses effectively. This era resulted in the growth of management as
distinct from ownership. This era came to an end in the 1970s when a set of professionally run
companies went public to access capital and became irresponsible.
The 1980s brought in the era of shareholder primacy. It retained the professional management
aspect of the previous era, but with some changes. It stemmed from the realisation that there
was an agency problem, where managers were more focused on growing the company than
creating shareholder value. The idea was to incentivise top managers to align with shareholder
value. Companies also identified that it was difficult to run a series of disparate businesses,
and that focus should be on creating value in core competencies. The idea gained traction
among investors, resulting in the exponential growth of PE firms (2 trillion $ in 40-50 years).
There are indications today that the shareholder primacy model is no longer working. In
addition to technological factors, there are several reasons attributable to this trend.
«The 1980s brought in the
era of shareholder
primacy. . But there are
indications today that the
shareholder primacy
model is no longer
working»
Short-termism and narrow focus
There are problems in the way firms measure value, and
pursuit of shareholder value is becoming increasingly
short-term in its outlook. This is evidenced by the
reduction in R&D spends from 65% to 40% of the profits
of companies, as well as an increase in share buybacks to
increase share prices.
HALF-LIFE OF FORTUNE 500
COMPANIES (IN YEARS)
30
26
25
20
15
12
10
5
The very tenet of value creation focused on shareholders
is being questioned. This is because companies are
obliged to several other stakeholders, such as their
customers, the environment, and society. To illustrate, a
few years ago, Singapore was experiencing severe haze
due to forest fires in Indonesia. Listed palm oil
companies in the country reported 12 billion dollars of
profits on production. However, consequential damage
to the environment and society in terms of healthcare,
disruptions in flights, and damages to natural resources
was estimated at 51 billion dollars.
0
1955-81
2005-17
Increasing complexity
Traditional command-and-control structures are finding
it difficult to cope with the pace of innovation and are
breaking down.
Changing expectations of the
workforce
In the last 20 years, baby boomers were dominating the
workforce. They were focused on financial security and
stability. Today, millennials form the largest portion of
the labour force. They value learning experiences as
much as financial prospects, are big believers in worklife balance, and are keen on exploring alternative
working
arrangements.
Companies
need
to
accommodate the changing priorities of the workforce.
NO. OF COMMUNICATIONS/
EXECUTIVE/ YEAR
35000
30000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
4000
0
1980
11 | Consult Cookbook
2010
SCALE INSURGENCY
Bain postulates that we are transitioning to the era of scale insurgency, where companies will
need to continue to extract the benefits of scale, but at the same time act as insurgents
(ensure speed, agility and nimbleness). This has several implications for business and business
leaders.
Trade-offs
It was earlier believed that a company could be low-cost or differentiated, but not both. The
success of companies like Amazon today proves that this is no longer the case, and the
winner-takes-all model is gaining ground. What started out as a humble bookstore has 700
million SKUs today. Based on a study of 11,000 SKUs, Bain found that 70% of the SKUs were
either the lowest priced or one of the lowest priced. Speed and scale, similarly, is no longer a
trade-off. WeChat (China) conceptualised and launched its product 70 days after sensing a
market opportunity and grew from its launch in 2011 to 1 billion + monthly active users in
2018.
Firms tomorrow will no longer have to choose between…..
Amazon
WeChat
Low cost
Scale
Speed
Differentiation
Evolving business models
The business landscape in the future will be characterised by three business model
archetypes: 1. Product and service providers 2. Outsourcers 3. Platforms. While product and
service providers have traditionally dominated the landscape, a lot of value creation has
recently been witnessed in types 2 and 3 as well. This is evidenced by the success of IT
companies in India since 1991 as well as contract manufacturers like Foxconn. Platforms such
as Amazon and Google have the highest market cap per employee. Oyo, formed in 2013, is
slated to overtake Marriott in 3 years. The shareholder primacy era was all about picking a
core business and focusing on it. Today, firms need to sustain a main business (referred to as
Engine 1) as well as develop other businesses by means of innovation (referred to as Engine
2). In other words, be a corporation and a VC at the same time.
12 | Consult Cookbook
Excerpts of the Q&A session that followed:
Advice to my younger self
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Nurture a learning posture (for life)
Take risks: be willing to get out of your comfort zone (but stop
short of your terror zone). Try new things that intrigue youdon’t die wondering!
Once you have decided to do something, commit. Don’t let a
few challenges blow you off course. It takes time to get really
good at something.
Pace your career like it is a marathon, make space for your
family, friends, and yourself; take sabbaticals every decade or
so to look after your health.
Focus on the big picture and don’t sweat the small stuff.
Pick a social/ community cause that you are passionate about
and make it a lifelong venture.
Cultivate mentors and build lifelong relationships. Keeping in
touch with people who know you well and care for you can
help during times of difficulty or major decisions.
Pay it forward. Try to be the best coach and mentor you can be.
This might be your biggest legacy.
What it takes to be a successful consultant
•
•
•
Problem-solving skills (analytical skills and expertise)
Client and communication skills (presentation skills, and ability to focus on outcomes
rather than processes)
Team skills (ability to lead teams and work effectively in groups)
Why I stayed in consulting
•
No industry offers you the intellectual richness that consulting does- in terms of the
unique problems you encounter, the opportunity of working with cutting-edge industries.
Challenges of consulting
•
•
You have to keep reinventing yourself because industries are evolving rapidly. You have to
keep up by talking to people around you and keep learning. You can’t afford to sit back
and relax.
There is a great amount of travel involved, which can be exhausting.
