A major component of this site is a weblog that has had several lives, from its start as a featured MBA applicant/student blog on a separate site to its own presence on the Blogger system and now to its own domain as my personal website.
As you read through the entries, you'll see me go through three distinct phases in my life:
- Pre-MBA experience: Experiences that one typically goes through before matriculating at business school
- Life as an MBA student: Highs and lows of my time as a student at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in much more detail than most would expect to see
- Post-MBA life...and serving as a career/education/life coach to the masses: Responses to questions emailed to me by readers, where I use what I have learned through my own missteps and experiences to help others achieve their goals and avoid making the same misstepsÂ
Help Fund 100 Women’s Educations (#Vittana4Women)
Hey, everyone. I'm using this post to make a quick shout-out on behalf of my man Kenji Crossland. My long-time readers might remember that name from a video interview that I did of him in my "Conversations" series last year. Since that interview, Kenji moved into a...
Question about transitioning to a “Big 3” Consulting firm as an experienced hire
The email below is from one of my visitors who was seeking advice on how to transition to a Big 3 Consulting firm (i.e., McKinsey, Bain, and BCG) in an Analyst role as an experienced hire. Consulting firms usually hire Analyst-level talent directly after school, so...
Question from a college Soph targeting a technology management career
The email below was written by a student from the Indiana University group that I mentioned a few entries ago. I met him during a student trip to Chicago held in mid-January. He and I chatted a bit about his desire to move into IT after his college graduation and,...
High-level overview of the Management Consulting industry
Recently, I've received several emails asking me to provide an overview of the Management Consulting industry and, in those cases, I've referred people to my archived blog entries, where Consulting is discussed at length. Given the interest in this topic, I thought it...
Most important traits for an undergrad in this economic environment
The email below comes from a Freshman student at Indiana University who I met during MLK Weekend. She's part of a program for the top students in IU's undergrad business school and I spent some time hanging out with them on the Saturday of the weekend and organized a...
Reader wondering how to get into McKinsey from a school with less brand name
Long-time visitors to this site are probably used to seeing folks ask me questions about how to get into McK (or one of its peer firms). In this case, the author of the email below was seeking advice on how he could position himself to get into McK's Philippines...
Moving from government work to Management Consulting
Happy new year, everyone! Hopefully, you all had a great holiday season and a safe entry into 2012. Now that I've had a couple of days to recover from the holidays, I figured that I should get back to posting truth and wisdom 🙂 The message below is from a reader who...
Question from a recent LBS MBA grad starting at McKinsey London
The message below is from a longtime reader of this site who recently graduated with his MBA from London Business School. Also, he scored a post-MBA position with McKinsey's London office, which is a huge feat given the office's popularity. Now that he's started the...
Question from a Freshman studying business and seeking career guidance
Hey, everyone. I can't remember if I mentioned it earlier, but, back in September, I was invited to give a talk about optimizing one's career and education at Indiana University. The audience was a group of freshman who were part of a special residential program for...
Question from a college junior targeting a Management Consulting internship
Hi, everyone! For those of you in the United States, I hope you've all had a great Thanksgiving holiday weekend. 🙂 The email below is from a Junior at Stanford University who is seeking my advice on how to best position himself to get an summer internship offer from...