Consultants wine, dine students

More than 80 firms will give presentations on campus this year. Not since Frasier's Brooks Brothers-and-cappuccino-laced heyday has giving advice appeared so lucrative. For the students sipping wine and schmoozing with alumni at the open bar and presentation for Gemini Consultants last week, the business of telling others how to run their businesses -- otherwise known as "consulting" -- is a fact of life, and often the ideal job for the bright business (but not banking-inclined) student. It was not always this way. The consulting industry has grown an average of 13 percent annually since 1990, and at a university boasting both some of the brightest and most pre-professionally oriented minds, consulting firms recruit hard. "[We spend] a lot of time recruiting," 1994 Wharton graduate Chris Crawley, an analyst at Marakon Associates, said at the firm's Faculty Club presentation last Monday night. "Our business is people. That's what we're about," he continued, adding that the firm, which currently employs approximately 200 consultants, is looking to hire 30-35 college graduates this year. More than 80 consulting firms gave presentations on campus last year, and firms are still signing up for this year, according to Career Planning and Placement Services Director Patricia Rose. And although Rose and several firm representatives stress that students from all schools -- not just Wharton -- can work as consultants, few universities attract as many recruiters as Penn. Crawley said Marakon only holds presentations at Penn, Princeton, Yale, Northwestern and Duke universities. And while student newspapers at all the Ivies are also riddled with advertisements for recruitment receptions, their catalogue of recruiting firms pales in comparison to Penn's. Only 26 firms will recruit at Cornell and Princeton this year, according to career planning officers at the schools. And although 83 firms plan to interview students throughout the year at Harvard, only 40 are giving presentations in Cambridge, Mass. For Cornell, however, 26 is more than twice last year's tally -- which may be a testament to the fact that firms are increasingly seeking out students without a business background. In particular, management consulting firms like Marakon emphasize that they are searching for students with a variety of degrees. "You definitely have to have good communications skills, be able to solve problems and have basic computer skills," Rose said. "Obviously, if you're talking about actuarial consulting or systems consulting, [you're going to need someone] with more expertise." Such lax prerequisites have attracted throngs of College of Arts and Sciences and Wharton students to presentations like Marakon's. Approximately 40 percent of the students at the presentation were from Wharton, with most of the rest coming from the College. "There's a lot of variety, it's really interesting and you get to travel a lot," College senior Jenny Axt said at the presentation. Indeed, travel -- along with 60-hour work weeks -- is central to the job. But for would-be investment bankers, consulting has a much more relaxed atmosphere and the hours are less demanding. And for College students unsure of the future, consulting is a ticket into the business world. "We're looking for students with an intellectual curiosity who are interested in dealing with new things because it changes all the time," Crawley said, stressing that industry knowledge is not a requirement because the company does not like to "pigeon-hole" its analysts. So what exactly does a management consultant do? Hundreds of students turned up to learn the answer last Tuesday night at Steinberg-Deitrich Hall's room 351 for a workshop given by Andersen Consulting, a major player in the field. "It may seem like you're stating the obvious," College senior Erin Arthur said. "But when you're working for [a company], it's amazing the things you can't see." The workshop, led by 1990 Wharton graduate David Blumberg, focused on the mock interview commonly given to consultant hopefuls. During the interview, the prospective analyst must attempt to begin solving a problem from a "client company" by asking questions and conducting a preliminary "investigation." "They're looking for your willingness to jump in and get wet with the problem," said Blumberg, who also stressed that responses be "thoughtful" and "structured." "Listen. Don't be thinking about how you're going to tell him how you were captain of the swim team," he said. "Use transitions like 'If I understand you correctly?' and remember you don't need prior industry knowledge." Andersen -- which has grown an average of "at least 35 percent over the past few years," according to Blumberg -- sponsored the workshop for the same reason other firms have been held their presentations in the Palladium's wine cellar -- "sheer selfish goodwill," Blumberg said. "We wanted students to like us, and we wanted the Penn students to be as good as possible," he said. "If we can answer for them the five stupid questions they're going to run into, we can get people better suited for the job."

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