From College to Consulting with Rishi Shah: Recent Episodes
Rishi Shah
Hi there! My name is Rishi Shah and I am a Purdue '22 graduate, with a B.S. in Finance. Since my freshman year of college, my goal was to go into consulting for my first full-time job. After 3 years of hard work as a university student, I am happy to say that I will be working as an Associate Consultant at Slalom's Chicago office for my first job. However, I realize that there are other college students/grads out there, trying to break into this industry as well. Hence, I created this podcast to aid them in their journey towards landing a consulting offer, whether it is an internship or a full-time role. New episodes will be posted on a weekly basis, so please do check in once a week. This podcast will have episodes that cover tips & tricks that I used as a prospect, interviews with my colleagues in consulting, and what I learn when during my first job. Enjoy the content and please don't hesistate to let me know on certain consulting topics you would like me to speak on.
In this episode, I interview Isiah Galve from Accenture. Isiah is a former co-worker and current friend of mine. We talk about his journey in procurement consulting, what the industry is looking like, and how young people can get into this space.
In this episode, I speak with Matt Schober, President of Schober Consulting in the Greater Minneapolis area, on how students/early grads from non-technical backgrounds can break into tech/IT-focused consulting roles.
In this episode, we interview my old colleague from PurdueTHINK Consulting and Purdue University, Abby Lawler, who is an incoming M&A intern at West Monroe this summer. More specifically, we talk about the following:
- Her major and coursework
- Her leadership roles in her extracurricular activies
- Her past internship experiences
In this episode, we speak with Steve Sistrunk from Slalom Consulting on his career, emphasizing the following topics:
- His academic background (BS in Accounting from Purdue; MBA from ISU)
- His industry background (State Farm Insurance, Verizon)
- His rescent experiences at Slalom Consulting
In this episode, I will discuss why I left my old consulting firm to join a new, smaller consultancy.
Please fill out this survey for episode feedback and future topics!
In this first episode of Season 3, we talk about about the Bench in consulting. More specifically, we talk about the following 3 topics:
- What is the Bench in Consulting?
- Why you're benched?
- What to do when benched?
Please fill out this survey link for feedback on this episode. Thank you!
In this episode, we are speaking Zach Schmid, a Senior Consultant from West Monroe in the firm's Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) practice. During our conversation, we talk about the following:
- His career from Purdue to Deloitte to West Monroe
- What consulting work in the M&A space looks like
- His own tips and tricks for people who want to work in consulting
In this unscripted and extended episode, we are joined in coversation by Zoe Jordan, who is a Senior Analyst at Accenture. We discuss a wide varitey of topics, from her career's start at Accenture and her heavy use of technical skills to the firm's overall culture and some of her project experiences.
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In this first episode of Season 2, the podcast's new interview series, I interview Trystan Manning. He is a Strategy Analyst at Deloitte and we talk primarily talk about his Deloitte experiences, the firm's culture and structure, and his personal insights into consulting.
In this episode, I talked about rejection in consulting and how briefly deal with it in the following 3 ways:
1) Keeping in touch with the recruiters
2) Picking an alternative role/industry that allows you to develop your consulting skills
3) Staying positive
This is episode, I talk about the pros and cons about working at a big firm vs a small firm.
In this episode, I briefly talk about what the case interview is and the best way I think any consulting prospect should prepare for it:
1) Read Case Interview Secrets by Victor Cheng
2) Do practice cases as well as use other free matierials
3) Do 15-20 live cases with a colleague in consulting before your actual case.
In this episode, I talk about five academic myths that every college student attempting to break into the industry should know. They are the following:
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You need a cumulative 3.5 GPA (or higher) to get a role in consulting.
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You need to have super demanding leadership roles to get noticed by firms
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You can't put classes or coursework on your resume when applying to firms
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You need to intern at multiple brand name companies to get noticed by firms
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You need to have multiple majors and minors to get noticed by firms
In this episode, I briefly talk about the defintion of consulting as well the following most common sectors of consulting that students start their careers in: Management Consulting, Strategy Consulting, & Accounting, Finance and Tech Consulting.
In this first episode, I talk about what is the purpose of this podcast and the type of consulting advice you can expect by listening in. I hope you find this podcast useful in your journey towards transitioning into consulting from college and look forward to serving you!