Written By:
Amritha Menon
13 | Consult Cookbook
14 | Consult Cookbook
SUSTAINABILITY
CONSULTING
Emerging Trends
The Case for Sustainability
Conventionally, companies have viewed maximizing shareholder return as their main
objective and investors used returns generated as the main criteria for investing. However,
recent findings by BCG (Total Societal Impact: A New Lens for Strategy, 2017) indicate that
companies focusing on ESG (environmental, social and governance factors) were adequately
rewarded in two ways:
a)
In each industry, investors rewarded the top performers in specific ESG topics with
valuation multiples that were 3% to 19% higher, all else being equal, than those of the
median performers in those topics
b)
Top performers in certain ESG topics had margins that were up to 12.4% higher, all else
being equal, than those of the median performers in those topics
In the past, many companies viewed this as stepping up their CSR expenditure or forming
trusts to provide for social needs. But the recent years have witnessed certain companies
using their core business to create both positive societal impact and business benefits. This
has been enabled by innovative ideas to change the business models, which have resulted in
these businesses becoming an integral part of the economic and social fabric. In the next
section, two examples of how businesses came up with innovations to tackle societal
problems are explained.
15 | Consult Cookbook
Glorifying the Inglorious
Food waste is a major problem across the globe. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates
that in the United States, over one-third of all the available food goes uneaten through loss or
waste. One of the major contributors was the disposal of non-calibrated fruits and vegetables,
as they were perceived to be substandard by the consumers.
To tackle the issue, Intermarchè, the 3rd largest supermarkets chain in France came up with an
innovative solution. They branded the non-calibrated and imperfect fruits and vegetables as
“inglorious fruits and vegetables” and sold them at a 30% discount. The chain launched a
massive global campaign to rehabilitate and glorify them in print media, billboards and TV. The
initiative was a great success because it was a win-win proposition – consumers got the
products at a discount and the store was able to increase its turnover by 1.2 tons per day. The
initiative greatly enhanced the image of the brand as a socially responsible citizen and
changed the way businesses look at waste.
Monetizing Pollution
A pressing issue in Indian cities is air pollution and it is estimated that around 6.4 lakh deaths
in India are attributed to high particulate matter levels. One of the major contributors is the
soot released on burning fossil fuels and the governments have typically used emission
standards to tackle the same. Anirudh Sharma, a student of MIT, viewed the same problem in
a different light and thought whether there was a commercial way of exploiting soot. Along
with his team, he figured out that the soot released from the exhaust of vehicles can be used
to make black ink. The idea led to the formation of KaalInk, the world’s first ink from air
pollution. This has ensured that the pollutants which would have been in the lungs of people
are now productively used.
Impact on the consulting world
With more businesses viewing sustainability as a
strategy to survive in the long term, many consulting
firms have started factoring in the societal impact of
every suggestion which they provide to a client. In
addition, many green consulting firms, with exclusive
focus on tackling environmental concerns have
mushroomed in the recent years. This has led to the
evolution of Sustainability Consulting in the recent
years.
The Expert’s Take
To gain deeper insights on Sustainability Consulting, Consult Club interviewed Mr. Pawan
Mehra, an IIM-A alum and the Co-founder of C-Kinetics. He helps architect cKinetics’
programmatic engagements in the fields of clean energy, closed-loop systems and sustainable
production. In addition, he also serves in an advisory capacity and has helped develop newer
tools as well as frameworks that have been adopted by the industry (eg. Registry for carbonenergy benchmarks, Value added water framework).
Q: What made you choose sustainability consulting as a field?
A: It was the realization that environmental issues like climate change and depletion of natural
resources are real. Many businesses and investors are constantly exposed to this reality and
work on reinventing themselves. This transformation is at the heart of addressing how
tomorrow’s organizations will function.
Sustainability consulting is an inter-disciplinary field and helps investors and companies in this
transformation. The promise of this field attracted me to this field. The space where cKinetics
operates is better illustrated in the below diagram:
(Source: CKinetics website)
16 | Consult Cookbook
17 | Consult Cookbook
Q: Do you see businesses adopting sustainability in the future?
A: It is my firm belief that only sustainable businesses will be profitable in the long run. This
leaves businesses with no option but to find ways to become sustainable. In addition, the
present generation is becoming far more conscious about the issues of scarcity of resources,
climate change and need for harmonious existence with our surroundings. Hence, it is
imperative for businesses to make changes to be relevant to this new generation.
Q: What are some of the roadblocks in achieving the goal of a sustainable economy?
A: Some roadblocks in countries like India include:
a)
Low prices of Natural Resources: This can be attributed to legacy issues, due to which we
witness mining rights being given away at low prices. Similarly, the social costs of
pollution are not given importance in decision making.
b)
Inertia in the Economy: The present economy is driven by a linear production and
consumption construct. While Nature by itself doesn’t produce waste, mankind’s
economic system is rapidly consuming Earth’s resources and generating waste at a rate
which Nature can’t cope with. This has been addressed by some initiatives like the Earth
Overshoot Day. These initiatives go a long way in challenging the current construct, but
the present economy is not changing fast enough to achieve the change.
c)
Short Term Outlook: Many businesses, policy makers and investors view decisions in the
short run which ignores the long-term costs of pollution. A change in this attitude is
imperative to achieve the objective of a sustainable economy.
Q: Where does India stand with regard to other countries in sustainable development? What
does this imply for sustainability consulting in India?
A: The case for sustainability is highest in India and other emerging markets. The countries
need to grow and do so with limited resources. India’s GDP per unit of resource extracted and
consumed is among the highest in the world.
India also needs to grow at a rapid pace of 8-10% per annum to eliminate poverty. This
necessitates infrastructure development (energy, transportation etc.) with as little resources
as possible. Given this situation, the opportunity for sustainability consulting is pretty high.
This includes advising policy makers, corporate houses and investors.
Q: What are some of the latest trends in sustainable consulting?
A: In my view, the major three trends in the world of consulting are:
a)
Reducing carbon emissions from operations & supply chain
18 | Consult Cookbook
a)
Eliminating plastics from the value chain
b)
Sustainable & Responsible Investing (SRI). In the last year alone, India has seen 5 SRI
driven funds being set up.
Q: What is the typical growth path for young graduates seeking to join sustainable consulting?
