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Mastering the Art of the Coffee Chat

Isabelle is a recent MBA graduate, specializing in Global Business, Strategy and Product Management. Prior to Stern, Isabelle was a consultant at Accenture specializing in the life science industry. Post-MBA, she is about to start working for Samsung Electronics as a Global Consultant . At Stern, she was involved in the leadership of Asian Business Society, Student government, Stern Technology association, European Business association and as a member of the Latin American Business Association, Stern Women in business  and the admissions office as a Graduate assistant. 

I came into Stern knowing I wanted to work directly with a product in an innovative field, but like many people who join as first years, I was also looking to learn and explore. While I was secretly hoping someone would be able to tell me my dream job, real life is not that simple – it never really is! But Stern gave me every opportunity to explore. 

Even before you start school, you begin hearing about the importance of recruiting. You receive the Ignite prep and begin chugging away. A lot of information is thrown your way but you keep hearing the same two words: Coffee chats. 

As someone allergic to caffeine, I was less than enthused by the idea of chatting with someone over coffee. My nerves continued to grow as I pictured a potentially  awkward conversation with an industry leader, while I sat there with a cup full of coffee, easing my nerves by pretending to sip every so often to have something to do with my hands. Beyond the awkwardness, coffee chats or informational interviews invoked an image of small talk and desperation. To say the least, these “chats” were not something I was looking forward to.

Now however, I now easily have a coffee chat a day, even after the end of formal recruiting. This change is completely thanks to Stern and the students I recruited with. Almost every alum, student, professor, or professional I reached out to has replied eagerly to share advice, experiences and sometimes (when I was really lucky), even an interview or job opportunity. In an effort to ease your nerves, I thought I would share my learnings about coffee chats!

Rarely any coffee 

This may be silly to say or obvious to some, but coffee chats often don’t involve any coffee. Today,  many coffee chats today are virtual, and if they aren’t, you are always welcome to get another beverage!

Networking is not a dirty word

Often people feel like networking is superfluous because it conveys that you want something (in this case, a job), but that’s not all networking is. Yes, when you set up a coffee chat, you should be the best version of yourself so that the person on the other side will help you, but the aim of the conversation should be to learn about the person you are talking to- whether that is about the company they work for, their interests, or what they did before. In the end, you should aim for the conversation to be as fruitful for them as it was for you. It is a give and take. My best coffee chats were those in which I was able to share my experience with the industry professionals to help them with their own questions or problems. 

As an example, when I was networking with a large bank, I met someone who had the exact position I was interested in. We spoke about the job and the company, but even more so we spoke about what we liked to do, I talked about my community and non profit interests, and they asked me to help them find a way to give back. This person became more than just someone who helped me get an interview, they became someone who I still connect with for advice. 

Coffee chats are not always just a one time thing

The goal of a coffee chat should not just be a one-time conversation to learn about the company, it should be about you growing your network. If you are able to form a more lasting relationship with that person, it makes a big difference – not only in recruiting, but in many areas of your life. 

Remember, industry professionals are just people 

We all often walk into coffee chats nervous and lost. “What do I tell this stranger about myself?” But often, the other person is feeling exactly the same way. They may have just come out of a long meeting or were just concentrating on a task at work. In the end, they have given up their time because they want to be of help, so make sure you come in with questions that will help you most.  

I have been and still am on both sides of the coffee chat, and what always goes through my mind is the airport test. Throughout this conversation with this person, have they given me a sense that I would like to spend 5-10 hours with them in an airport if we were to get caught in delays? So remember that the person is human, have empathy, and build a human connection.

Coffee chats are not always conducted one on one 

Sometimes, coffee chats during recruiting include multiple people with one industry professional. When this happens, make sure that you stand out in some way. Have a list of questions you want to ask and do your research on the person. Always ask for their contact information and follow up to see if you can get a solo chat. 

Lastly, Stern is always there to support us 

Every office at Stern comes together to make sure that you are prepared for recruiting. Stern Career services constantly provides you the opportunity for you to make connections, bringing in hundreds of companies to speak with students. The professional clubs like Stern Tech Association and Management Consulting Association lead knowledge transfer sessions and study groups to prepare you. Other students and professors give up their time to practice with you and give you advice. So take advantage of it!

