IBH:  Can you tell us a bit about your job search process?

AQ:  My job search process was not very defined.  I essentially applied to consulting jobs since their recruiting cycle was earlier than many of the jobs I was actually interested in.  In particular, I was looking to work in the area of education and possibly even Chicago Public Schools.  However, since Harris had relationships established with a number of the big consulting firms and applying was as easy as sending in a resume, I thought I would at least practice my interviewing skills.  In that process, I got an offer in the Management Development Program with MAXIMUS which allowed me to rotate to different parts of the company.  The opportunity to rotate was very attractive to me, so I decide to deviate from the plan for a few years.

IBH:  What projects have you been involved with at MAXIMUS?

AQ:  Since I was in a rotational program, in my first year I had three different jobs.  The first was in Medicaid Fraud Waste and Abuse consulting, the second working in a Welfare to Work office, and the third doing business development and on-boarding a new analytical tool into the company.  After that, I roamed around doing proposal work until landing a job doing internal consulting.  Specifically, the job was to work with our own projects to bring down costs and improve outputs.  Soon after I rotated again to a project in Puerto Rico being that I was one of the few native Spanish speakers and Puerto Ricans in the company.  That project was to assist the Department of Health mitigate the impact of a large workforce drawdown.  We have since expanded into other areas of work with the Department of Health here in Puerto Rico.

IBH:  Do you have any tips for current Harris students hoping to work in consulting?

AQ:  I would say the best tip is to be open minded.  I did not expect to find a job in consulting coming out of grad school, but it has been an educational experience.  Also, even if you don’t get the job you wanted make the best of the job you get.  Show that you can be smart, aggressive, and contribute to the organization.  That will open up more opportunities for you then being unhappy where you ended up.

IBH:  How have you found the work-life balance as a consultant?

AQ:  That has been a big problem for me in consulting.  It is tough to maintain a work life balance sometimes.  This is mostly because the travel can be very variable and as a young person in the company you are still trying to make a name for yourself, so you try and jump at opportunities that present themselves.  The hours can also be long since the company will expect you to be billable to the client for as much as possible, so all the other things related to basic administration (timesheets, expenses, etc.) are on your own time.  I am now in Puerto Rico full time so the lifestyle of traveling has settled down.  Since this is home for me, I am very happy with that.  Before that, I was in Chicago and traveling a good deal which was rough.

IBH:  What would you say has been your biggest challenge as a consultant?

AQ:  I would say that the challenge for me is the inability to shape the work you are doing.  The company has responded to a set of requests by the state and the contract specifies what is expected.  Rarely do you see the company try and be creative in terms of solutions if it will cost more money or be outside of scope.  And obviously, this makes sense since the company is in the business of making money.  But that is the challenge for me as a policy person who wants to shape policy not just respond to it.

IBH:  Thanks so much for your time!

General Tips
Have a drink! Or two. But no more, unless you’re a 250lb man.
FIRM handshake!!! Grip the other person’s hand and pump at least twice.
Introduce yourself before you speak.
Don’t interrupt other people’s questions.
Make eye contact, and show interest and comprehension when the other person is speaking.

Details:

This is a networking cocktail hour with Harris alums in various fields of consulting, including management consulting, education consulting, and environmental consulting. Students will have the opportunity to learn about what consulting is, how the MPP fits into the consulting world, and what the differences are between different types of consulting firms.

Alums represent the following (tentative) list of employers:

Deloitte Consulting
McKinsey and Company
Huron Consulting
ENTRIX Inc.
Civic Consulting Alliance
Learning Point Associates
Chicago Partners (now Navigant Consulting)
and more!