A: The growth path for young graduates are multifold:
a)
either lead a practice in a consulting organization
b)
lead a business function in a corporate house
c)
Frame public policy
d)
Launch a start up in the sustainable space
Q: What are the specific skill sets required for being successful in this branch of consulting?
A: There are three characteristics which are markedly different:
a)
This is an inter-disciplinary industry
b)
Most solutions require out of the box thinking. This is especially important because the
field deals with the future that is yet to be realized.
c)
In order to think big, one needs to connect with the smaller aspects. Connecting with the
smaller aspects is rather hard to do and takes years of exposure or experience.
Written By:
Anirudh Swaminathan
Unconventional Careers
With the placement process well under way,
many of us are now faced with possibly careerdefining choices such as that of internship
domain. Many a time, this choice is driven by
factors such as peer pressure, and fear of
missing out, rather than by an objective
assessment of what it is that you want to pursue
as a career. By means of this article, the Consult
Club wants to bring out stories of PGP 2s, who
had the choice of pursuing an internship in
consulting, but chose different domains due to
various reasons. Here’s what they had to say.
Interviewee 1
Internship firm and role
Consulting shortlists
Educational background
Prior work experience
- Prashant Chawla
- IIMAvericks/CIIE
- Bain, BCG, AT Kearney
- BTech (Electrical Engineering)-IIT Kanpur
- Adobe (2 years)
Q1- What were the factors that led to your choosing the current firm over the consulting firms
for which you were shortlisted?
A1- I was not sure that I wanted to pursue consulting. The only factor because of which I was
even considering consulting was the herd mentality. I did not want to be left out. I felt that
management consulting was something that I did not want to pursue. I was quite interested in
tech, or in starting a start-up.
19 | Consult Cookbook
20 | Consult Cookbook
After working in a firm for 2 years, you get to realise the value that firms place on your talents.
The company needs your skills as much as you want to work in that firm. I knew that need will
not go anywhere, and I could always come back to consulting in the finals. I also had great trust
in the IIMA brand, knowing that I could safely get a job with that brand.
Given these factors, and the fact that I wanted to start something on my own during my undergraduation, I decided to go for Mavericks internship.
Q2 - What are the key features of the summer internship firm, which you liked over consulting
firms?
A2 – In my view, as a founder of a tech start-up which was working in the space of digital
advertisements on top of cabs, I got to own the product completely. I was responsible for
everything, from sales and marketing, to product development. In the process, I got to interact
with so many people. This really helped in understanding their psychology. This was the most
useful output of the internship for me.
Q3- When did you decide to take up this role during the entire process? Any key triggers?
A3- I applied for the internship approximately 45 days before the internship process. I was not
really sure till October 13th about what I wanted to do, which was the day that I had to decide
on the internship offer. I made a decision in the week between October 7th and October 13th.
Q4- What changes in the consulting internship process/ shortlisted companies/ internship work
etc would have led you to accept a consulting offer?
A4- The consulting process makes you invest a lot of time. It is hard to focus on other domains,
if you prepare for consulting. There are also a lot of other elements in the process, such as
always keeping in touch with buddies and senior members, attending dinners, sending
questions to partners etc. I felt a bit resistant to these. Let it be a transparent 2-3 step process,
with a clear procedure.
Q5- What sectors did you prep for during your internship process, and how did you allocate
time for and effort between the prep for different sectors?
A5- I prepared for consulting, PM Tech and Mavericks. Even while preparing for consulting, I
found myself inadvertently looking at start-ups only. This was also a reason I decided to take up
Mavericks.
21 | Consult Cookbook
Q6 - What are some of the pitfalls to be avoided while making a choice of domain?
A6 – The first would be to choose an idea you really believe in. Don’t just focus on Mavericks,
and then choose an idea. Conduct primary research, figure out if your idea will work, and only
then go for the internship. You need to be 99.9% sure that it will work, and you should really
believe in it. Another piece of advice would be to find good partners, people you can trust
completely.
Q7 - What helped you make a choice of domain (in terms of people, information resources or
so on)?
A7 – Talking to professors such as Sushil Jhangiani really helped. I also talked to other people
from CIIE and Mavericks interns from last year. I was a bit sceptical of talking to my consult
buddies about this, so I also talked to a few alums.
Q8- Any advice for PGP1s, who might have to make similar choices?
A8- My advice would be to know your value. A lot of people follow the herd mentality. They
feel that this is their golden chance. That is wrong. You are at a stage, where you will get a lot of
chances. Make an informed choice.
Q9- What are your long-term career plans?
A9- I am still figuring this one out. I will work for a few years in a firm or start-up before
deciding on what to do.
Q1- What were the factors that led to your
choosing the current firm over the consulting firms
for which you were shortlisted?
A1- I used the consult dinners as an evaluation,
and used that opportunity to talk to senior
partners. During these dinners, I got some clarity. I
had already worked in consulting before, and that
also helped.
Interviewee 2
Internship firm and role
Consulting shortlists
Educational background
Prior work experience
- Manyata Chopra
- PnG (Brand Management)
- McKinsey, Bain, BCG
- Bachelors in Statistics - LSR
- IQVIA ( IMS Health)
22 | Consult Cookbook
Additionally, I had PnG ELP. So that helped me dispel the fear that I would not get a marketing
shortlist, since I had adequate work experience.
Another factor to keep in mind was that PnG does not come for the finals, so this was a good
opportunity to experience marketing.
I also talked to various people and realised that although there are many exits out of
consulting, such as becoming an industry expert, going into PE/VC firms or working in the
industry, my interaction with partners made me realise that the notion that people could exit
easily from consulting, but not enter into consulting was wrong. I could enter consulting even
after working in marketing for many years.
Q2 – What are the key features of the summer internship firm, which you liked over consulting
firms?
A2 – I really liked the fact that I got a totally independent project. I was given money, and
project targets. I was free to do what I wanted.
Q3- When did you decide to take up this role during the entire process? Any key triggers?