Key Takeaways

Keeping these things in mind really helped me reform how I looked at coffee chats. Now, everyone is going to have different advice for coffee chats – a former Sternie wrote her advice in 2021 –  but mastering the coffee chat is really about understanding yourself and how to present that to the person standing in front of you. These are some tips that helped me feel comfortable  while growing my network. 

1.  Always ask for the coffee chat host’s contact information 

Make sure to get their information before the end of the coffee chat and send a thank you note afterward. Often, it is good to ask near the beginning or middle of a group coffee chat, but if you are alone, leave it for the last question. 

2. Be genuinely curious

People like to talk about what they are doing – so ask them about it! Make sure to do your research and prepare questions ahead of time. While the conversation can go in any direction, preparation will help you stand out and make the most of the conversation.

3. Look at each coffee chat as a first step

You will rarely only speak to one person at a company. So use each coffee chat as a chance to research for your next one. Ask questions like “what is the biggest challenge your team is facing” or “where do you see the company going in the next year” or “what is the most exciting thing your company is doing?” This way, you hear real-world problems companies face today and will be ready for your next chat and, eventually, interview! 

4. Not all coffee chats are evaluative, but you should prepare as if they are 

Always research before a coffee chat and show your commitment. You never know how the conversation will impact your future career.

5. Be direct 

When you ask for time, be direct in what you hope to speak about so that the person knows exactly why they are meeting with you. You don’t want to use their time asking questions you could have learned on the website!

6. If you have the choice, choose a place in which you are comfortable 

Many coffee chats are done virtually now, so make sure you pick a place that you feel most comfortable. If the person gives you the option of an in person chat, take that option because it often leads to better connections. Choose to meet in a place you like that is quiet and also not too expensive, often they will pay out of their own pocket for you. 

7. Never leave a conversation without having at least one other person to reach out to

You can not build your network unless you ask for more contacts. I like to ask every person I talk to for 2 other people who I should contact based on the interests I have expressed during our conversation. 

8. Be you

As someone who has been on both sides of the coffee chat, it is so easy to see when someone is not being genuine. Remember the airport test-  I want to be able to tell if I would like to spend time with you. The more I want to spend time with you, the more helpful I can be. 

Just be yourself. I promise you, the other person will appreciate it.

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Experiential Learning @ Stern: Endless Possibilities

Jeet Khilnani is an MBA2, specializing in strategy and leadership & change management. Prior to Stern, Jeet worked at Nomura in a corporate finance role, and Deloitte in an audit role. This summer, Jeet interned at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a Summer Consultant and will be continuing to work at the firm post graduation in New York City. Additionally, Jeet is the Co-President of Outclass (Stern’s LGBTQ+ organization), and a VP of Stern Student Government, Management Consulting Association, Graduate Finance Association, and South Asian Business Association at Stern.

One of the biggest drivers of the MBA experience at Stern is the countless opportunities to learn by doing. Stern’s incredible location unlocks access to almost anything you want to do – PE/VC, Startups, Healthcare, Consulting, Finance, Impact Investing and the list just goes on. Stern’s “Change Studio” umbrella is so wide and deep, I think most students would not even be able to list all the different opportunities available!

This was a key component of my decision to attend Stern. I was uprooting my life from India and moving thousands of miles away to a whole new world in the US. I wanted to familiarize myself with the culture and see the different facets of the business world before I started my full time job, both as a way to prepare for it and to ease the learning curve a little bit. Through my time so far, I’ve experienced three different experiential learning opportunities – Communication for Consultants, Operations Consulting – An Experiential Approach & Endless Frontier Labs. Each course came with an opportunity to learn something new about business, about an industry I had no clue about, and in the process, about myself.

  • Communication for Consultants: I decided to take this course in Spring 2022 right after I decided to pivot into consulting for my summer internship. I had no idea how consulting works, and I was coming from a near-shore role just before Stern. I instantly found myself attracted to a non-profit in the film and media space, and luckily, was matched to work with them. The challenge was mind-blowing – the non-profit had started a social impact film festival in virtual format during the pandemic, and now wanted to bring it to in-person format post-COVID. 

In addition to this, the goal was to identify and overcome challenges in communication from the clients – they sometimes confuse symptoms with the problem, and there’s a lot of reading between the lines involved. I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project, eventually culminating into a final presentation with the client being present in the room with us, and appreciating the recommendations. We’re all so excited that the festival will be in-person (with a virtual option) in 2023 in Boston, MA!