Midtown Kitchen + Bar (Upstairs)
203 N. Lasalle St., Chicago
Cash bar, with light appetizers provided

• Firm up that handshake! We noticed some limp handshakes, and as a woman I’m not afraid to tell you that it was particularly among women. Practice shaking your own hand. Grab your hand with conviction, not too soft but not bone-crunching, and commit to one or two pumps. More than that is a little weird. I think there was a Seinfeld episode about that. Then grab some hand sanitizer and practice with a friend. Make eye contact while you’re shaking hands, and smile.
• Introduce yourself first! Your head may be teeming with questions depending on the conversation that’s already going on, but when you do insert yourself into a conversation, which is completely normal during a networking session, come in with your name and affiliation, then start up the conversation. It’s awkward to suddenly remember you haven’t introduced yourself and say “Oh, I’m Libby by the way.”
• Try to insert yourself into conversations gracefully. Wait for a short pause.
• At the same time, make sure you’re circulating enough that people don’t have to wait long to insert themselves into your conversation. Jenny mentioned talking to each person for three to five minutes—that’s a good guideline. If people are waiting patiently near you to talk to a recruiter or other person of interest, that means it may be time to hand out your business card, tell them you’ll get in touch to set up a time for the two of you to talk longer, and excuse yourself.
• Also, maybe save the heavier questions (such as “What don’t you like about your company,” which someone may not want to answer in a crowded room) for the next time you meet, which could be an informal chat or an informational interview.
• Keep your drink in your left hand so your right hand stays warm and dry for optimal hand-shaking.

That’s all! I look forward to seeing everyone at the next IBH Consulting event!

IBH also facilitates case interview practice between members. Please see the “case interview resources” section or e-mail one of the officers if you are interested in practicing with partners.

*This is a list to get you started, and is not exhaustive. Nor does IBH assume responsibility for changes or errors in deadlines, etc.

Information Sessions

Boston Consulting Group – Oct. 1, 2009
University-wide, See CAPS
Private sector consulting

Pacific Health Policy Group – Oct. 5, 2009
At Harris, See Harrislink
Health care consulting

Bain & Company – Oct. 5, 2009
University-wide, See CAPS
Private sector consulting

Diamond Management & Technology Consultants – Oct. 7, 2009
University-wide, See CAPS
Private sector consulting

Analysis Group – Oct. 8, 2009
University-wide, See CAPS
Economics consulting, Litigation consulting

Landis + Gyr – Oct. 12, 2009
At Harris, See Harrislink
Energy consulting

Booz Allen Hamilton – Oct. 12, 2009
At Harris, See Harrislink
Government consulting, Defense consulting

LEK Consulting – Oct. 12, 2009
University-wide, See CAPS
Private sector consulting

Fiscal Management Associates – Oct. 20, 2009
At Harris, See Harrislink
Non-profit consulting

McKinsey & Company – Oct. 23, 2009
At Harris, See Harrislink (First-years Only)
Private sector consulting

LMI Government Consulting –Nov. 17, 2009
At Harris, See Harrislink (full-time and internships)
Government consulting

Deadlines, Full-Time/Post-Grad

Analysis Group (multiple locations) – Sept. 29, 2009
See Harrislink
Economics consulting, Litigation consulting

McKinsey & Company (multiple locations) – Sept. 25, 2009 on CAPS; Oct. 4, 2009 online
See CAPS
Private sector consulting, Government consulting

LECG (Chicago area) – Oct. 6, 2009
See CAPS
Economics consulting, Litigation consulting

Boston Consulting Group (multiple locations) – Oct. 8, 2009
See CAPS
Private sector consulting

Bain & Company (multiple locations) – Oct. 8, 2009
See CAPS
Private sector consulting

Bridgespan Group (Boston, NY, SF) – Oct. 9, 2009 and Oct. 12, 2009

http://www.bridgespan.org/careers-at-bridgespan.aspx

Non-profit consulting

Lake Partners (Seattle) – Oct. 9, 2009
See Harrislink
Private sector consulting

Diamond Management & Technology Consultants (Chicago, NY) – Oct. 9, 2009
See CAPS
Private sector consulting

LEK Consulting (multiple locations) – Oct. 12, 2009
See CAPS
Private sector consulting

Civic Consulting Alliance (Chicago) – Rolling
See Harrislink
Government consulting

Abt Associates (Cambridge, MA or Bethesda, MD) – Oct. 31, 2009
See HarrisLink
Government consulting

Mission Measurement (Chicago) – Oct. 31, 2009
See CAPS
Non-profit consulting

The Brattle Group (Cambridge, SF, DC) – Dec. 31, 2009
See CAPS
Economics consulting, Litigation consulting

ICF International (DC) – Begins early 2010

http://www.icfi.com/Careers/graduates.asp

Government consulting, Environmental consulting

Internships

Civic Consulting Alliance (Chicago) – Jan. 21, 2010
See Harrislink
Government consulting

(more Internship deadlines to come)

Powerpoint and minutes recorded by Catherine Chandler under the following link:

Click here to download Don’s slides.

