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McIntire group focuses on consulting

In light of a perceived lack of resources for those interested in consulting, the newest Commerce School student organization, the McIntire Consulting Group, will host its first company presentation today. The event is part of the Group's ongoing effort to further educate students about consulting.

Formed at the start of this semester, the Group will have speakers from six of the big consulting firms, including Ernst & Young, McKinsey, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, A.T. Kearny and Kurt Salomon. Group members will be able to ask representatives about the firms and their work.

Representatives from the firm also will explain how the firms are different from one another, and how they approach different problems.

"This way, club members will be able to get a better feel about how these companies work," said Paul Baragiola, fourth-year Commerce student and group co-founder. The panel is restricted to club members only.

"Later in the month we will be hosting a recruiting session and case study with an [information technology] consulting firm," said Lindsay Jones, fourth-year Commerce student and group co-founder.

The McIntire Consulting Group was formed to educate students about consulting and the careers students can pursue in that field. Five Commerce School students, Kristen Jensen, Elizabeth Bibb, Jeremy Ebrahim, Jones and Baragiola met with Prof. Elizabeth Thurston, who teaches Strategic Management Consulting (COMM 460A), at the end of last year to express concerns about the lack of information available to students interested in consulting.

"There's a finance club and there's lots of other clubs, but it was pretty hard to find information about consulting," Baragiola said.

Thurston said her job is to serve "as a sounding board for the students to discuss possible club activities and approaches to targeting firms for specific events."

The students then formally declared Contracted Independent Organization status for the club. The group wrote a constitution and mission statement in order to achieve CIO status.

Part of the group's mission is to act as a resource for students interested in consulting by offering workshops that educate students on case interview techniques.

"We show students how to get a job in consulting. One way firms hire people are through case interviews. Members can learn how to do better on case interviews and just anything associated with the interview," Baragiola said. "This way you can find out if consulting is something that you want to do, and what would be the best place for you," he said.

The group, which has about 50 members, also provides students with the opportunity to work in real consulting jobs.

All five founding officers of the club, - Jensen, Bibb, Ebrahim, Jones and Baragiola - do not have official executive titles. Instead they run, oversee and plan all events and meetings, each with a distinctive role, Jones said.

The group sponsors different presentations which consist mainly of speakers. So far, the group has hosted a case interview workshop, a behavioral interview workshop, and has invited Bain and Company Vice President Chris Bierly to speak.

Group members said that, next semester, they plan to develop a relationship with Darden students to discuss the field of consulting.

Jones said they will host several more interview workshops and informational sessions that target consulting as a career.

Although its history is short, the group has been well received by its members.

"We have gotten a lot of positive feedback from other club members that feel they have learned a lot about consulting," Baragiola said.

"We have heard that the club is helpful in offering insight into proper interview techniques and also informative with regard to working in the consulting industry," Jones said.

So far, the group is completely composed of Commerce students, but Jones said non-Commerce students can also benefit from the organization.

"We are open to members not in the Comm School, but I don't think we currently have many of these individuals simply due to lack of advertising around Grounds" he said.

"We do want to expand our network of members, but remain small enough to be well organized and continuously informed," he added.

"I am really enthusiastic about what the club is trying to accomplish - educating McIntire and U.Va. students on the consulting industry," Thurston said.

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