A3- PnG had hinted to me that they might give me an offer. But I couldn’t take a risk, since I
already had multiple consulting shortlists, and had not prepared for GDs. Cluster 1 is very
different from Cluster 2. So I got an offer from BCG, and then dreamed to go for the PnG
interview.
Q4- What sectors did you prep for during your internship process, and how did you allocate
time for and effort between the prep for different sectors?
A4- I prepared for Consulting, Marketing and General Management firms. I did not have to sit
for marketing GDs, so did not have to do GD prep.
Q5- What according to you, led you to get shortlists from both consulting firms and your firm?
A5- I had PnG ELP, so that really helped. Further, my PORs surely helped me get shortlists.
Additionally, I was part of Google Adcamp, so that also helped me crack a marketing shortlist. I
already had multiple years of consulting experience as well, so that helped in consulting.
Q6- How was the selection and interview process that you went through different from
candidates preparing just for this sector? Could your consulting preparation efforts be
leveraged for your internship interview as well?
A6- Some of the differences were that PnG asked me about my other shortlists. They grilled me
about why I wanted to come to marketing, and asked other usual marketing questions. I was
not asked consult cases in the PnG interview. I was given small marketing cases around product
branding
23 | Consult Cookbook
and basics of marketing. Additionally, I was asked a couple of HRQs and situational questions.
Q7 – What are some of the pitfalls to be avoided while making a choice of domain?
A7 – There is a perception that you keep rotating in consulting, but this might not be true. If
you want to change the staffing, it might affect your ratings. One more misconception is that
marketing is making ads. But it is not. There is a mandatory sales stint for 2 years. So figure out
how you like doing sales, before deciding on marketing roles. Additionally, marketing also
involves a lot of fieldwork and travel.
Q8 – What helped you make a choice of domain (in terms of people, information resources or
so on)?
A8 – The consult dinners really helped. I also have a lot of friends in consulting firms, so talking
to them helped me make up my mind. Talking to PGP 1s who had consulting experience, and to
a brand manager at HUL also helped.
Q9- Any advice for PGP1s, who might have to make similar choices?
A9- The PPO conversion is very different between marketing and consulting. So do consider the
risk factor as well before deciding.
Q1- What were the factors that led to your
choosing the current firm over the consulting firms
for which you were shortlisted?
A1- The summer internship programme offers the
best shot to try investment banking as finance roles
offered during final placements have been few
historically. Secondly, purely from a shortlist count
standpoint, I felt I had better chance of getting an
offer in IB than in consulting.
Interviewee 3
Internship firm and role
Consulting shortlists
Educational background
Prior work experience
- Saurabh Pinjani
- Credit Suisse (Singapore), Investment banking
- BCG, AT Kearney, Accenture
- BTech (Electrical Engineering)-IIT Bombay
- Not applicable
Also, in hindsight, I think IB is a more favoured route for buy-side roles in private equity firms,
though there are exceptions to this.
24 | Consult Cookbook
Q2- When did you decide to take up this role during the entire process? Any key triggers?
A2- When I joined the institute with the aim of breaking into Investment Bank. However, after
joining, I decided to prepare for consulting as well. Eventually as the shortlists panned out, I
refocussed my energy towards IB.
Q3- What changes in the consulting internship process/ shortlisted companies/ internship
work etc would have led you to accept a consulting offer?
A3- Banks run their interviews before C1 and hence it is clear to you whether or not you will
have an offer on the C1 day. This lends an element of certainty. Had there been a similar level
of certainty in the consulting recruitment process, the shortlist count wouldn’t have mattered
as much. In such a scenario, there is a chance that I would have chosen consulting.
Q4- What sectors did you prep for during your internship process, and how did you allocate
time for and effort between the prep for different sectors?
A4- I prepared for consulting and finance- IB and markets. IB took up the greatest portion of
my preparation time, as I was new to this domain and had to prepare for technical questions,
read up on a sector, prepare a pitch for a company in that sector and do a valuation model.
For consulting, I watched the Victor Cheng videos. Following this, I spent about an hour a day
solving cases. For markets, I did not have to dedicate too much time as I had learnt basic
concepts of derivative pricing during my undergrad days.
Q5- What according to you, led you to get shortlists from both consulting firms and your firm?
A5- For finance shortlists, it helps to have a good CGPA, especially for a fresher. Among the
consulting firms, I believe BCG too places emphasis on grades (for freshers). I believe my
under-graduation grades helped me get shortlists.
Q6- How was the selection and interview process that you went through different from
candidates preparing just for this sector? Could your consulting preparation efforts be
leveraged for your internship interview as well?
A6- Consulting preparation helps you to structure your thoughts better. This is very helpful for
your IB calls, where the person on the other end of the line cannot see your presentation and
it becomes imperative to make your stock pitch in a structured and cohesive manner.
Secondly, methodical thought process is helpful in life in general.
25 | Consult Cookbook
Q7- Any advice for PGP1s, who might have to make similar choices?
A7- Prepare for everything, as long as you physically can. Keep all your options open, because
many roles involve multiple calls. One bad interview could throw off a shortlist you were
banking upon. It is also important to understand what comes naturally to you. For instance,
my inclination towards mathematics meant that markets preparation was easier for me.
Similarly, for people familiar with valuation and accounting, IB preparation will be more
intuitive. If you reach a stage where you can choose between offers from different sectors,
dwell on the initial reason which pushed you to aspire to work in these sectors to make your
choice between them.
Q8- What are your long-term career plans?
A8- I aspire to work for a PE firm in the long term.
Q1- What were the factors that led to your
choosing the current firm over the consulting firms
for which you were shortlisted?
A1- I wished to pursue marketing as a career after
graduation and PPO route is the best to do so as
not many marketing companies hire from campus
during the final placements. Mondelez's work
culture is known to be very inclusive, informal and
collaborative, which is exactly what I was looking
for. Moreover, it values creativity and is open to
quick implementation of ideas which is a rare
attribute.