Minutes below include discussion items that are not fully elaborated or captured on the slides.

Goals for the meeting from attendees:

• Virtual meetings
• Keeping a meeting on track
• Conflict
• Getting participants to pay attention
• Starting and wrapping up
• Dynamic and interactive meetings
• Determining whether a meeting is necessary
• Formal vs. informal
• Hijacking

Discussion:

• Importance of roles–boss should not facilitate; facilitator should be someone who is neutral on content outcomes so that they can focus on meeting outcomes.
• Importance of a time contract: shows that you values people’s time and can be refrenced to keep the meeting on track
• Importance of goals: write them down and refer to them throughout the meeting.
• Concept of  “the parking lot”: a physical space on the board where you can keep track of good ideas that are not germane to the meeting’s goals.
• One conversation rule: side conversations mean that some people are not being heard and good ideas are not being shared with all.
• Assigning a minute taker and/or time keeper frees up the facilitator to pay attention to meeting goals and their own role; in such a case the facilitator should play a formal role.
• CCA rotates facilitators of weekly meeting: engenders respect for facilitator since everyone in the room has “been there”; keeps everyone invested in meetings.
• Always seek feedback on your performance–even if you’ve facilitated for 20 years!
• Don’t bring your ego to your role as facilitator: only 20% of your audience is paying attention at once so don’t take it personally if someone is not completely with you. With that in mind, scan the room and take the temperature of the group periodically.
• Brainstorming tips: start the meeting with a session of throwing out ideas, but do not use this time to critique ideas that are offered–this will stifle creativity and could prevent good ideas from coming to the floor.
• Suggestion of a faux-pas: Try not to follow up someone else’s comment with “but,” “however,” or “nevertheless,” as such comments make the previous speaker feel unheard and unaffirmed.
• A good facilitator should be an active listener, summarizing and restating people’s points; this is not always an easy task–ok to ask for help from your participants “I think I heard you say x, help me out.”
• Remember that while each meeting has specific goals, the “meta-goal” of every meeting is to make people feel invested in the work of the organization and the process of achieving the desired outcomes.

VOTING HAS ENDED. THANK YOU.

Karen Thayer (incumbent) is a 2010 MPP candidate with a concentration in nonprofit management. For the past year, she has served as co-Finance Officer at IBH. In addition to supporting the co-chairs, Karen has recruited visiting lecturer Charles Wheelan to lead the upcoming Strategic Communications Workshop. For the upcoming year, she will pursue a more substantial fundraising and recruiting schedule to expand IBH’s presence in the Harris and University of Chicago community.

Carol Hendrickson served as a graduate representative on this year’s Annual Allocations as well as the Student Government Finance Committee, so she understand those funding bodies very well. She also assisted getting funding sources for the Microfinance Conference, so she understand what needs to happen from the school organization point of view as well.

Fasai Pongpitaksopon became very much interested in the world of consulting after arriving at the Harris School. She feels that a career in this industry would be one of much rigor and challenge and therefore, exceptionally educational. She will be sure to always keep members informed.

Adam Freeman has served as Database Manager for St. Anthony Foundation as well as the Greater Chicago Food Depository. He looks forward to the opportunity to fill the position of Technology Officer so that he might help IBH use the internet and database technology to promote public sector consulting skills and opportunities at the Harris School.

We are hosting TWO workshops for you to attend! Please RSVP:

————————-

Irving B. Harris Consulting and Career Services present:
How to Run a Meeting: A Professional Development Workshop
May 14, 2009 at NOON
Harris Room 224
LUNCH IS PROVIDED

“Do you want to learn how to bend crowds to your will, impress bosses, and increase productivity on your team?  Do you have a summer internship or new job where you will sit in long, mind-numbing meetings?  Do you worry that you may be in charge of running long, mind-numbing meetings?”

Don Laackman (MPP ’09), formerly Managing Director at Accenture, will lead the conversation, and all attendees are encouraged to share their own ideas.

Please RSVP to jennysong@uchicago.edu by Tuesday, May 12.

