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(male) I'm going to ask a little bit of a
specific question because I'm trying to figure out if my
background fits well into any kind of consulting.
I have a degree in engineering but I'm going into public policy
and I'm specifically looking at issues such as
energy, environment, and climate change.
And I'm wondering if organizations approach any
consultants to look into those topics specifically for them
because they don't have any in-house expertise on those.
Do you see a lot of corporations trying to address sustainability
and some I'd assume are much more serious about it than
others and they're using it for different ways.
But how are consultants involved in that process,
if at all?
(Kari Kriesel) I know that Accenture does have a practice for a green,
or, you know, a sustainability type of thing where we're hiring
experts or training experts in that and then having that be
one of our business offerings.
I don't know much about it, it's not something that's housed here
in Minneapolis, so I can't offer much more than that other than
we do have that as part of our array of business offerings.
(Mohammed Aaser) McKinsey I think is investing a lot in sort of developing
research and knowledge around this area.
So I don't know all the details around it but I know,
for example, there's a...so we have the McKinsey Global
Institute and it's all this sort of economic and environmental
issues that are going on and we invest resources
in understanding all the complications
that are currently going on.
So there's global abatement sort of curve that we proprietarily -
or that we've created that a lot of countries now use;
a lot of leaders use.
In addition, I know in the Middle East at least,
we've done a number of projects, a number of engagements where
we've helped seed developers with a green focus and vision.
We've done it around the world and I think
it's a pretty exciting area.
I think however, yeah, as you can imagine now with all the
environmental challenges now that might be something that
will continuously be growing and there'll be a need for it.
So I envision that other consulting firms would also
develop this sort of expertise.
It's definitely an exciting area and I think - I'm sure Deloitte,
Accenture, they all have that and they have online current
resources of what they've done in different parts
of the world, so...
(Darren Kaltved) Are there other resources other than going directly
to the websites where they can get connected to finding
these types of consultants?
Are there professional societies or organizations
that come together?
Or is it just a matter of going out and reading articles or
blogging about this sort of topic?
I mean, what sort of things can they do to help
connect to finding these types of consultants?
(Charlie Anderson) I can take that one.
Let's see...That's a good question and one that
can be answered in a number of different ways, but
reach out to your network.
Well I guess that's the simplest answer.
Create a network probably at this point is more accurate.
In one of our earlier questions actually I was going to chime in
and thought of something else but if I ever get a reference
from someone, my job isn't per se as the recruiter anymore,
but if I ever get a reference I will read that resume no matter
what and it could be a reference from someone who's a group
member of one of my LinkedIn groups that I participate in;
that's something I'd definitely check out if I were you.
I'm always impressed when someone requests to be linked in
to me and they just finished interviewing with me
or something like that.
I don't necessarily connect with them if I don't feel that's
appropriate at that point, but I always think that represents
a level of business savvy that, well,
to be honest, most people don't do that.
So therefore, they're a little more tuned in.
There's a ton of groups out there on LinkedIn,
for everything.
In fact there's so many overlapping groups that you have
to join about ten different ones to make sure you get
what you want because they all sound the same.
But definitely do that.
Go online and read blogs.
Find out who the author is and see if
they've published anything.
See if you can connect with them on LinkedIn.
I've definitely done that before on some topics I've personally
been interested in both for myself and my program
and it's definitely worth it.
You can build connections, build some inroads.
Be sure when you're communicating with them you're
very professional and respectful of their time because everyone's
going to want to know, if you've never met them before,
what's in this for me, what are the high points here?
Why are we connecting?
Why should I spend even ten minutes crafting
an e-mail response to you?
But they very well may.
You never know.
It's worth looking into.
(Jeff Lori) Well, I hope this isn't heresy to the development you get at
the U but I'm sure you've talked about and been
told to have a plan for how you're planning your classes and
what your plan, strategy is for having conversations like this
and going out to find a job.
Great to plan.
Don't get married to your client.
Meaning take time to wander.
And I don't mean wander aimlessly.
I mean, if you see something that is of interest
to you, follow it.
To think that you know where everything is going and
what it's going to lead to is to fool yourself.
You still want to plan and replan and replan but
don't be afraid to follow a lead in a direction that
isn't exactly known to you at this point in time.
You'll be amazed, surprised, and probably very pleased at some of
the things you find.
I started out by saying I've got a degree in forestry.
I thought I was going to stand up in a tower and watch fires
for the rest of my life.
And I don't do that today.
And it happened out of a serendipitous meeting
the last semester of my senior year.
Nothing I was ever planning to do.
I flunked out of my only IT class in college.
Actually I dropped it because I hated it,
and now I do IT for a living.
So don't be afraid to take some risks,
take some chances, and explore some things.
Sometimes that perfect path isn't so perfect.
(Darren Kaltved) Why don't we -- oh, yes, go ahead.
(Joe Volker) And again, in my discipline there's the
American Psychological Association and a division
of it is the Division of Consulting Psychology,
which publishes journals and magazines
and holds conferences annually and actually semi-annually,
so there are people who do what I do in other different places
and I think you can join at a student rate too,
it's much less.
And that keeps you up on what's happening in the field,
who are the people that are writing,
you know, what firms keep getting mentioned,
that kind of thing is useful.
(Darren Kaltved) Excellent.
So one last question, then we're going to turn it over to the
networking portion of it.
One or two points of advice for future consultants that you may
have and we'll just kind of go down the line but just
one to two words of advice for them.
And it can be anything...in preparing for a career
in such a direction.
(Charlie Anderson) Okay.
My first is to build and use a
professional network effectively.
I think that's going to be very very important for everyone
going forward whether you're a consultant,
employee, in the business world or not.
No matter what it is.
Connecting with people all around the world is going to
continue to gain in importance and really this current
generation is the first one that's kind of building that
so it's not completely ingrained in corporate American yet,
but all these social media, and all the ways you can
connect with people are just fantastic.
The second would be, especially at this point in your career,
to remember that everything is a deliverable.
Everything you do -- that's a bad word.
Everything you do is an example of your work product
or an example of you.
Every thank-you card you write, every e-mail you send to someone
whether you're looking for a job or you're actually at a client
site, or you are the client and you've hired consultants
or whatever it is.
Probably 80% of the people who meet you are going to meet you
first electronically, you know, remember that.
They're going to meet you through some random e-mail you
send that gets forwarded on to someone else or whoever it is.
I think the most impressive people - I know the most
impressive people I've met and
who've worked for me recognize that.
I've never seen them too casual for an event.
I've never seen them dressed un-professionally,
you know, if we're professional colleagues.
They've always known that everything they do and say needs
to be professional and polished to the right degree.
You don't have to spend hours and hours and hours crafting a
thank you e-mail but you need to take that kind of care and
thought into what it is that you do, always.
[end]