【正文】 hat if you are not feeling overwhelmed already, you will be after flipping through this book! We would like to reassure you by pointing out that every year hundreds of students successfully scale the recruiting curve and obtain rewarding careers in the consulting industry. We believe that the consulting industry offers unparalleled opportunities and rewards for intelligent and creative professionals. Perhaps more than any profession, consulting offers individuals the opportunity to chose from any number of rewarding areas of expertise while working in a team based environment. As the business world transforms itself to meet the needs of the next century, consultants will be needed more than ever to provide expertise and guidance to industry leaders with the difficult decisions that they face. Maximizing Your ReturnAs with any process, there is a learning curve to recruiting. This book is an attempt to consolidate the information you will need to begin your job search. As such, it should be utilized as both a ground zero starting point and as a reference manual. When you realize that you need to pursue more information on an issue, we hope you will use the book to point you in the right direction. We would also like to point out what this guide should not be used for. This guide is not a substitute for the hours of practice needed to learn how to ‘crack a case.’ Just as we could not hope to write a book to teach you how to ride a bicycle successfully, this book will not provide you with the experiences to master the case interview. Being able to nail a case interview es through practice and perseverance. While we hope that this guide will shave several hours off the process, there is no substitution for having a few actual practice cases under your belt. Therefore, we would encourage you to seek out other MBAs to practice with and/or to use the Office of Career Development.We should also note that recruiting is a multifaceted process. While the interview stage is perhaps the most critical of all ponents, you should not neglect the other steps in the process. To maximize your chances of landing the ‘dream job,’ you should thoroughly research the firms that you are interested in, send cover letters to those firms and make follow up calls with those representatives. Remember that the interview es near the end of the recruiting process, not the beginning. Through the recruiting process you will interact with a number of outstanding consultants, develop lasting bonds with your peers, and learn a great deal about yourself. As much as we would all like to skip recruiting and get right to the offer, most firstyear (and secondyear) students find that there is tremendous value in the process. As with most things in life, your attitude will make you or break you. The decision to approach recruiting as a personal challenge rather than a tedious chore is perhaps the most crucial step in your preparation.Take the time now to read this book and then sit down and determine your plan of action. Identify the areas on which you personally need to focus the most. Remember that you are interviewing Consulting Club Interview Preparation Book – 1999 EditionPage 6 of 118CONSULTINGUNIVERSITY OF MICHIGANCONSULING LUBfor positions that require sharp analytical skills and true business savvy use these distinctive traits to strategize your career launch!With all of that said, please take a deep breath, relax and get ready to show the world what a University of Michigan MBA student can do!On behalf of all of the Officers of the Consulting Club, we wish you the best of luck in the uping academic year, your job search and in your future career.Ben KortlangPresidentTodd Van TolVice PresidentNick HarlingOfficer, Case EducationTushar NarsanaOfficer, Case CompetitionMatt LindsayOfficer, Firm RelationsCarmen SalehOfficer, EveningRobert MooreOfficer, TechnologyAndrew BeauchampTreasurer Consulting Club Interview Preparation Book – 1999 EditionPage 7 of 118CONSULTINGUNIVERSITY OF MICHIGANCONSULING LUBSection 2 – Overview of the Consulting IndustryWhat is Consulting?By the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business Management Consulting Group:1In this section, we will provide an overview of the profession, the types of consulting, projects, and how consulting firms are structured.Understanding each firm39。s approach to consulting services is extremely important to landing a job – that is why corporate presentations can be so valuable, provided that you e with specific questions you would like answered. Why Do Companies Hire Consultants?There are several reasons that firms hire consultants:1. To obtain an objective viewpoint regarding a given business problem or issue. Consultants are relatively unaffected by a pany39。s politics or the way in which business was conducted in the past, so the consulting firm delivers what is perceived as an objective analysis. This perspective can be important for motivating employees to change.2. To utilize the specific expertise of the consulting firm. For example, the consulting firm may offer an industry authority to which the client would like access. Additionally, the consulting firm may have done similar projects in the past for parable panies.3. To obtain information about where the pany stands in an industry. Consulting firms often develop benchmark data on the performance of industry average and bestinclass panies in order to provide expert advice regarding performance improvements.4. To provide resources to address a specific problem. Often, clients simply do not have enough time or resources to devise solutions to certain problems. Consulting firms can avoid the daytoday distractions that the clients39。 managers cannot. Further,