Interviewee 4
Internship firm and role
Consulting shortlists
Educational background
Prior work experience
- Shweta Arora
- Mondelez India, Sales & Marketing Intern
- McKinsey, ATK, Strategy&, Accenture
- Commerce
- Not applicable
Q2- When did you decide to take up this role during the entire process? Any key triggers?
A2- It was after attending the dinners of the consulting companies that I found a clear
mismatch between my expectations and what the consulting role offered.
26 | Consult Cookbook
Q3- What changes in the consulting internship process/ shortlisted companies/ internship work
etc would have led you to accept a consulting offer?
A3- Firstly, if there were ample marketing opportunities in the finals, I may have considered
sitting for consulting during the summers. Secondly, the process of consult selection (dinners,
case prep, mentorship) was new to me. Having an idea of what lies ahead can help prepare for
the selection process, particularly those without prior work experience.
Q4- What sectors did you prep for during your internship process, and how did you allocate
time for and effort between the prep for different sectors?
A4- Marketing and consulting. Most of my preparation efforts were concentrated towards
marketing. I solved about 10-12 consulting cases to bring structure to my thinking.
Q5- What according to you, led you to get shortlists from both consulting firms and your firm?
A5- In consulting, certain spikes worked in my favour. For example, academic consistency and
achievements along with the commerce background. In marketing, having a holistic profile
works better. A preference towards freshers also helped.
Q6- How was the selection and interview process that you went through different from
candidates preparing just for this sector? Could your consulting preparation efforts be
leveraged for your internship interview as well?
A6- My time and efforts got divided between the two sectors. Now that I look back, some
elements of preparation were common and could have been managed better. For example,
staying up-to-date with current affairs, having industrial knowledge, working on HRQs, etc.
Consulting prep brings a lot of structure to one's thinking which can be used while answering
situational questions in marketing interviews.
Q7- Any advice for PGP1s, who might have to make similar choices?
A7- Don't follow the herd or peer pressure. Consider what you'd want to pursue after finals.
Don't ignore your personal attributes and their fit with the firm. Meeting PGP2s from both
sectors helped me understand the requirements as well as the responsibilities of each role. I
even consulted the mentors allotted to me by the firms in regard to the expectations from the
interns.
Q8- What are your long-term career plans?
A8- Will be joining Mondelez India as of now. Hope to start-up sometime in the future.
27 | Consult Cookbook
Q1- What were the factors that led to your choosing
the current firm over the consulting firms for which
you were shortlisted?
A1- The work in trading was something that excited
me and I had the necessary finance background as
well. Additionally, I had really liked my intern at SBI
mutual fund during my undergrad as well. I also
worked as a part time research consultant at world
quant, which helped me gain an insight into the
functioning of the global markets.
Interviewee 5
Internship firm and role
Consulting shortlists
Educational background
Prior work experience
- Tishya Kapoor
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Hong Kong
- McKinsey, Bain, BCG, AT Kearney
- BTech (Biochemical Engineering)-IIT Delhi
- Not applicable
Q2- When did you decide to take up this role during the entire process? Any key triggers?
A2- I did not specifically prepare for markets during the summers process. I only kept following
what was happening around the world, and having a finance background helped me
understand that in a better manner. The selection process for these roles is quite generic,
where you are asked questions around the current affairs and a few puzzles. When I got the
offer from Nomura Singapore, I started seriously considering market roles. That is when I
started talking to seniors at BAML, and interviewed for the firm.
Q3- What sectors did you prep for during your internship process, and how did you allocate
time for and effort between the prep for different sectors?
A3- I prepared for consulting firms only. For finance roles, my preparation was limited to
staying abreast with the latest developments around the world.
Q4 - What are some of the pitfalls to be avoided while making a choice of domain?
A4 – My advice would be to not just look at the monetary aspect of a trading role. You should
figure out if you are really interested in the role. Assess your strengths, and compare them
with the skills needed to do well in this role.
28 | Consult Cookbook
Q5 – What helped you make a choice of domain (in terms of people, information resources or
so on)?
A5 – I spoke to all of my consult buddies. They told me that as long as I had a good CG, I would
have a good chance in the finals. I also spoke to PGP 2s who had interned in markets, and
those who had interned in consulting, but had prior work experience in markets. I also spoke
to other people on campus, especially those who had been already been trading.
Q6- Any advice for PGP1s, who might have to make similar choices?
A6- Don’t worry about a job. You will get a job somewhere. Use the internship as an
opportunity to explore. You should not live with the regret that you could have tried
something that you really wanted when you had the chance, but gave that up because of the
safety that consulting provides.
Written By:
Gunish Handa, Amritha Menon
29 | Consult Cookbook
Conversation With
Members Across
Consulting Hierarchy
How is a day like in consulting
Achal Jain
Ashutosh Sinha
Sandhya Kumbakonam
You may have heard different version of stories on consulting as a career from different set of
people. Many of us have already decided if consulting is what they want to join after the
Business School. However, there are others who are still in dilemma if consulting is what they
are looking as a long term career option.
To get more clarity - we turned to our alumni, to give us an honest lowdown on the consulting
experience.
The article covers the consulting experience of alumni across BCG, Roland Berger and Oliver
Wyman.
Throughout the firms, a typical day in consulting differs depending on the role and the project
life cycle. Mostly the day is more hectic when the project has just started or the project is due
for completion. A typical day will also differ as you move up in the hierarchy.
Achal Jain, a Senior Associate at BCG, joined the firm in July 2018. Currently, he is responsible
for taking care of the module allocated to him. His typical day revolves around meeting client,
analysis of data and presentation of hypothesis relating to his module.
Sandhya Kumbakonam, a Senior Consultant at Roland Berger, joined the firm in July 2016. As
she progressed, her responsibilities shifted from managing a module to the entire project. Her
typical day involves three to four client interactions in the morning to set-up the day. In middle
of the day she reviews her project and chops them in different workstreams and builds a story
around it. In later part of the day, she reviews the analysis and interacts with the partners to
discuss the progress and make the deck.