————————-

Irving B. Harris Consulting presents:
Effective Communications in Public Policy: A Strategic Communications Workshop
May 22 & 29, 2009 10a.m.- Noon
Harris Room 140C
BREAKFAST IS PROVIDED

This is your last chance to take a course with Senior Lecturer Charlie Wheelan before you graduate/he goes on sabbatical! This two-day sequential workshop/mini-course will cover a breadth of topics usually covered in PPHA 32600.

While the workshop will not replicate the course exactly, it will provide participants with hands-on learning for communicating public policy issues, including: appropriate framing language, public speaking, presentation skills, the art of summarizing, among others!

Come take advantage of this final opportunity to build critical communications skills with Charlie Wheelan. Space is limited to 20 students and is available on a first-come, first serve basis.

Please RSVP to jennysong@uchicago.edu by Thursday, May 14.

Why did you choose consulting and how did you know it was the right
industry for you?
After working as the Director of Diversity Programs at a non-profit in Washington, DC, I realized how much I value providing unique solutions to complex problems and being able to measure the results of my work. But I also wanted a faster pace environment and challenges that spanned across multiple issue areas instead of focusing on one topic. I knew that consulting would allow me to wrestle with multifarious challenges that would stretch my insights and skills to adapt to different client needs.

My passion for government and helping public sector leaders succeed, as well as Deloitte’s unique investment of time, tools and resources, are what ultimately drive my interest in using consulting tools to solve complicated problems. Deloitte, Booze Allen Hamilton and a few other big consulting firms have dedicated public sector industry groups that invest significant resources in building relationships with state governments and other public sector clients. In no other industry would I be capable of making such a significant impact on so many different public sector entities.

How have you communicated the value of the MPP to your colleagues and clients? How has the Harris MPP helped you in your work?
I am lucky; Deloitte Consulting has a keen sense of what an MPP offers and highly values the tools they know we gain as public policy students. This comes from a long and consistent history of hiring effective Harris grads. Because of the intellectual scaffolding of the MPP, I am more effectively able to organize the otherwise chaotic phenomena observed during each, unpredictable client engagement and come up with next steps and solutions quickly. I am confident that my analytical skills are more rigorous and critical than others who have not received similar training. Given my talent set, I have used Political Economy and cost-benefit concepts and skills more than other key Harris skills. However, I am quite aware that many consultants have client roles that allow them to exercise their stats, econ and other mathematical tool sets.

I came to consulting with a background in media, facilitation, and organizational design so the roles I play on client engagements match up more with those experiences than they do for others who previously worked in Ibanking or in a budget office for the Mayor, for example.

I do a lot of writing to help clients synthesize complicated ideas and I spend a significant amount of time preparing clients with talking points, presentation materials and new ideas for big stakeholder meetings. But the tide of skills needed on each client engagement is fluid. In the coming weeks I will be assisting project leaders with a “go to market” strategy that requires the development of a costing model for our project. I look forward to putting on my cost-benefit hat and using some of my high-level financial analysis skills for that task.

Can you describe the types of projects you work on, as well as the challenges, rewards and the nature of your involvement? Also,how often do you travel? And what kinds of clients do you work with?
You’ll hear this often from consultants, but it’s true. There really is no “typical” client experience. My first client engagement was three months on a non-public sector gig where I helped with an Insurance company’s call center transformation effort. I created technology project plans and helped gather requirements – work I had not only never done before but had never even heard of! Needless to say, the learning curve was high but I came out of the experience with some core project planning and industry tools that I brought with me to my next client engagement – a large, Midwestern State Electronic Licensing project. I have been the Communications Lead on the e-Licensing project at a large, Midwestern State Capitol since March and will likely be there through the end of our first phase in November. I travel every week – early Monday through Thursday night, which is typical and expected of all consultants. As the Communications Lead, I’ve crafted and authored the project’s communications and change plan and I’ve driven the team to achieve the communications/change milestones in our statement of work with the State. I am also a part of what we call the Project Management Office (PMO) of the project. The PMO creates and manages project status reports, facilitates client deliverable review sessions, develops and reviews integrated project plans and serves as a point of contact for the multiple threads of work on the project.

