Experiential / Reality-based Learning / October 4, 2016

Smith School Hosts 18th Annual MBA Consulting Forum

Smith School Hosts 18th Annual MBA Consulting Forum

The MBA Consulting Club at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business organized its annual signature event, the Consulting Forum, Sept. 23, 2016, in Van Munching Hall. The forum featured representatives from top consulting firms and aimed at facilitating an open dialogue between students and alumni in the industry.

This year’s forum was the eighteenth in the series and had representatives from PWC, Cognizant, Deloitte, Boston Consulting Group, Gallup, FMP Consulting, MITRE, Hewlett Packard, First Annapolis Consulting, and Privatin, among others. The forum catered to participants from across the different wings of Smith’s MBA programs – full-time, part-time, executive – and the masters of public policy (MPP). The participation surpassed the attendance from all the previous years.

The forum was kicked off by the managing director of Smith’s Office of Career Services, Jeffrey Kudisch. He described the importance a consulting role holds in this day and age. He summed this up by detailing the five key Qs (IQ, EQ, PQ, CRQ, ImprovQ) required for consulting.

This was immediately followed by a session on Consulting 101 with alumni panelists: Shantanu Chandra, advisory manager in financial services cybersecurity and privacy practice at PWC; Lakshmi Sankar, manager at Cognizant’s Strategy and Transformation Practice; Rahul Mohapatra, Cognizant Business Consulting’s Life Sciences group; Jessica Galimore, senior consultant in Deloitte’s Federal Human Capital practice; and Cara Weikel, senior consultant at First Annapolis Consulting. This panel as a whole touched on the skills needed to succeed in consulting.

After a quick break the participants broke out for panel discussions on industry-specific discussions. The three key consulting specific industries discussed through the breakout panels were human capital, supply chain and commercial consulting. The central theme through these breakout panels was the importance of cultural fit – half the battle is fought by deciding upon the role, industry and the company. The panelists also discussed significance of case practices and gaining experience through trying new things, which will aid in thinking on your feet and improve our problem-solving and decision-making skills.

The keynote speaker was John Saad, a partner in PWC’s Public Sector Consulting practice who leads the firm’s Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Sector. His career has spanned across 20 years. He is a big believer in hard work, persistence and making the most of any and all opportunities. “If you do things for people and help them to be successful, hopefully they will help you be successful,” he said.

The Consulting Forum ended with a networking social where all the participants got a chance to talk to the panelists.

- Bhrugi Badheka, Smith MBA Candidate 2018

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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.

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