Recruiting Journeys | Consulting: A.J. Roy ’24, Boston Consulting Group
A.J. Roy ’24, a joint-degree graduate of SOM and the David Geffen School of Drama, reflects on his path to a role at a major consulting firm.
In this series, recent Yale SOM graduates break down the recruiting process that led them to their current roles.
How does the recruiting process work in your field?
Consulting is one of the most structured industries, and recruiting started very quickly after we began at SOM. As soon as orientation was over, the Consulting Club started to prepare us for the beginning of firm engagements, or meetings with representatives of various firms. I went to networking events on a regular basis, as well as “coffee chats,” which are informal ways to connect with members of a firm and see if you’re a good fit. I would come to those chats with some questions about the firm and the person’s path to consulting; it’s an opportunity to show that you’ve done your research and are engaging seriously with the process. These engagements continued until around mid-November, when a lot of internship applications dropped.
At the same time, we were preparing for case interviews through the Consulting Club, which assigned us to casing teams to improve our skills. After interview invites came out, we spent December ramping up on our interview prep. Interviews happened in the first two weeks of January, and I accepted my offer by the end of January and was set for the summer. I went into the internship unsure of how I would respond to consulting, but my summer was positive enough that I had no hesitation about accepting the full-time offer I received at the end.
What skills did you develop at SOM that have helped you in your current role?
As well as basics like using Excel and writing slides, prioritization and time management have been extremely important. There’s just so much coming at you at SOM, and that’s definitely true in the consulting world as well. I draw on how I worked with my SOM learning team when I think about how I’m working with my consulting team. The casing prep I did with the Consulting Club also helped a lot.
Which SOM resources helped you the most during the recruiting process?
The Career Development Office (CDO) was really useful in thinking about how to position myself relative to other SOMers, and what strengths I could draw out of my materials. I also did behavioral interview prep with the CDO, which was so helpful. It’s one thing to do mock interviews with fellow students, but another to do it with a staffer who’s interviewed a lot of people before.
SOM’s Consulting Club is also just amazing. There is absolutely no way I could have gotten an offer without the Consulting Club, which provided both camaraderie and accountability.
Learn about the Yale SOM Consulting Club and visit our consulting information hub.
What advice would you give to current students recruiting for energy roles?
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. I remember the process coming at me very quickly; it felt like I had just set foot on campus, and suddenly I had to be in my business casual clothes, acting like I knew everything I wanted to do with my life. The Consulting Club is really good at maintaining that you need to push yourself to show up to recruiting events, but also that you can’t always be “on” and need to attend to yourself as well.
I would also advise students to really leverage the resources the Consulting Club provides, and talk to the second-years. They basically lay out a roadmap for navigating this process successfully. I followed it, and it worked for me.
