Voici comment vous pouvez maximiser le potentiel de votre stage de consultant pour de futures opportunités de carrière.

The fastest path to learning in your internship is to take good notes, listen thoroughly and seek suggestions to improve periodically from various stakeholders.

Get ready to embrace uncertainty ! Being a consultant means you’re ready to dive into complex ambiguous problems which may even seem daunting sometimes. Give yourself grace as you embrace it all. Immerse yourself in a deep learning experience. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Conduct research (primary / secondary), brainstorm with experts, formulate hypothesis, analyze data. Fears will come up.. be with it and keep digging deeper. Answers will emerge :)

To leverage your consulting internship for future career prospects, prioritize active networking. Forge genuine connections with colleagues across hierarchies, from peers to senior consultants. Express sincere interest in their work and solicit guidance on navigating the consulting landscape. Impressions formed and connections forged during your internship can pave the way for job offers or valuable mentorships. For instance, I seized every opportunity to network during my internship, resulting in a mentorship with a senior partner who later facilitated my transition into a full-time consulting role post-graduation.

Familiarize yourself with “structured approach to problem solving” . While I see this term being thrown about frequently by people- very rarely do I see people actually following a step by step structured approach to solve a problem. Identify the right problems. Prioritize. Hypothesize. Brainstorm. Study thought leadership and apply learnings in the context of the problems you solve. Seek time with the firm’s partners / senior leaders to bounce off ideas and synthesize creative solutions. Enjoy the process. It can be very rewarding to actually solve new problems and deliver value to the clients.

To harness the full potential of your consulting internship, prioritize delivering tangible results. Whether it's uncovering cost-saving avenues or optimizing processes, focus on driving impactful outcomes. Your ability to influence the bottom line will garner attention and potentially secure strong recommendations or a full-time offer post-internship. Strive to leave a lasting impression as someone who consistently adds significant value.

A while ago, I decided to take a few days and document the projects and initiatives I worked on using the "SOAR" approach. I can now talk to the business value each effort brought for my employers. "SOAR" stands for Situation, Opportunities, Actions, and Results. To use this approach, for each project or initiative you have worked on, write a paragraph or two on: 1. The situation that you encountered and why it was significant, 2. The opportunity you saw to improve the situation, 3. The actions you took, and 4. The business results you achieved. Frame these in terms of the business and you have documented the true value accreted. My document is now over 100 pages and growing! I also tag each SOAR story for easy retrieval. Try it!

Set Clear Goals: Define what you want to achieve during your internship. Seek Feedback: Regularly ask for feedback to improve your performance. Network Actively: Build relationships with colleagues, supervisors, and clients. Learn Continuously: Take advantage of training sessions and resources. Document Achievements: Keep a record of your accomplishments and skills developed. Show Initiative: Volunteer for challenging projects and offer innovative solutions.