First full time job - Tips for a young professional

Hi Max,

First of all, congratulations on the offer from PwC!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

• First of all, while it is great to see how eager you are to prepare for your career start with PwC, I would highly advise you not to worry about it.
• Like all major consulting firms, PwC will provide you with excellent onboarding and training that will prepare you for everything you need to know.
• Lastly, if you want to prepare on your own, I would advise you to improve your MS Excel and PowerPoint skills. While there may be firm-specific Excel and PowerPoint functions, you will still be faster in the first few months with some practice.

You can find more on this topic here: Salaries in the consulting industry.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best practice your MS Excel and PowerPoint skills beforehand, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi Max,

Congratulations on the new job!

Here are a few suggestions for things you could do at the beginning to set yourself up for success:

1. Talk to your peers: Schedule 15-30 min 1:1s with colleagues that are at the same level as you but joined earlier (e.g., 1-2 years ago). Ask them about their experiences and what they learned over this time
2. Start building your network: Reach out to managers and leaders in the FS team and offer to schedule a 15 min call to introduce yourself and learn more about what they do. This will give you the opportunity to better understand the team structure and processes and how you can contribute (ask them how you could support them). It will also ensure that the team knows you and your background
3. Understand the review process and requirements: Talk to someone who can explain to you the review process and what reviewers are expecting from you after 6 months, after 12 months, etc., this depends on the frequency of the review process too. Also, ask them about the next role too, just to understand the direction in which you are moving
4. Start working on developing your technical skills: Once you get your first project, schedule frequent feedback sessions with your manager (I used to schedule weekly feedback sessions for my first few projects). This will help you quickly learn new skills, as well as adjust in case you need to do something differently. And if there is not much feedback to discuss, you can always use it as a coffee chat with your manager, which will help you build a better relationship with them

Good luck, you'll rock it!

Hey there,

Congrats on the achievement!

If you are interested in preparing for your new role, I'd suggest the following:

When I got the offer some years ago I did the same. I reached out to people I knew in McKinsey and people who interviewed me to ask: what can I do to make the start easier? how can I prepare?

The answer from everyone was: Relax! Enjoy your time before you start and don't think about it. You will figure it out on the job. I followed that advice and it made sense to me once I joined.

When you start at in top tier consulting there are 2 ways to learn:

1. Formal training. The formal training sessions/ weeks/ days in the beginning, are nice, however, they are more for networking and meeting your peers. You learn some interesting concepts and get some useful tips from more experienced consultants BUT
2. Constant and implicit learning on the job is where it's at. No matter if you are a newcomer or a veteran after 2 years, you will always find yourself on a steep learning curve. As soon as you barely mastered one skill or the skills needed for one level in the hierarchy, you will take care of things, which are expected from a more senior colleague. This cycle never ends. You are expected to learn on the job, learn from your colleagues, your mentors, sometimes even the client. So basically a newly promoted Engagement Manager has the same 'struggle' as a new-hire Business Analyst. They both need to work in a completely new environment and role.

Knowing that, if we now go back to square one in your consulting journey it makes perfect sense to enter the firm with a blank slate with a lot of curiosity and eagerness to soak it all up and quickly learn the ropes.

Nothing matches the experience and the learning and this is a good thing (also the reason why ex-consultants are valued highly on the job market).

You will learn everything you need to master while doing it. You will be thrown in the cold water and need to swim. However, your colleagues will always be happy to help you and mentor you. And for the rest, you will figure everything out along the way. The key here is always to ask for tips, shortcuts, feedback, etc. Don't be quiet if you get stuck.

Lastly, if you have no domain knowledge about a certain industry or topic, read through the internal library of documentation (which is endless) and call some of the firm experts on the topic. Usually, they are happy to offer you a short call to get you up to speed.

But here’s something extra: Since the question came up ever so often with my clients, I've authored a book titled "Consulting Career Secrets," specifically to guide newcomers like you in navigating this journey. The goal of the book was to answer all typical questions of entry-level consultants and show them the way to make the entry and the transition as simple and painless as possible. While no book or training can entirely prep you for the unique experiences of your first day, week, or project, it offers comprehensive insights to mentally prepare you, suggests essential tools and skills to acquire, shows you the ways how to do that, and strategies to quickly adapt and excel in your new role. You can DM me if you want to know more.

In any case, don't sweat the small stuff and enjoy the ride!

Florian