30 | Consult Cookbook
Ashutosh Sinha, who has recently joined as an Engagement Manager at Singapore office of
Oliver Wyman explains his typical day at work. As he progressed in the domain, his
responsibilities increased to handling multiple projects. His day-day activities involve meeting
clients and project team to understand the project's progress and challenges.
How has been your experience so far?
We all know that consulting is a fast-paced job with a steep learning curve. Almost all the
consulting firms ensure to give right amount of exposure for the consultants to develop their
understanding of different industries and gain skillset to become ready for the future role
within the firm.
Achal, in the last 16 months, has worked on four projects. All the projects were in different
sectors. His first project was in the Oil and Gas Sector, and then he worked for a steel
manufacturing client. His last project was with a Tech client. Apart from the sector, the nature
of role was also different. In some of the projects he worked on development of strategy and in
other projects, he was working on end to end implementation.
Sandhya has worked on a variety of projects since she joined the firm. So far, she has worked
for assessment of market entry, developing business growth strategies and other niche
projects in multiple industries. Recently she worked on a project for an auto OEM where she
did market assessment of electric vehicles (EVs). She checked on market feasibility and
hypothesis of clean energy for EVs. The outcome of the project is interesting as she realized
that EVs were not that clean due to electricity generation itself being polluting in India.
Ashutosh recalls, over the period he became more aligned to one practice area within the firm.
Gradually he became responsible for capability building within the firm by training teams on
prior case experience as well as leading external recruitment. Over last six years, fundamentals
of consulting have not changed; what has changed is the way the industries are evolving,
nowadays there is more focus on automation and digitization.
Challenges you face every day?
As we mentioned earlier, consulting is a fast-paced role with a steep learning curve. Challenges
are inherent to this role which keeps on changing as we progress within the firm.
Achal has been traveling very frequently since he joined the firm. However, It was surprising for
us to know that traveling is not even among the top three challenges he faces every day. So far
he has worked in four different sectors, and each sector has its nuances. It requires a lot of
effort to gain specialized knowledge in a very short time to build rapport with the client. It is
always a challenge to sell your recommendation to a client who has been in the business for
last 15 to 20 years, whereas you have worked in the sector for just few months. Keeping up the
expectations is another challenge because you are always given complete ownership of your
module and you have to manage it like your baby. Everyone in the team is looking up to you to
come with your own set of recommendations. At times managing the balance between work
and life becomes a challenge for him. However, he does not see this as a real challenge. For
Achal, these challenges are opportunities to become fit for the future role in the firm.
31 | Consult Cookbook
Sandhya regularly faces paucity of time. It is one of the biggest challenge for her to diligently
apply 80:20 rule to prioritize her work. Having that foresight to prioritize and focus on what is
the core for the client is crucial part of every day. Need to have a clear understanding of client’s
context is another challenge because many times, the clients themselves do not know what
they want and are in two minds. Our recommendations based on what is relevant makes the
most sense for them.
Other than the challenges mentioned above, Ashutosh has a new set of challenges as an
engagement manager. The number of stakeholders he is managing has changed since he had
joined consulting. Currently, he is managing three sets of stakeholders – clients, project team
and firm leaders. Keeping a balance between the stakeholders and meeting their expectations
is a challenge he faces every day. His current role has more pressure because success of a
project depends on him. He needs to ensure clients are happy to build rapport and get more
business for the firm.
How has your role changed since the time you joined the firm?
As you grow in consulting, your role gradually changes to make you ready for the future
position. There is immense support given by the firm to ensure the transition is happening
correctly.
Sandhya recalls how things changed since the time she joined as a consultant. As she moved
forward, a significant part of handholding went away. Earlier she used to be given a module in
a project, with the question of what her approach is going to be, given what the client wants to
achieve. However, now as a senior consultant, she is given complete set of more
straightforward projects whereas project managers handle complicated projects.
Ashutosh recalls how his responsibilities changed over time. As a fresh graduate from B School,
he was responsible for working on his module. However, now as an engagement manager he is
liable to understand projects’ objectives, which at times not even clear to clients. Now he is
not just responsible for overseeing all the different modules, but he is also liable to compile
outcome of all the modules and give an overall recommendation to clients.
What made you stick to the consulting role, where most of the people exit in 2-4 years of
joining?
Consulting is famous for opening many opportunities after two to three years of experience.
But we checked what is keeping our seniors motivated to stick to consulting role.
Sandhya mentions that consulting is an unforgiving career. She is happy that learning in
consulting has not stopped even after working for three years. Direct channel with partners
and principals, smart group of peers, and fast-paced environment motivate her every day. As
long as learning is happening, she is happy to continue.
32 | Consult Cookbook
How is consulting different over different geographies?
Ashutosh has been able to work in different geographies over the last six years. He mentioned
the nature of projects differs for different geographies. For instance, in India most of the
companies are family-owned businesses that lack the maturity to deal with a consulting firm.
Clients in India are more inclined to use consultants for getting results which are tangible,
measurable in the short term unlike pure play strategic projects which tend to yield returns in
the longer term.
The nature of projects also differs across the geographies based on different economic lifecycle. For instance in middle-east, government is making huge transformation to shift from an
oil-based economy in the long term. Hence, most of the consulting projects in the middle-east
are on capability building.
How do you manage the work-life balance in consulting?
All of them we discussed agreed that managing work-life balance becomes challenging most of
the time. But consulting is a cautious choice because they do not like to work for static roles.
Nowadays, firms are also understanding the concern relating to work-life balance and to woo
employees to stay with them; firms have started creating a flexible work environment to ensure
that employees are getting their “me time”. Consulting for Achal is always a personal choice
because he does not like to work for a static job. For work-life balance Achal prefers blocking a
pre-defined time-slot every day as his personal time-zone. As Achal mentions, the concept of
personal time-zone is adopted by many people within the firm. Everyone in the project team
appreciates the preference of their team members and make sure to not disturb during that
time.