  • Operations Consulting – An Experiential Approach: After Communication for Consultants, I was craving more. And then came the opportunity to enroll in Operations Consulting during Fall 2022, and admittedly I understand nothing about operations. This course involves weekly visits to a new company and witness their operations during class time, followed by debrief and discussion thereafter. I was able to experience so many different industries in such a short span of time and I couldn’t be happier about it – a brewery, a global FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods), a sugar refinery, a port terminal, and a global cosmetics company. Learning how different (and how similar) their operations are, identifying problems and areas for improvement, and witnessing the different levels of adoption of technology has been so enriching!

While visiting all these plants, we also had to pick a business and do an independent project advising them improvements in their own operations – and we’re currently working with a grocery-delivery company to identify improvements for inventory management. It takes work, yes, but the learning and benefits are far greater and are setting me up for my career at BCG!

  • Endless Frontier Labs: EFL is Stern’s signature startup accelerator, providing mentorship opportunities to startups around the world. This year, EFL received 1100+ applications from startups, and selected 75 startups for the year-long program through a process of rigorous interviews and application screenings (so it’s highly selective!). The first step was to interview companies and fill out our evaluations. Post that, MBA students are matched with selected startups following a double-blind matching process, and I was matched with a groundbreaking startup in the EV charging space. Again, I found myself feeling a bit anxious since I knew nothing about the space. But the founder and team was gracious enough to coach me, and so far, I’ve been designing a go-to-market strategy for them. Next semester, we plan to raise the seed funding for this company and if all goes well, I will be able to take pride in being a small part of this incredible company’s growth trajectory.

I’ve learnt so much already – about the EV space, the charging space, how it all works, and the economics behind it. This is an invaluable experience that I will take with me wherever I go, and also a great way to test out the craziness of the startup world that always intimidated me. I really like it – and I can survive it (which I didn’t know before!)

As you can probably tell, this is only a small fraction of the endless possibilities that Stern offers you through its experiential learning opportunities. To me, this is what an MBA looks like in today’s ever-changing business world, where you learn in class and apply the learnings to a real-world project with implications that define the success of your clients, and you.

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Reflections on My Summer Internship at McKinsey

Jane Kennedy is an MBA2, specializing in strategy, entrepreneurship, and data analytics. Prior to Stern, Jane worked at REFORM Alliance, a criminal justice reform non-profit. This summer, Jane interned at McKinsey in Washington, DC and will be returning there after graduation.  Additionally, Jane is involved in the Management Consulting Association, SGOV, and the NYU Catholic Graduate community.

The leaves are changing, the sun is shining, and I’m back at Stern to kick off my second year! It’s wild to think about how much has happened since last fall. I remember so vividly being on campus for LAUNCH Orientation, sitting nervously in the first Management Consulting Association (MCA) bootcamp session, and attending as many events as possible to meet new friends. Now, it’s the MBA1’s turn to experience the flurry of excitement, anxiety, and activity that is the first semester of business school – and I’m thrilled for them.

 It was in that first semester that so much of my internship process happened. Coming into Stern, I was set on pivoting into consulting after a couple of years in tech and a couple of years at a criminal justice reform nonprofit. I knew that the road ahead of me was going to be challenging – learning to case is not for the faint of heart! Still, I saw how dedicated the MBA2s were to our success, and their encouragement and coaching carried me through the fall and through recruiting season, all the way to receiving my dream internship offer: a summer at McKinsey’s DC office!

I had lived in DC before school, and so I knew what to expect when it came to living in the District. But a summer of consulting? I had no idea what it was all about.

During our first week, we traveled to a training where we got to meet other interns from a few offices. It was a crash course in all things McKinsey. I learned about their problem-solving method, worked with a small group to “crack” some fascinating cases, and spent time with managers at the firm, soaking up all their wisdom and advice. Then, it was back to DC where I would meet my team and get to work.

Consulting is a nebulous field, and no two days are the “same,” however, I saw that there was a pattern to the work we did. At the top of the week, we would jump into working on a specific question or area of the overall problem to solve. I would do research, conduct interviews, build analyses, and lay out the findings on pages (what McKinsey calls slides). We had frequent meetings with our clients, where we would share our progress and receive continued guidance as we worked towards our final deliverables. The work was fascinating and engaging. My brain was “on” all day, and there were many days that left me stunned by how much output we had created in just 8 hours.

