Queen s Consulting Association Letter to Members

Transcription

1 Letter to Members

2 Our Mission The promotes the consulting career path for students in every year of study within the Queen s School of Business. Our mandates, organized into three pillars, are to raise awareness of the consulting profession, continue the development of consulting education at QSB, and to ensure the preparation of our students so they are the best candidates through each step of the industry s challenging case interview process. QCA s three pillars can be further organized into distinct action items and deliverables as displayed in our comprehensive Consulting Guide. Awareness Assuming the position of internal QSB consulting communication lead Committing to acquiring QCA membership Promoting consulting opportunities within ComSoc, as well as the greater community Development Creating easier ways for firms to recruit at Queen s Networking with recent consulting graduates Fostering Queen s talent throughout faculties Working closely with the BCC and alumni Preparation Hosting case interview preparation sessions Debriefing the recruiting cycle with a results report Creating a Queen s consulting guide with tips, firm overviews, industry primers, general structures and alumni stories 1

3 Executive Placements We are very proud to report a 100% industry placement rate for all of our executive members who entered consulting recruiting. Additionally, we wish our graduating executive all the best as they enter the industry full-time. Full Time Placements Alessia Vettese Deloitte Consulting Carsten Schaltz Boston Consulting Group 3rd Year Summer Placements Talon Lloyd Oliver Wyman Vanesa Cotlar Monitor Deloitte Dan McGee Monitor Deloitte Russell Moore Bain & Company Carolyn Taylor Monitor Deloitte Yifan Zhou Bain & Company 2

4 Introduction The last twelve months have been transformational, and truly exciting, for the Queen s Consulting Association. Our small team of fourteen executive members has been hard at work expanding the breadth of our offerings and reaching more students than ever before. We are very proud of what they have been able to accomplish this year, from improving upon our existing event offerings, to the development of two detailed and informative reports The Consulting Guide & The Fall Recruiting Report. Among this year s accomplishments is the development of a formal membership base, serving over 80 students. We offered these members a variety of on-campus events, including industry and intern panels, firm coffee chats, and case interview preparation sessions. Additionally, we have partnered with more firms than ever before through our firm day platform. QCA held events at four Toronto offices those of A. T. Kearney, Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and McKinsey & Company. Further to this, QCA bolstered its mandate of student development by providing members with opportunities to learn in a competitive environment. We ran the inaugural QCA Case Interview Challenge, as well as a case competition in partnership with Accenture, coined as the Accenture Accelerated Engagement Program. Finally, through the delivery of case framework presentations at Consulting for a Cause 2014 and the Commerce & Engineering Environmental Conference 2014, we educated students across multiple faculties in a variety of contexts. As we look forward, we are excited to see what the incoming team has in store and have the utmost confidence in them to bring the committee to new heights. Sincerely, Alessia Vettese and Talon Lloyd QCA Co-Chairs,

5 Year Recap Consulting offerees who attended QCA s Case Prep Sessions did so an average of four times Alumni and Internal Affairs Through the summer of 2013, our focus was mainly on facilitating the QCA industry panels held during career launch. We offered our members two panels with nine firms represented. In addition, later in the fall, we ran a recruiting panel targeted towards first and second years. The purpose of this was to generate first-hand advice and discussion from third years who had just successfully completed the recruiting process. The event was highly attended, with some people even sitting on the aisles! By way of improvement, next time this event is run we should incorporate coffee chats in order to give students the opportunity for more personal interactions. This year, we have also been working on developing an alumni database to ensure we maintain contact with as many consultants as possible. In the future, I hope the Alumni and Internal Affairs portfolio continues to bolster this database and turn it into a valuable resource for our executive and members alike. Case Prep Sessions At the beginning of the year, the case prep team ran 10 sessions in order to prepare students for recruiting. We found that the beginning sessions were very well received, attended by more than half of all fall semester offerees. However, the later sessions saw attendance trail off. In the future, we would like to see a greater focus at the very beginning of the year, so that we finish before interviews start. Utilizing different formats for the sessions should be considered next year to expediate the schedule and continually engage the audience. External Faculty Involvement Before and during the fall recruiting cycle, the focus was split between non-commerce students already interested in consulting, and those who were previously unfamiliar with it. For the former, on top of case prep sessions, several smaller sessions were held to tailor the content to the level and experience of the non-commerce students. Four engineering students secured positions with consultancies over this year s recruitment. For those who had not yet been introduced to management consulting, two events were held with BCG and Accenture to help inform students about the exciting possibilities within consulting. After the recruiting cycle many engineers attended the multitude of firm days, and one-on-one tutorials were held for any students who needed them. Much of the success of this year will be observed during next year s recruiting cycle. It will be exciting to see how the education and exposure transforms into action! 4