Sandhya explains how flexible work culture at Roland Berger has helped her in keeping a
balance between her work and life over the last three years. As Sandhya mentions, everyone
project manager in Roland Berger ensures the team members are leaving early at least for a
day in five day’s workweek. People in consulting are matured enough to assess how much time
they will require to complete their deliverables, and firms often give us the flexibility to work
according to our preferred time-slots, provided meet the timelines committed to the client.
Ashutosh mentioned that the work-life balance in consult would not match any other job
because the baseline hours itself is very high. However, four days at client place and fifth day at
base location is not that crazy to manage. If you have understood the scope of your work and
worked diligently for five days, you don’t have to work on weekends. Ashutosh also
recommends keeping a hobby outside work to keep a balance between work and life.
What are the exit opportunities one can consider after working for 2-3 years in consulting?
Looking at the past trend, most of the consultants chose one of the three most popular exit
routes after consulting. The first being PE/VC firms, second is a strategic role in companies, and
the third is the start-up domain.
Achal himself has a tentative plan to move to start-ups after completing 5 to 6 years in
consulting. Sandhya has also observed that most of her batchmates have switched to start-ups.
33 | Consult Cookbook
Do you have any advice for students and consult aspirants?
Everyone we discussed had something in common. One should not join consulting if he/she is
planning to leave before completing two years or someone who has issues with working for
long hours.
Based on his experience, Achal recommends one should expect a minimum 55-60 hours work
week in consulting. Anything below that is not sustainable. He also recommends not to join
consulting for its glamour because that will anyhow not matter after some time. Further,
consult is a people-oriented role and one should not expect to work in isolation.
Sandhya recommends consulting aspirants to think long and hard whether they want to get
into consulting. Being consistent is what helps you in consulting; one should figure out if this is
something he/she wants to do. Think of at least a two-year stint before jumping into consulting.
Anything less than that might not be worth it. Talk to as many people as possible and do a fair
evaluation because many professions now offer similar learning as consulting. Figure out if
consulting is what you want to do.
Ashutosh recommends joining consulting even if one is planning to leave after two years.
Consulting is always a rewarding career; you will learn so much that there will be a solid
foundation for many opportunities after 2 to 3 years. However, consulting is not as glamorous
as it looks, hence do not get into consulting for that. Join if you like problem-solving and
comfortable in working for long hours.
Written By:
Rahul Gupta, Anika Bhasker
Winning Strategy
Series
Amazon Ace
Name of Team members: Santosh Saladi, Rahul Sharma, Ritika Jain, Mahak Tiwari
Why did you decide to take part in the competition? How did you hear about it?
We got to know about the competition from a few friends in our batch. We decided to take
part in the competition as Amazon Ace is known to pose business problems that Amazon is
currently working on.
How did you choose your team?
The competition had strict guidelines for the team to have 2 males and 2 females. On our
end, one thing we took care of was to have members from diverse areas. Our team was
formed on the last day for registrations. I (Santosh) am from finance area. The first person I
contacted was Rahul followed by Ritika. By that time, all the female candidates from PGPX
had formed teams. It was through a friend in our batch that I got to know Mahak who is a
second year FABM student and she was the fourth member in our team.
Did you do any initial preparation before the competition?
No. We did not do any initial preparation before the competition.
34 | Consult Cookbook
What was the structure of the competition?
The competition had a three-tier structure.
First round: Guesstimate based questions. There was a total of 10 questions for each team
member. The questions were built to test our reasoning abilities to arrive at reasonable
guesstimates for 10 questions in less than thirty minutes. Example: Arrive at the number of
primary schools in the city. The number could be arrived at in two / three different methods,
but only one is right and it is important to understand the assumptions one is making while
solving these questions.
Second round: Second round was when the whole excitement began. We were asked to
develop a strategy to increase market share of one particular product from x% to 5x%
percentage on Amazon India platform.
Third round: Third round was when we were tested to the core. We were given a problem
that involved Amazon’s multiple international platforms. The problem given by Amazon made
us think across various management disciplines such as Operations, Marketing, Strategy and
Finance. We were asked to think big. We didn’t restrict ourselves to the problem statement
and went beyond the obvious. We fought it to the last day to refine our business Strategy and
incorporated Amazon’s principles in solving it.
How much time and effort did you put into the competition?
The first round was a guesstimate-based round and hence we had to work impromptu based
on the set of questions that each of the team members received. Instead of working
individually, we chose to work together on each team member’s set of questions one at a
time. Thus, devoting 2 hours in total.
The second round was a case study and we dedicated around 2 days for it in analysing the
case as well as coming up with our strategy and solutions.
The final round was pretty time consuming for all of us. The case was provided a week before
the final presentation and was quite complex in nature. We had to devote around 5 days to
completely understand the case and come up with a comprehensive solution. Since the
nature of case study was of live business problem, we had to do quite a bit of data hunting
and communicate with people currently in business to get a fair idea of the problem and
check the feasibility of all the solutions that were coming to our mind.
35 | Consult Cookbook
Any key tips that will be handy for PGP1s while taking part in the competition?
Amazon’s strategy revolves around its 14 leadership principles and hence, in this competition,
the primary thing required is to think in lines with these principles. It is very important to step
in the shoes of the customer as Amazon is widely known for its customer obsession and only a
solution that believes in customer first is considered feasible by Amazon. The next thing is to
think big and strategize keeping in mind the bigger picture. It really helps to have a diverse
team as it helps bring different perspectives to the table. Lastly, it is important to think realistic
and back things up with data as the cases provided are business problems and feasibility is a
must.
36 | Consult Cookbook
AbInbev
Name of Team members: Abhinav Bakshi, Anish Wahi, Gayatri Nair
Why did you decide to take part in the competition? How did you hear about it?