 I loved my summer at McKinsey, and (because I’m a consultant now!) I’ll break it down into three reasons why. 

First, my team was deeply invested in my development. 

They spent copious amounts of time helping me figure out what I was doing, offering feedback and coaching on my work, and giving me opportunities to shine in front of partners and clients. My team was hands down the best part of the experience. 

Second, I was able to do “real work.” 

Many times, interns are relegated to the back row and given “play work,” but that was not the case for me this summer. I was able to lead my own workstream and offer solutions and suggestions that helped the team shape our approach.

Third, I had tons of exposure to experts and firm leaders. 

Not a week went by that I didn’t present some aspect of my work to a partner or senior partner. I was encouraged to build relationships with not only our project’s leadership, but with partners across the firm. This “flat structure” allowed me to see so much more of the firm and it helped me feel even more excited to accept McKinsey’s full time offer and return as an Associate after graduation!  

I’m so happy to be back on campus and in the classroom this year, and I’m especially excited to help the MBA1s as they embark on their own internship journeys. I hope that every Sternie can find a role this summer that challenges them to be their best and leaves them more confident and encouraged than when they started out. We’re all in it together!

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Common Questions About NYU Stern, Answered by a Student

Brandon Quinn is an MBA2 specializing in Strategy and Business Analytics. Prior to Stern, Brandon worked in financial regulation where he examined some of the largest US-based brokerage firms. At Stern, Brandon serves as a Graduate Ambassador, Career Fellow, VP of Admissions for the Management Consulting Association (MCA) and VP of Marketing for the Business Analytics Club (BAC). Upon graduation, he will be pursuing a role as a Consultant at EY-Parthenon. 

Why did you choose Stern over other MBA programs?

I knew I wanted to stay in the NYC area long-term, so the location of Stern played a huge role in my decision to attend. Additionally, I found NYU Stern’s focus on IQ+EQ in the application process really rings true in the culture at the school. Speaking with current students when I applied, I really got the sense that Stern would offer the perfect collaborative environment for me to reach my full potential. 

 

What surprised you the most about Stern?

I think the strong sense of community in the large city is something that surprised me most about Stern. Given NYC is such a big city, I assumed going into Stern that many of my peers would have networks of friends in the city already. While many of my classmates and professors do have networks already built in New York, the community at Stern is exceptional. This summer I will be attending many of my Stern classmates’ weddings–I think this just shows how strong the relationships are that you will build at an MBA program like Stern. 


Is it a challenge to get the classes that you want, and which specializations should I choose for my career?

NYU does a great job of making sure that everyone gets the classes they want to take. There is a lottery system where you fill out your ideal schedule and then you add up to 2 backup classes for each class in your ideal schedule. I have always gotten my ideal schedule each semester at Stern. Overall, I would say it’s not much of a challenge at all to take the classes that you want to take. 

Stern has many specializations, but the specializations are not mandatory. I ended up taking the classes that interested me most rather than the classes that fit into a certain specialization. I would encourage incoming students to do the same and to not worry about which specialization might look best for their future employer. 


What career related support did you get from the school throughout the program?

I got a tremendous amount of support from two primary resources on campus: the Office of Career Development and the Management Consulting Association. The Office of Career Development provided career coaches that helped me develop a recruiting strategy and revised my resume and cover letters. The Office of Career Development also facilitates a lot of the coffee chats with alumni and facilitates the on-campus interviews. The Management Consulting Association (MCA) provided support to make sure I was ready for interview days. The case interview is a very important part of the consulting recruiting process, so MCA brings in external parties to teach students how to tackle the case interview. There are also study groups led by MBA2s who were successful in the interview process the prior year. Other professional clubs on campus are structured similarly, but focus on the specific type of interviews that are unique to that professional club (i.e. Graduate Finance Association with technical finance interviews). 

 

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Summer Internship Series: EY-Parthenon

Brandon Quinn is an MBA2 specializing in Strategy and Business Analytics. Prior to Stern, Brandon worked in financial regulation where he examined some of the largest US brokerage firms. At Stern, Brandon serves as a Graduate Ambassador, Career Fellow, VP of Admissions for the Management Consulting Association (MCA) and VP of Marketing for the Business Analytics Club (BAC). 

