Final Presentation

It is the second last week of my internship. And I just finished my summer final presentation. It is not used to judge whether we could get a return offer or not. It is just a way to showcase what we have done and what we have learned. Each interns has 15 minutes to do the presentation and followed by 5 minutes Q&A. Most interns only worked on 1 project, but I have worked on 3 short ones. So I presentation went a bit longer. Even though I didn’t have much time to practice my presentation, I still felt very confident when I was standing in front of the group. I guess the business school life and the consulting experience have really prepared me for thisJ. I also feel that it is very helpful if you could make the presentation funny and interesting. It will help the audience to concentrate to the presentation.

I did learn a lot from my summer experience.  I learnt that consulting is about details. Yes, you do need to solve the problem, but at the same time you should make everything as perfect as you can. Consulting is about building your brand and network. In a consulting firm, one is always looking for next project to work on.  You need to make yourself known to others. You need to build you reputations in the project you worked on.  There are always people willing to help you, but you are your own master.  Last but not least, consulting is about expertise. Almost every project you work on is either a new topic or even a new industry. To really solve clients’ problem, you will need to do extensive researches on the topic even before working on the project and continue improving you knowledge along the way.

My view of consulting

I used to think consulting is all about problem solving, which is kind of true. But consulting is more than that. It is about professionalism, no matter what you do, whether it is important or not, always deliver the result with highest possible quality. It is about relationship, building trust with clients and teammates in an intensive short period of time.  It is about commitment, dedicating time and effort to learn clients’ business and problems, always deliver what you promised.  As one of my colleague said “consulting is not a job, it is a profession, and it is a lifestyle choice.”

 After talking with my classmates working in other consulting firms, I feel all the firms are more or less the same at the business side. It is the culture that differentiates the firm. One of the key cultures at Deloitte is “Networking”. It is the best way to make yourself known to the rest of the firm. At industry, your boss will tell you what you need to do. But in a consulting firm, you don’t have a fixed boss. You need to constantly look for your next project, so it is important to build your brand and reputation in those networking event and in your project. Good news is Deloitte will organize a lot formal networking event for you. And every Friday, partners, principle and directors will make themselves available, so you could schedule meetings to connect with them.

Another distinctive culture is that you can feel Deloitte really care about you. I still receive emails from the person that interviewed me and asking how I am doing. Several Ross alumni at the firm also contacted me and ask whether they can be any help. The firm also organized many expensive training and social events for us to learn and relax.  There are many other things that make you feel you are part of the big Deloitte family.

Expecting the Unexpected!!

The Valley is reputed to be one of those places where “creative destruction” takes place @ a faster rate than anywhere else on earth. Words that come to your mind are:

Innovation

Disruption

Computers

Ideas

Progress

New

The tech industry based in Silicon Valley employs some of the smartest people I’ve met.  My internship experience leads me to believe that most engineers and managers in the Valley in general come from top schools world-wide. They represent over 100 different nationalities from across the globe. This reminds me of the ancient Indian (Sanskrit) saying:   

वसुधैव कुटुम्बक  - Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – The whole world is one family!

There are however no pre-set qualifications, smart people from across the globe with no formal qualifications other than an undergrad are successful here . The incredible magnet that Silicon Valley is you would think that it’s “an all work, no play lifestyle”. Right? Wrong!!!!!

Here’s what you probably never expected: most companies in the Tech industry offer great life styles -  plenty of freebies (perks) such as free meals, free snacks etc, half day work on Fridays  and  a work –life balance that is un-paralleled in most professions world-wide.

So how does my internship experience compare (from someone with first-hand experience)?

No standard work hours – just get your work done, show initiative, drive performance and results!

Thank God it’s Friday – carnivals, shows, concerts, bands etc

Cafes – plenty to choose from and an array of choices! 

Snack Bars!

WFH -Work from Home is not frowned upong (as long as you get the work done, attend meetings!)