We got to know about the competition through Placecom’s mail. It was the first competition
of the year and had created quite a buzz on campus. Naturally, we were all keen on taking a
shot at it. Moreover, there were 3 challenges to choose from, so we could pick one of our
liking.
How did you choose your team?
The three of us knew each other, coming from the same section. We wouldn’t call each other
close friends (at least when we started) but Anish and I (Abhinav) had a good working
relationship from Term 3, and Gayatri and Abhinav were pretty good friends too. All three of
us recognized the value of a diverse team bringing in complementary skills and multidisciplinary perspectives. From our internships and prior work experience, we felt we had all
our bases covered if we teamed up together.
Did you do any initial preparation before the competition?
Before the competition, we didn't really prepare anything. Once we started though, we
continuously challenged each other's ideas until the three of us were completely convinced
with the solution we were presenting. One aspect where we feel we did well was to be
cognizant of the company's culture and their values in all our submissions. We knew about AB
InBev’s informal culture and therefore tried to inculcate some humour in all our presentations
without compromising on the quality of the idea.
What was the structure of the competition?
As a part of the first round, the competition required a 3-minute video submission on one of
the three challenges. The challenge we picked was to create a marketing strategy for NonAlcoholic Beer. The other challenges were - creating a strategy for their water sustainability
initiatives and proposing the creation and marketing of a craft beer.
From the first round, top 20 teams were selected across all the participating colleges to move
to the next round. This involved a 7-minute presentation via video conferencing with the head
of the particular division based on the challenge, in our case, the head of non-alcoholic beers
for India.
37 | Consult Cookbook
From this, 5 teams were called to the National Finals in Bangalore. Here, we had to make a
more elaborate presentation of our strategy to heads of AB InBev as well as panelists called
from outside.
How much time and effort did you put into the competition?
The first round being a video submission, it was very time consuming to come up with the
idea, prepare a script that sounded interesting and shoot a video. We were considering the
more time-efficient option of a voiceover, but in hindsight, the long hours spent here paid off
since the competition in the first round was fierce.
For the subsequent rounds, we undertook substantial field work to get a better picture of the
ground reality. The insights gained here helped us become more confident in our
recommendations. It is tough to put a number in terms of hours but we spent many sleepless
nights in the library on multiple iterations of the final deck.
Any key tips that will be handy for PGP1s while taking part in the competition?
Putting yourself in the shoes of the evaluator helps. We recognized that the firm’s insistence
on a video submission instead of a PowerPoint necessitated being in front of the camera, as
against a presentation with a voice over. We also found that especially for the later stages of
the competition, showing the presentation to members of the faculty really helped - they
gave us a lot of relevant and actionable feedback. And finally, pick the brains of those who
have interned in the firm to get a sense of what kind of submission they'd appreciate. Know
thy customer and also know thy company.
38 | Consult Cookbook
Accenture
Name of Team members: Akshay Mehndiratta, Krunali Shah, Saurabh Pinjani
Why did you decide to take part in the competition? How did you hear about it?
We heard about the competition from the placement committee email. The concept of the
competition involving gamification along with a case study excited us. Since very few
management consulting firms organize such competitions, it was an exciting platform to learn
from some of the most-experienced folks of the industry.
How did you choose your team?
Having participated across multiple competitions in the two years at IIMA, we realized that
the secret sauce of any strong team is to have members with diverse interests and skill-sets.
Saurabh's strong understanding of finance fundamentals acquired through coursework and
internship perfectly complemented the consulting skillsets I (Akshay) had acquired from his
consulting work experience. Krunali facilitated a fluid amalgamation of the two domains
leveraging her skill-set acquired from her experience in the private equity and consulting
industry.
Did you do any initial preparation before the competition?
No, we did not do any preparation for the competition.
What was the structure of the competition?
The teams were evaluated across three rounds. The first round was a quiz, which tested
teams on their knowledge about the advancements across different industry sectors like
retail, telecommunication, etc. It was a timed quiz with 60 questions to be answered inside 10
minutes.
The second round was an online simulation, which involved solving real-time challenges in a
time-bound manner. We were asked to answer the best possible solution for two business
scenarios, after analyzing data and inputs from different stakeholders involved. Since we had
to optimally chose the stakeholders limited by the number of interactions we could have with
the client, the round also gauged our structured problem-solving skills.
The last round was a 15-hour case study where we had to present a go-to-market strategy for
a large conglomerate to disrupt the grocery market by digitally transforming the mom-andpop stores, thereby bringing them closer to the consumer and its needs. The round also
evaluated us on how we can map out synergies with the existing businesses for our client to
gain competitive advantage, which is not imitable by existing players in the industry to ensure
the long-term sustainability of the model.
39 | Consult Cookbook
How much time and effort did you put into the competition?
We did not focus much on the preparation, as a lot of details of the individual rounds were
given 1 day before the round. For the last round which was a 15-hour case study, it involved a
night-out to analyze the problem, developing recommendations and building the
presentation.
Any key tips that will be handy for PGP1s while taking part in the competition?
Some of the tips which came in handy and were appreciated by the jury as well are as follows:
1. Importance of Executive summary/summarizing initially - While presenting to senior
leadership of any firm, it is extremely important to bring out that one value preposition in the
initial statements itself.
This ensures that the jury is able to relate to the remaining discussion and analysis and align it
well with the final recommendation.
2. Sensitivity Analysis for financial
projections- While presenting cash flow and
valuation projections, do ensure you are able
to identify the most sensitive and variable
assumptions.
The
resulting
cashflow
projections on deviations of these factors
should henceforth be highlighted
3. Effective time management- Competitions
like these involve analysing the case and
coming up with solutions in a limited timeframe. In such scenarios, it is extremely vital
to effectively divide the allocated time
between background research, case analysis
and recommendation, and story-boarding
and deck-making. Standardized templates
common across all competitions can greatly
reduce the time required for third bucket,
thereby allowing you to analyze the case
better.
Written By:
Purav Shah, Krati Agarwal
…. Thank You
40 | Consult Cookbook