Consulting recruiting is a time consuming process that begins as soon as you step on campus to start the MBA program – or in a pandemic, as soon as you log into Zoom for that first class. Students attend various corporate presentations, coffee chats, and case workshops to learn about the different firms and to prepare for the case interviews. We put in all this effort to land a coveted consulting internship, which will hopefully turn into a full-time post-graduation offer. 

I spent my summer at EY-Parthenon in their strategy summer consultant program. I was assigned to the New York office, but the internship was almost entirely virtual. There were a few days I decided to go into the office to see where I would be working, to meet some colleagues face-to-face, and to attend some in-person happy hour events. 

The first week of the program was comprised of various training sessions to help us get accustomed to the firm, learn about the different types of projects, and build our consulting toolkit. After the first week of training, all the interns (including me) were eager to find out which consulting project we would be working on to start the summer. I was assigned to a working capital engagement at a large cosmetic company. Coming from a finance background, the cosmetics industry was a bit foreign to me, but this is what excites me about consulting. Consultants solve some of the most complex problems at some of the largest corporations and work across various industries that might initially seem foreign to them. 

A typical day as an intern on a project consisted of a daily check-in call with the team where we laid out all our objectives for that day. After this call, we split into our workstreams to accomplish the goals for the day; I spent time assessing and prioritizing new markets for expanding one of the client’s programs globally. There was also a daily call with the client where we would present recommendations and make sure everyone was aligned. 

In addition to the real-world project assignment, interns were put into case teams where we worked on two mock projects with EYP practitioners as coaches. This was a great experience to get a flavor of the different types of projects offered at EYP—this also aided in building comradery among us interns and helped us feel more engaged and connected in the virtual environment. The work was challenging and EYP offered an abundance of support through functional training, mentorship, coaches, and sector spotlights. Overall, this was an incredible experience and made the time-consuming recruiting process well worth it!

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Summer Internship Series: ZS Associates

Arthur Heitz is an MBA2 specializing in Strategy and Entertainment, Media and Technology. In addition to serving as a Graduate Ambassador, he is also a VP of Academics and Case Competitions for the Entertainment, Media and Sports Association (EMSA) and a Teaching Fellow for Pr. Matthew Lee’s core Strategy. Arthur was born in Dayton, OH and graduated with a BA from Boston College in 2013. He spent the majority of his career pre-MBA in client services roles at GLG. 

Most choose to pursue their MBA to progress in their career, but getting into business school can feel like a job all in of itself. You study for the GMAT, research schools, speak to alumni, attend presentations, update your resume, write essays and interview all in the hope you end up at a school that’s right for you. Then, what feels like immediately, you get to school and you reenact that process ALL OVER AGAIN: you recruit. You choose your industry(s) of interest, research firms, network, update your resume (even more), and interview all while taking in your class work. All told, upon eventually receiving an offer, it occurred to me I had spent nearly two whole years of my life preparing to become a consultant. I had spent so much time working to get the job, though, that I spent precious little time thinking about the job itself. And with the approach of my internship, it was time, I realized with a mixture of exhilaration and anxiety, to actually consult. Eager, excited and with undeniable nerves, I approached the first week of my internship this summer with a question I dared not ask out loud: So what does a consultant actually do?

Turns out, they do a lot of things. First and foremost, they do what their clients ask. Consulting is ultimately a service business so interacting with and advising clients is required. These are professionals, mind you, whom if they are not former consultants themselves have built a life in their industry or company. This makes learning as much as possible about your clients and their projects essential, both to instill confidence and reassure your client that they are in capable hands. You obviously cannot become an expert overnight, but consultants have a pithy phrase that describes the bar to which you must strive: “know enough to be dangerous.” Furthermore, it turns out those hours (read: days) ((read: weeks)) you spent practicing case studies for consulting interviews actually come in handy. Consulting is also about assessing situations in the moment and problem-solving on the fly. That could mean practicing effective time management, working in Excel or Powerpoint, or figuring out the story being told by a set of data. It could even mean navigating the mine-filled landscape of scheduling a meeting among stakeholders who have a total of zero common availability in a given week. Some problems take days to solve, others may take just minutes. Each day is invariably different in consulting, which can be exhilarating or harrowing, depending on the day.