The project itself is a very exciting endeavor that the Governor of the state supports strongly through what he calls the “Drive to Excellence” which is an effort to modernize and streamline business processes and systems across the state agencies. The effort, if achieved in full over time, will create an enterprise-wide system that allows citizens a 27/7, online, one-stop shop for all of their licensing business with the state. Therefore, if I want to get my fishing license I can go do it online at 2 AM and at the same time, use the same user name, password and personal data on the site to manage my police officer’s license, which I need to renew each year. This is a huge step for the state since the current system is a siloed, agency-specific application and management process which demands citizen time and paperwork at multiple government offices during constrained government office hours. During this first phase, we are enabling two out of the dozens of the state agencies with the e-Licensing capability. The communications and change effort around this is huge when you think about what it means for our ability to effectuate future phases. We need to not only help the agencies adapt to this new way of doing business, the governance structure of licensing will change at the state. If the state has one, unified system of licensing, new oversight processes will need to be designed. Furthermore, we need to make sure citizens buy-in to the idea and choose to use the new online system instead of reverting to the comfort of the paper process from before. Without a solid uptake rate, the system will not look attractive to other agencies at the state.Much of my work has to do with the buy-in and communications efforts which will allow state and Deloitte to partner through the future phases of the project and help the Governor and the State CIO achieve their vision of a unified, integrated licensing system. This involves extensive stakeholder analysis work, change management efforts and creative communications to help citizens and agencies buy-in to the new system. Eventually, we will also need to brief the state legislature about the progress of the project to seek funding for future phases. This part of the project involves communications and the cost modeling work I mentioned previously.

Currently, Deloitte’s public sector practice focuses more on State and Federal government than it does on local or non-profit clients. Our focus is modified as needs and the economy change but typically, State and Federal projects are what keep the public sector practice in business. While on a State project, a consultant may work with a single, particular agency, group or they may be part of a broader initiative and work with the Governor’s office or other state stakeholder.

How do you feel consultants are able to impact policy?
Traditionally, Deloitte’s relationship with public sector clients involves implementing public policy, not necessarily shaping it. Most state governments are, at one time or another, faced with federal mandates that direct them to implement new systems, processes or procedures and they often ask Deloitte to help make that change happen. Therefore, we may first interact with a client to help them effectuate changes as a result of a mandate and then use that as an opportunity to assess other areas of potential improvement, modification, or innovation for the state to consider. Once the trust is built, the likelihood of influencing policy increases. But as policy students know, the appetite for policy change may be intense by certain state or agency leaders but the political environment is not ready to be fed with new solutions. There is far more calculus on public sector projects when it comes to predicting best times for innovative solutions and determining how, when, and through whom you should push a new idea. Being in the room to help implement new public policies is an exciting opportunity for anyone interested in government and policy change. The impact groups span from individual clients at the state governments and agencies as well as the larger key stakeholder group affected by all of our public sector projects – citizens.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Do you miss Harris? Do you have any film or book recommendations?
The New Yorker is my favorite travel companion and I spend most of my free time reading and arguing about politics, world affairs and connecting with people who have shaped my life and passions over the years. When I see movies I tend to watch documentaries to inspire insight and new ideas. I recommend the documentary, Baghdad High, which views the current war in Iraq through the eyes of four Iraqi teens as they enter their senior year of high school. Filmed by the boys themselves, the documentary follows their friendships during the entire academic year and offers unique insight into ordinary adolescent Iraqi lives. Every other day I run 3 miles religiously.

I love wine tasting and excessive, leg-cramping walks through the city with my husband, Marc. Speaking of leg-cramps, Marc and I are planning a 500 mile bike trip through Wisconsin. We designed our own “bike n’ brew” trip that takes the intricate Wisconsin bike trails to many of the state’s finest microbreweries. We have never done anything like this before and love the fact that we are frightened by the entire process! We’ve decided to do something that challenges and frightens us each year near our anniversary. Comedy is my favorite Chicago outlet. I wrote for and acted in the Harris School Follies both years I was there and I miss that opportunity to be insightfully silly. Before I went to Harris, I remember thinking I would either go to Policy or Comedy school. There were days at Harris I wasn’t sure which one I chose. In all seriousness, I miss the collegiality and conversation of my peers at Harris. Do not doubt that the people you meet at the University of Chicago are some of the most impressive people you will meet for quite some time.