Booz Allen Hamilton: An insider guide - Gymkhana

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Recruiting ProcessAfter a few very bad years for MBAs and undergraduates hoping to work inconsulting, things are looking up. Booz Allen has been on campus recruitingevery year since 2001, and according to several insiders on both sides of thefirm, hiring is now up all around. “We’re increasing our MBA recruiting overlast year,” says one commercial-side insider. The firm has lately been quoted invarious media as saying that its hiring projections are way up.Booz Allen likes students to have as much contact as possible with the firmbefore the interview. In some cases, associates will even call students and thenmeet with them to discuss their goals for the future. This helps determinewhether the student will fit in well at Booz Allen. Insiders we spoke to thinkthis is an important opportunity to likewise help candidates decide whetherBooz Allen is a good match for them.The “Careers” section of Booz Allen’s website includes a document entitled“Interviewing Tips and Case Primer for Commercial Consulting Candidates,”which offers useful analytical frameworks, case examples, and recommendationsfor prospective hires.Getting HiredAs in most companies, it helps to know someone. An insider from globaloperations says, “The best way to get a job is to know someone who alreadyworks at Booz Allen because more than 50 percent of all new hires come fromemployee referrals. Secondary to that is responding to the posting in thewebsite.”Booz Allen puts candidates for its commercial business through a standardhiring process that begins with first-round interviews on campus and continueswith second and (sometimes) third rounds at the office for which the candidate64
is being considered. Second and third rounds“ ”usually involve multiple, back-to-backinterviews. Booz Allen relies on caseinterviews to test a candidate’s analyticalabilities, but is now emphasizing the generalresume review as well as conversation todetermine how the candidate manages his orher work, deals with conflict, acceptsresponsibility, and so on. The company seekspeople with a demonstrated record ofachievement in a career before attending business school and an intellectualtrack record in school. Cultural fit also weighs heavily in candidate assessment.According to one recruiter, “Where most people fail is that they do not preparefor the ‘fit’ part of the interview. You think that it should be easy to answerquestions about yourself, but you’re not likely to have done that in as stressfulan environment as a case interview. And if you don’t think ahead of time aboutthe key things in your life that have helped make you successful, and then beable to talk about those in an interview and relate them to your resume, you’renot going to be able to answer the fit questions very well.”We are looking formore than brains on astick. We are lookingfor more than a goodanalyst or a good writer.We are also looking forleadership skills.Remember, everyone Booz Allen is likely to interview is going to be smart andaccomplished. One insider says, “We are looking for more than brains on a stick.We are looking for more than a good analyst or a good writer. We are alsolooking for leadership skills.” More than one recent hire we spoke to emphasizedthat the case interview is the best opportunity to stand out from the crowd.“Practice the case interview,” says one recent hire. “It’s a critical part of theevaluation process. Our cases are based on prior client work of the people doingthe interview. During my case interview, I didn’t feel like they were trying to trickme. There was a logical flow.” (For a rigorous review of case questions, checkout WetFeet’s Ace Your Case series at www.WetFeet.com.)Getting Hired65
Page 3:
Insider GuideBooz Allen Hamilton200
Page 8 and 9:
At a Glance“We look for good stru
Page 10 and 11:
At a Glance Compensation, 2003-04Un
Page 12 and 13:
OverviewThe FirmFounded in 1914 by
Page 14 and 15:
The Firmstructure to meet specific
Page 16 and 17:
Competitive StrategyThe FirmBooz Al
Page 18 and 19:
Industry PositionThe FirmIn Consult
Page 20 and 21: A Quick History LessonThe FirmBooz
Page 22 and 23: The FirmIn 2001, Booz Allen was aff
Page 24 and 25: functional project teams. “That w
Page 26 and 27: at one engagement. At another, I ha
Page 28 and 29: The FirmLucent TechnologiesMetropol
Page 30 and 31: Bangkok BankThe FirmIn the wake of
Page 32 and 33: The Firmaccounts for the key qualit
Page 34 and 35: The Firmof the tournament, it raise
Page 36 and 37: ConsultantsOn the JobIn 2004, Booz
Page 38 and 39: AssociatesNew MBAs at Booz Allen ar
Page 40 and 41: 8:00 Check in at the Four Seasons.8
Page 42 and 43: LifestyleIn 2003, Consulting Magazi
Page 44 and 45: network of friends yet.” But othe
Page 46 and 47: CultureConsultants throughout the f
Page 48 and 49: Friends, Romans, Coworkers?Most ins
Page 50 and 51: Workplace DiversityBooz Allen began
Page 52 and 53: The firm has a diversity intranet s
Page 54 and 55: aren’t that many role models, and
Page 56 and 57: talent heating up, we expect salari
Page 58 and 59: America’s Charities, Christmas in
Page 60 and 61: TrainingTraining magazine ranked Bo
Page 62 and 63: crafted. “Now you can drive as ha
Page 64 and 65: Opportunities for MBAsNew MBA hires
Page 66 and 67: at any level—you get empowered ve
Page 68 and 69: Looking Out for Number 1Insiders sa
Page 72 and 73: UndergraduatesCurrently, Booz Allen
Page 74 and 75: The Interviewer’s ChecklistTo giv
Page 76 and 77: and think, How did I actually get t
Page 78 and 79: • Has the lack of undergraduate h
Page 80 and 81: For Your ReferenceConsulting-SpeakT
Page 82 and 83: For Your ReferenceDeliverable. The
Page 84 and 85: For Your ReferenceReengineering. Re
Page 86 and 87: For Your Referencemakes it better a
Page 88 and 89: For Your ReferenceFor Further Study
Page 90 and 91: For Your ReferenceOther Sources of
Page 92 and 93: For Your ReferenceMajor OfficesNort
Page 94 and 95: Careers in Information TechnologyCa
Page 96: Careers/Job SearchPrestigious, inno
show all

Booz Allen Hamilton: An insider guide - Gymkhana

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?