Reading this, you may think I have reached a place of comfort in the role. More comfortable than when I started, certainly, but I still have a long way to go. Luckily, I work for an organization that understands my plight and is dedicated to supporting me. I was fortunate and humbled to receive an offer to intern at ZS Associates, a firm that works across industries but specializes in consulting for healthcare clients. Despite this focus, they work on as wide a breadth of project types as you would expect to encounter at other leading firms. They understand you are an intern, so try not to push you directly into the deep end. You’re brought onboard for a reason, though, and are given the opportunity to contribute directly to live project work. To help, ZS provides you with resources in the form of trainings, coaches and peer-buddies to help you wade slowly but surely into the oceanic waters of consulting. I’m learning that becoming a great consultant does not happen overnight, so am constantly reminding myself that improvement can come but one day at a time.

Consulting is, on one hand, a natural progression of everything I’ve learned during my career and at school. But on the other, it can be really, really hard. You could say something similar about business school, by the way. Ultimately, like getting into school or recruiting, I see it as another obstacle to overcome, another problem to solve. With some help, determination, and maybe a little bit of luck, I may just yet learn enough to be dangerous.

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What It’s Like to Experience Virtual Recruitment for Consulting

Lanesha Williams is an MBA2 specializing in digital strategy and marketing. Prior to Stern, she worked within Accenture’s federal practice as a technology consulting analyst, helping different government agencies implement and maintain technology systems. At Stern, she serves as the VP of Treks for the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students. Lanesha graduated from Howard University in 2015 with a B.B.A. in Supply Chain Management.

2020 has been quite an interesting year to be a business school student.  During the spring semester of my first year, things began to take a turn.  We moved to online classes, social events were canceled, and some companies decided to scale back their internship programs.  I was fortunate to have a full internship experience this summer.  Although my experience was completely virtual, I was able to be placed on a retail project at a digital consulting firm.  I thoroughly enjoyed my summer but decided I wanted to explore other job opportunities that were available.  I knew that the recruiting process would be different in the age of COVID-19, but I was willing to adjust and cast my net to see what I could catch.  

As most people interested in consulting are aware, case interviews are a pivotal part of the recruiting process.  Before the pandemic, we had the opportunity to practice casing in person with our classmates.  We had teams and groups that would practice drills together and participate in mock interviews.  The pandemic didn’t stop the collaborative recruiting environment that Stern fosters.  My classmates and I organized virtual meetups where we could practice casing and run through math problems.  Through the Management Consulting Association, I also received exclusive access and discounts to prep websites.  I was even able to take a Consulting Interview Readiness Assessment, which highlighted my strengths and weaknesses when walking through case interviews.  My classmates and MCA club members extended themselves to ensure that I was prepared for the interview season that was quickly approaching.

The second-year recruiting process is much more expedited when compared to the first-year student process.  Companies were not able to come on campus to host events, but they did host multiple information sessions via Zoom.  Stern alumni were also happy to talk to me about their experiences at various companies I was interested in applying to.  This isn’t behavior that was unique to the pandemic; Sternies are always willing to connect if you reach out to them with questions. 

Once I was done attending virtual info sessions, I applied to the companies that were on my shortlist.  Within a few days, employees from each company reached out to me to set up individual calls to chat about the company as well as help me prep for interviews.  These representatives walked me through how their company would be conducting interviews and made sure I was comfortable with the new set up.  They also answered any outstanding questions I had.  These pre-interview touchpoints really made me feel comfortable and confident going in to interview day.

On interview day, I got up and prepared myself as I would for any other interview, minus putting on real pants.  I did some meditation, put on a dress shirt and blazer, set up my ring light, and reviewed my notes one final time.  Each company I interviewed for included some form of online analysis before moving to one-on-one interviews.  Since I had passed those, I was able to move on to the zoom interview rounds.  The interviews were a lot less stressful than I had anticipated.  Interviewers were forgiving of technical glitches.  Some even fielded distractions from kids or pets.  I did have to talk through my cases a bit more since my interviewer couldn’t see my paperwork, but I had no problem doing so.  I ended the day feeling confident and reassured about the entire process.

Recruiting remotely isn’t ideal, but it’s the world we live in right now.  Both Stern and corporations have done a tremendous job adapting to the changing times.  I’m thankful that I was able to go through the process successful and appreciative of all of the resources I had along the way.