6 Year Recap To date, we have over 80 members in our database representing multiple faculties Industry and Events In partnership with top management consulting firms, QCA held many successful External Industry Events this year that gave both Commerce and Engineering students the opportunity to learn more about the consulting field through personal engagement with firms. There were three Firm Days held at the firms Toronto offices: Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and McKinsey & Company. QCA also held on-campus events with Accenture and A.T. Kearney. At these events, participants learned about the type of work consultants do, potential career paths within the industry, firm-specific recruiting opportunities, and even the problem solving skills necessary for the job. Firms also introduced some friendly competition by having mini-case challenges. These events were beneficial not only for students but also for the firms to promote their opportunities to a targeted audience. QCA had a high number of applicants to each event and firms were responsible for choosing which students they would invite to participate. We were truly impressed with the caliber of the applicants to each event and we received extremely positive feedback from both students and firm representatives. QSB Consulting Network This year, QCA placed a strong focus on developing current relationships as well as creating new partnerships within QSB. QCA specifically targeted two groups from the onset of the year: first-year students and engineers. By tailoring our outreach efforts, membership and event policies, we saw a notable rise in first-year and engineer engagement. Moving forward, QCA would like to explore more direct methods of marketing to these two student populations. Marketing & Membership Coordinator This year, QCA had the pleasure of executing a membership platform for Queen s students who were looking for a connected way of learning about the world of consulting. To date, we have over 80 members in our database, representing faculties from not only Commerce, but also the faculty of Engineering and Arts and Science. In addition to our membership platform, Marketing & Membership also led the inaugural Queen s Case Interview Challenge which allowed first and second year students to compete in a case solving competition. We are excited to announce that our first year Case Interview Challenge winners were Meghna Nagpal and Connie Li and our second year winners were Stephanie Yi and Tim Wang. 5

7 Looking Forward We are proud to have seen QCA grow so much in the past year, and are excited to take the committee to new heights next year. There has been a growing interest in the consulting field, and we want to focus on meeting the needs of as many of those students as possible. This starts with helping students determine whether they are interested in consulting where QCA offers information sessions, Q&A panels, and various Firm Days. QCA then provides interested individuals with the network and resources to prepare for the recruiting process, such as case preparation sessions, networking opportunities, a plethora of case resources, and experienced executive members who are ready to answer inquiries. After the recruiting process, successful candidates are invited to return and provide guidance to their peers. Over the upcoming year, we would like to focus on establishing even stronger relationships with firms, developing an involved alumni board, and ensuring that Queen s students have access to the absolute best resources and preparation before the recruiting season. As such, though QCA already has relations with many firms in the Toronto region, we would like to explore boutique firms, as well as firms with niche focuses, to promote a more diverse selection of opportunities. We also would like to leverage the knowledge and experience found within our alumni network, whether it be acting as mentors or providing directional advice for the committee. Overall, our goal is to assist students in the recruitment process through as many means as possible. The consulting recruiting process requires a strong, collaborative network, and QCA can provide this essential support. The committee not only bridges potential candidates with employers, but also with other candidates - the learning that takes place between peers is by far the best way to succeed in consulting recruiting. We are committed to continue providing students with opportunities to assist them in realizing their full potential. In particular, we are excited for QCA to provide unparalleled support to the future generation of consultants! Sincerely, Donna Yan & Yifan Zhou QCA Co-Chairs