Networking Vignette: Management Consulting in NYC

Here’s yet another networking story. This time about an experience in trying to get a job at a new company vs. a different job at the same company.

The first time I learned about the field of management consulting was during my MBA program at the Kellogg School of Management. In fact, it was during the admitted student weekend at Kellogg, but that’s a story for another day.

Luckily, I was at a target school in Chicago, so networking with that office was easy — I simply spoke to people at the career table at lunchtime, signed up for a “coffee chat,” and attended the recruiting events, especially the women’s-specific ones where I could stand out.

When it came time to interview, I got good vibes from Chicago, but there was one problem. I wanted to work in New York City.

Networking with the Chicago office paid off, and I was successfully passed on to second round interviews with the NY office. While I still had to nail the interview, my connections with the Chicago team made all the difference in giving them the confidence to pass me along to the more competitive NY office.

I’m fairly confident that my chances of being passed on to the NY team were slim-to-none, given I am a Midwest gal who, at the time, had very little connection to the east coast. Another case of networking (or shall we just call it relationship building?) paying dividends.

Networking Vignette: International Division at General Mills

As I wrote about in a previous post, networking is important. Here’s another example from my own experience:

When I was 22 and working at General Mills, I became interested in the International Division. I was intrigued by the global customer base, the unique brands, and, to be honest, the potential to travel the world on the company dime. While General Mills had a performance review process during which individuals were asked their short- and long-term goals, I didn’t wait for that annual ritual to come around to express my interest in a global role.

After I mentioned to a few more senior colleagues that I was interested in working in International, a connection was made with the VP of the Int’l R&D group (my functional area), and before I knew it, I was in the VPs office sharing my story and why I was a good fit for his group. There was no open position, and he previously had no idea who I was. But, lo and behold, when a spot DID open up, guess who got it? This girl.

Does networking really work?

In a recent blog post about Target Schools, I mentioned a stat that supports the importance of networking in obtaining a new job (essentially, 85% of jobs are captured via networking!). I must say, I resemble that statistic. And, while I personally have been quite successful in leveraging my network when job hunting, I know that, for many, networking can be daunting.

That’s why I’m going to offer up a few networking vignettes for your reading pleasure. There’s one below with links to other posts for the rest.

• When I became engaged to my now husband, we decided I would move to Minneapolis. I knew I wanted to do work that was similar to consulting, but with more manageable hours. After doing some Googling and speaking to people, roles in Corporate Strategy came up.
  
  Strategy roles are often found in companies large enough to have a separate team for this function. Luckily, there are several Fortune 500 companies (20+?) in the Twin Cities, so I opened up the LinkedIn rolodex to see if I knew anyone. While I had a few connections to these companies (not necessarily in strategy), one company where I had a fairly strong tie to the strategy team was Target Corporation. Through the LinkedIn search engine, I found that a classmate of mine from business school worked there. Though I didn’t know her well, she agreed to speak with me, and that was that. Even more strange was that when I got to the interview day, the HR/Talent Acquisition Lead was someone I had met at a concert through a childhood friend the previous summer. Small world, indeed.

• International Division at General Mills

• Management Consulting in NYC

Now, some of you might think: does that mean she didn’t deserve those jobs? Or, more precisely, is she worried that someone else might think that? Nope. I knew I deserved them (for the most part — I suffer from a little impostor syndrome every now and again). Plus, I trusted that these companies did a thorough search or wouldn’t keep me if I wasn’t up to snuff. Fortunately for me, I did just fine. Again, 85% of jobs are found this way. Why would I take myself out of the running/not compete by refusing to network?