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Summer Internship Series: Kalypso

Lanesha is an MBA2 specializing in digital strategy and marketing.  Prior to Stern, she worked within Accenture’s federal practice as a technology consulting analyst, helping different government agencies implement and maintain technology systems.  At Stern, she serves as the VP of Treks for the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students. Lanesha graduated from Howard University in 2015 with a B.B.A. in Supply Chain Management.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds lights into Sternies’ internships. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

This summer I’m interning at Kalypso, a boutique consulting firm that specializes in digital projects.  I had a unique recruiting experience; I recruited at the Consortium conference last summer and received a couple of offers before starting school.  Prior to signing for my internship, I made it crystal clear what type of work I did and did not want to do.  Pre-Stern I worked for Accenture in their federal practice as a software implementation analyst.  My roles were very tech-heavy and I was intent on trying something different for my internship.  I expressed to the recruiter that I wanted to work on a strategy focused project within the retail sector and they delivered exactly what I asked for.

My client for the summer is a 60-billion-dollar department store and we are helping them launch their digital product creation program.  Instead of having physical clothing samples that are shipped around the world, everything will be created digitally.  It’s actually pretty cool to see a designer’s sketch of a hoodie turned into a 3D creation that looks realistic.

The hardest part of my summer has been to integrate with teams that I haven’t met in person.  My team is close knit and they have built strong relationships with our clients.  It took me a little bit of time to figure out how to best communicate with my team and what unspoken standards existed for deliverables.  I looked at these obstacles as a learning opportunity.  I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to speak up when I was confused, set up virtual one-on-ones to ask questions, and attend zoom happy hours to network with my colleagues.

I’ve been given several different parts of our project to own and have had considerable face to face time with our clients.  I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the amount of trust my team has in me to execute different tasks – I feel like a full-time employee on our team.  I’ve also been able to be involved in different internal initiatives such as the launch of a new Employee Resource Group and the creation of a recruiting strategy for diverse candidates.

Working remotely was not the vision I had for my summer, but I consider myself blessed to have still had a full 12-week internship experience.  Since I am at home all day long, I’ve had to develop new routines to keep myself focused such as having a dedicated workout schedule, an organized workspace, and a planned-out to-do list for the day.  Although I was looking forward to traveling this summer and racking up the loyalty points, working virtually gives me a glimpse into potential post-COVID changes in the consulting industry.  I think the future consultant lifestyle will still include a significant amount of travel, but there will definitely be more opportunities to work virtually.

I am excited to get back to Stern this fall and hear about the experiences my classmates have had at other consulting firms.  This summer is not what we were expecting, but I know my fellow Sternies have done their best to make lemonade out of lemons.  This summer has given me more perspective as to what I want to do post-MBA and I plan to spend my last year at Stern taking advantage of every opportunity that comes my way.

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Summer Internship Series: Boston Consulting Group

Emily Glaser is a rising MBA2. Prior to Stern, she spent four years at Restaurant Brands International in communications and marketing for the Burger King brand. At Stern, Emily serves on Student Government and the Graduate Marketing Association. She loves dogs, musical theater, and hiking.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds lights into Sternies’ internships. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

This summer, I’m interning at BCG as a Summer Consultant. And that is a sentence I never expected for myself.

When I came to Stern, I was intending to recruit for brand management at a traditional CPG company. My background was in marketing at a fast food chain, and I was interested in continuing to grow my skillset as a marketer. But throughout the fall semester at Stern, I learned about the mysterious world of consulting and found work that truly interested me. I decided to challenge myself and took a leap of faith into a completely new career path!

But what do consultants do? What do YOU do, Emily? Great questions, Mom.

At the base level, consultants find opportunities for improvement at companies across the world and build them a path forward. We help when clients are too close to an issue to see things clearly or too busy driving the bus to fix the exhaust and carburetor at the same time. We’re problem solvers, guiding our clients hand-in-hand toward success.

And as for me specifically, this summer I’m staffed on an end-to-end transformation for a global personal care company. We want to help them listen to their customers better, interpret their needs, and efficiently deliver products that will improve their lives.

