Katie Tamarelli ⋅ Newport, KY Strategy& ⋅ 8 years experience

Hi Alex,

Thank you very much for your service. I am in the consulting track at one of the elite firms and held an MBA global specialist role for one of our core schools, so would be happy to provide any resume or interview feedback.

My personal email address is kmtama@umich.edu.

Please let me know how I can help.

Best,
Katie

Tim Keefe ⋅ Washington, DC U.S. Army, Specialist ⋅ 6 years served

1. As I work for Accenture, I can put you in touch with recruiters for referral if you're interested. The Federal sector is particularly strong right now, so if you're interested in relocating to DC, this is an excellent opportunity.

2. I know somewhat that USC program. I think it's a good idea overall, but you have to consider how it will come across to both recruiters and employers. MBV and "Master of Business for Veterans" might raise some eyebrows, and cause some people to not take the degree seriously.

So, maybe you could fudge a little and change the "V" to an "A" to create the easily recognizable "MBA." Otherwise, if you can't fudge that, then make sure to take all of the courses in the program and see if you can match them up to the standard MBA courses in many programs out there. You have to show that, though the degree name is a bit strange, you certainly have been grounded in the basics with standard business practices and will know what you're talking about.

Richard Buck ⋅ Patterson, NY EY ⋅ 25 years experience

Send me your resume and I will review and help you. I am a USMC vet and have been working in consulting for 30 years.

Richard Buck
Rbvetmentor@gmail.com

Crystal Conner ⋅ San Diego, CA IBM ⋅ 16 years experience

Alex, Thank you for your service to our country. I would suggest you check to see if there are any positions of interest to you within IBM. IBM has many consulting opportunities. Here is the link to the IBM employment site: http://www-03.ibm.com/employment/

Joe Floyd ⋅ Norfolk, VA U.S. Air Force, Senior Airman ⋅ 4 years served

Thanks for your service. There are many wanting to enter this kind of employment. May I suggest OJT and some additional education. Do want to be a generalist or a specialist with a wide range of knowledge. Most consultants have BA in Business with a concentration in accounting where by they and easily assess the data required. That's way man of the big accounting firms have and employ consultants to enhance their business. One thing is sure, CECK YOU CREDIT SCORE because you can bet a potential employer will as will a client. If you have excellent reports on your active/reserve duty use them to your advantage, Draw on the experience and the ratings. One thing to remember, bring your integrity to the table.

Good Luck,

Joe Floyd, USAF
Veteran with 30 years of experience as a business owner.

Jerome Wong ⋅ Scarsdale, NY BNP Paribas ⋅ 16 years experience

Thank you for your service, especially today. Many large and even middle-sized companies have Employee Affinity Groups to promote diversity and employing veterans is an important initiative for many management consulting companies. Either contact Human Resources directly or just google the target company and add "veterans affinity group" , example result is for PWC is http://www.pwc.com/us/en/careers/experienced/why-pwc/military-veterans.html
Going through normal alumni networks is fine also but reaching out to the Affinity Groups is so much more targeted and the employees involved can directly relate to your circumstances and are motivated to help you as it helps them also.

You can also send your resume to me at jwong@realworldexperts.com and would be happy to review.

Good luck, Jerome

Drew Schildwächter ⋅ Wilmington, NC Salesforce ⋅ 8 years experience

Alex: I cannot recommend strongly enough that you look into Deloitte's CORE Leadership program. It will include personal improvement work, access to résumé review by Deloitte recruiters, and huge networking opportunities. Lots of learning, whether or not Deloitte is your thing.

http://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/join-deloitte-core-leadership-program.html

Best of luck,
Drew

Geoffrey Matthews ⋅ Waynesville, NC Retired ⋅ 30 years experience

Alex, Thank you for your service. Would like to see if I can help you with resume et al as I have had many years in the Management Consulting arena (see my profile). You can reach me at geoffm52536@charter.net and please forward your resume then we might engage in a useful dialog.

Geoff Matthews

Jennifer Polhemus ⋅ Santa Monica, CA Precision Research (self-employed) ⋅ 25 years experience

Fight on, fellow Trojan! Mine those USC "Trojan Family" connections thoroughly. Become a regular visitor at the Career Center & use their help on your resume. If the advisor assigned isn't a good fit, request a different one. The next few months are crucial. How about checking out the interviewing calendar for the full MBA students, then contact the firm in advance, let them know you are in the vets program (with something unique that will make the recipient stop & take notice) and ask if you might talk to the interviewer when he/she is on campus? Practice your interviewing skills over & over. Management consulting is a broad field, so think about where your talents are -- finance, org behavior, etc. Read the LA Times bus section & WSJ daily, plus BusinessWeek, Forbes, and Fast Company. Hopefully you are already doing that. If someone asked you "what's the business book that has had the most meaning for you?" -- what would be your answer?

Chris Moore ⋅ Sacramento, CA Precipio LLC ⋅ 18 years experience

Seek the big five--Accenture, Deloitte, etc.--as they take entry-level new graduates. They're demanding but have good processes. After five years, go with a local firm after researching to be sure they're getting contracts. Most will be government, IT, such as state or country welfare systems. When you have a chance, get some IT exposure and as soon as possible (requires 4500 hours/2 1/2 years project experience) take the Project Management Professional exam, a big five would sponsor that.