EL - I take the polar opposite view, from knowing how important such events are to consulting firms' recruitment drives (and the resources they tie up in such events pays testimony to this).The key thing I would stress is don't be under any illusion - how you come across WILL be assessed and be a key determinant in whether you get to progress any further with the firm. The consulting team members you meet will be interested in two things - making sure that as many of the strong candidates as possible leave the event wanting to join the firm; and having identified who the really strong candidates are so that their follow-up recruitment activities can be suitably prioritised.Things that will make you stand out from the other attendees include:- showing that you have a stong grasp of what a consulting career entails. Those who go to such events to "learn what consulting is all about" put themselves at a disadvantage compared with candidates who go along having researched what consulting is all about and instead wanting to determine if this is the firm for them. So do your homework and know what the travel / work-life balance in consulting is like; what your day to day work is likely to entail; what of your experience is likely to be most transferable to a consulting career. Then you can concentrate on leaving a favourable impression with all those you meet rather than treating the evening like a basic fact-finding session.- tracking down the consulting staff who work with clients in your sector, so you have the chance to have an in-depth discussion about your industry, the challenges it is facing, the issues that consulting firms could be helping to address. You want to leave the event with these people being your advocates, feeding back how knowledgeable you are about your sector, how confidently you come across, how much clients would warm to your enthusiasm for your sector.- Give them reason to feel that there's a good prospect you would join the firm if made an offer, whilst avoiding at all costs appearing desperate! These top firms have thousands of would-be staff passing across their desks, so one of their biggest challenges is whittling down applicants to the handfull that they should really be investing their time in progressing. If when you leave the event they feel you are unlikely to join their firm - or are unlikely to stick with a career in consulting if hired - then your odds of being called for interview will worsen considerably. If however they can see you've been impressed by the firm or are warming to the idea of joining them then this makes it more likely that time invested in progressing your application will be well spent. Note though that there is a line here that you don't want to cross - and that's appearing to be desperate to be "given a chance" at interview or "sucking up" too much to use your terminology.- Dress to impress. Unless the invite tells you something different, dress as you would to attend a final round interview with this firm. Hope this helps and enjoy the recruitment evening.Tony RestellTop-Consultant.com