My portion of the case has been to analyze and improve the process they use to launch new products across their vast portfolio. I was incredibly nervous to come in as a new summer consultant and be given a topic to own from the first week – how should I know how they should launch personal care products? I only know about burgers and chicken nuggets! But the team has been incredibly helpful in guiding me through my research and analysis, and in only 5 weeks (so far) I’ve already learned an incredible amount. I’ve learned how to frame a high-level ambiguous problem and break it up into digestible questions that can be tackled individually. I’ve developed insights that spurred meaningful discussions with the client about strategic change. And I’ve learned the humility to always ask questions when you feel unsure.

The advice I’d give to MBA1s or those applying for business school is to always be open to learning. You may come to Stern knowing exactly what you want to be, but that can be upended in a moment. And that’s a good thing. There may end up being several different career paths to help you achieve your goals. You may even find new paths and opportunities that excite you! Being open to new paths led me to BCG, which has been one of my greatest learning experiences thus far. I’ll be returning full-time after graduation, and my goal throughout my career here is to always be open to listening and learning.

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Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone in Business School

Sami Abdisubhan is an MBA2 who spent his summer internship at Anheuser-Busch. Sami serves as VP of Marketing & Operations for Stern in Africa (SiA), VP of Training for Stern FC, and Co-President of the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students (AHBBS). He is specializing in Marketing and Business Analytics.

 

 

One of the values of earning an MBA is exploration. Whether it’s exploring a new industry, function, city, or experience, there lies opportunity in an unusually supported manner when at business school. A subset of this value proposition is something NYU Stern’s Dean, Dean Raghu Sundaram, said to us on our first day of LAUNCH, Stern’s orientation: business school is the best time in your careers to fail. Despite the irony that I’m paraphrasing, this was a moment that I’ve cherished from orientation. There is no safer environment to professionally experiment than business school. The stakes will not be lower! This line from our Dean helped me get through an experiential learning class I took in my first year called Consulting Lab: Branding and Innovation.

Coming into Stern, I wanted to pivot my career into consumer marketing with a focus on brand management. While brand management is effectively a general management function, there is a responsibility to own how a brand is portrayed and understood and that has always been my interest and passion in marketing. When available, I jumped at the opportunity to register for Consulting Lab, knowing it was an experiential learning class; experiential learning, as it sounds, is a format of learning obtained through real-life projects and business challenges. I saw this class as a way to train myself before my summer internship, brand management at Anheuser-Busch, in that fail-safe environment that Dean Sundaram mentioned.

When I started the class, I was very excited to hear from the client about the challenge they brought to us. There was a thrill to it: a large financial services firm was coming to us, graduate students, to support a project with which they genuinely needed help! A slight problem arose: I didn’t understand the challenge. The prompt was clear to me and I understood the need for the project from the client’s side – I just didn’t know where to start. For the most part, my project team was in the same boat and as the solutions-oriented people we are, our minds immediately went to products/changes the client could implement to fix the problem. However, we were quickly reminded that we didn’t understand the problem fundamentally and hadn’t gone through the right analysis to get there.

This start was not what I had hoped. Not just because of the slight project-related hiccup, but also because this is my aspired career. I’ve planned for this since I started writing business school essays. Was I wrong? Will my summer internship be a nightmare? These thoughts and questions had me considering dropping the class as some others – not on my team – had done. However, one of my goals before starting at Stern was to create a different experience than my undergraduate experience. In college, I wasn’t really involved in extracurriculars and didn’t challenge myself, both of which I regretted. The 20-year-old me would’ve dropped this class after the second session for no other reason than to avoid difficulty. Not this time. Again, harkening back to the idea of a failing to learn, I made sure to embrace being out of the comfort zone.

This does have a happy ending: in one of our group project meetings, as my team members were brainstorming, all of it clicked. I literally let out a big “Ohhhhhhhhh. I got it. ” From then on, we went to do very well in the class, presented a viable solution to the client’s executives and, after impressing, earned a good mark overall. Coincidentally, my summer project at Anheuser-Busch was incredibly creative in nature, focusing on advertising. My experience doing branding-related work in Consulting Lab was by far the most influential to my success over the summer and converting my internship into a full-time offer of all the classes I had taken first year. For that, I’m thankful I was able to reflect in the moment to think back to my MBA goals prior to starting and we were reminded during orientation that there is no other time to try and fail and to not run away from failure than business school.