#HIRED at

Job Hunting Process:

To complete the Dual Degree program (MBA and MSIT) within two years, I took a full load of classes during summer 2018. The fact that I didn’t have a summer internship and that I am in need of sponsorship as a student from Hong Kong worried me a lot because I felt I was late in terms of full-time job searching. To seek advice, I reached out to my career advisor, Lucy Amello. She suggested Deloitte Consulting which was not one of the companies that I initially thought of applying to. After talking to Lucy, I knew that the company’s recruitment season starts earlier than other companies.

Preparations before Interviews:

Beginning the end of August, I started to actively talk to many Deloitte employees within my personal network and those who Lucy recommended. I got connected with 10 to 15 different Deloitte professionals through coffee chats or phone calls. In this way, when I attended Deloitte’s on-campus events in September, I was already knowledgeable about the company and roles. I could ask unique, specific questions and successfully build connections with the attendees by hanging around the event even after it was over. I also made sure to send follow-up emails to the people I met.

In addition to learning about the company and positions by extensive networking, I prepared my cover letter and resume very thoroughly. I attended every resume preparation session and asked 7 people to review my cover letter. Before I finalized my application documents, my resume was reviewed by more than 10 people.

Before the first round of interviews, Deloitte assigned an “interview buddy”, a Deloitte Consulting Business Technology Analyst. With the interview buddy, I practiced mock interviews and learned essential questions to prepare for. Especially for the case interview, I prepared tremendously to show my logical thinking process and to properly answer some broad case questions with specific answers. I reviewed the Deloitte website and Vault.com which have lots of case studies in different industries.

During and After Interviews:

The first round on campus had two 30-minute interviews – behavioral and case interview. For the behavioral interview, I mostly felt like it was a conversation instead of an interview. Surprisingly, the interviewer didn’t ask the common behavioral questions like “why Deloitte” and “why this position”, but he asked “why technology consulting”. Also, one unexpected question was to tell something not in my resume. I had to think of something quick and I talked about my fun hobby of exploring a new recipe every week. During the case interview, the interviewer was terrifying. He dove straight into the questions and there was no reaction or emotion shown while I answered. My hard work to prepare for the case interview really paid off.

The second round was an on-site interview. It was one 45-minute long, case interview with a partner. It was challenging because the interviewer read the case to me and that was it. There was no paper copy of the case so I had to really focus while she read and I tried not to miss any important parts. At the end of the 2nd round, I felt I didn’t do as well as the first round because the interviewer had to rush out of the room and I didn’t even have a chance to shake hands and say good bye. But, contrary to my expectation, I received an offer call a week after the 2nd round interview on my birthday. Good news!

Tips to Fellow Students:

During the entire process from networking with Deloitte professionals at on-campus events to the final round of interview, it’s important to show your genuine interest in the position and company. People can tell while talking with you. Also, know what it means to be professional. If you are on time, you’re late. If you are early, you are on time. Lastly, don’t limit yourself from applying to only the companies that you think you are capable of. With a marketing undergraduate degree, I thought of applying to marketing agencies until Lucy recommended consulting companies to me.