A few notes below that will give prospective international students a greater feel for the tech industry:

Job Hopping:

A key driver for rapid innovation in the Silicon Valley as AnnaLee Saxenian, author of Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128, puts it is

"Job-hopping, rather than climbing the career ladder within a corporation, facilitates flows of information and know-how between individuals, firms, and industries. When combined with venture capital, it supports unanticipated recombinations of technologies and skill.

Old vs New , Consulting vs Tech:

While consulting firms and consultants focuses on old age economies and traditional business models and processes, the valley focuses on start-ups, developing new processes and innovative business models.

Many Careers:

You don’t program all your life, neither are you into sales all your life in the Tech Industry.

In this video (click here), Tim Draper, managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, talks about the California's Silicon Valleyand about many careers in the tech industry! 

In my next post, I shall talk about enjoying the internship experience - it is such a fleeting moment!

Social is the way to go!

Being social is the way to go…..interns at my sponsor company network regularly not just with each other but with Senior Leaders from within the company. This helps with building networks across the length and breadth of the company.

However, most individuals work in cross functional roles, requiring one to connect with different teams to get work done. This “cross functional” aspect of every job role helps one develop the network one needs to explore other opportunities further down into their career.

Interns from different schools also come together at carnivals and various MBA oriented networking meeting s specifically organized for MBAs to get to know each other. Besides this, the interns have formed special networking groups on Linked in, Facebook and other social networking sites. This encourages interaction long after one has moved on to other opportunities.

Typical days  start with most employees taking  a ride on the company’s shuttle to the office.  These busses are green and help lower environmental costs down.  I  found an interesting article in the NY times on the shuttle service. You can read it here.

Typical days are divided into working on business as usual work and ad hoc projects.

Business as usual work involves meeting  and interacting with ones manager and other team members on your routine work: this could be  developing analyses, research output, coding or developing reports for business.

Ad Hoc projects are more strategic,  short term in nature and more cross functional in orientation.  Meetings are regularly conducted via Google Hangouts or working lunches. This avoids the travel but saves time and allows the team to focus on critical tasks.

The days also include dining at one of the several cafes on campus, biking to a meeting at another business location and jogging on campus. Google’s work culture is legendary. I found an interesting article on the culture in the Time of India. You can read it here.

Alumni of several international and national schools work at Google and the cafes are also a nice place to interact with them and build your global network.

Time to go for now but be tuned for my next post on my observations on the tech industry as  a whole.

The first couple of weeks!


After two weeks of my internship and getting my hands sort of dirty what would my next advice be for international students.

Follow you heart, your passion when applying for internships and not the herd mentality. Business school students are notorious for focusing their efforts where the "crowds" go. Many come with dreams of doing something different perhaps entrepreneurial but they get sucked into the vortex of recruiting  for Consulting or Investment banking firms. The truth be told, many miss the boat....landing nowhere...in a  tough economy where beggars cannot be choosers, one needs to network like a rockstar for most positions  - international students do not understand the importance of networking and hence need to develop a special appreciation for what they are getting into. Of course, some might genuinely want to get into consulting - my advice is to pull up your bootstraps and focus on developing a networking rulebook - early bird gets worm.

More about that in my next post.

For now more about my internship location – CA

The weather in San Francisco is absolutely great. Mild between 15 C and 25 C – Cloudless skies and some great tourist sites near by. I just returned from a visit to Monterrey Bay, Carmel Valley and the world famous Pebbles Beach Golf Course on the 17 mile drive.  Planned next week are trips to Sonoma Valley, Nappa Valley for wine and olive tasting tours.  The week after, I will be travelling to Mt Sahasta. Also in the pipe lines are trips to Las Vegas. So during the week I will working but in the weekend I will be visiting a new tourist attraction.

I advise all prospective interns to explore their new territories and have fun. After all, all work and no play makes Jack a dumb boy.

As mentioned earlier, my next Blog will talk about managing the networking process effectively during the internship.