Foster Freshman Consulting: inTech Consulting, LLC

The most valuable part of this program for me was learning to be an effective consultant from a team of amazing students and advisors…This experience helped me realize that I could have a future in consulting, and I hope to continue exploring it.”

As a freshman, the atmosphere at Foster has always been broad and intimidating to me. I was slightly overwhelmed by the abundance of resources available to students, making it difficult to navigate them. However, in that confusion, I also had clarity about trying to explore them as much as possible, the Foster Consulting Program included, and I am so glad I did.

I joined this program to explore consulting through first-hand experience, and along the way, I met a group of talented people who were excited to learn and grow together. I had limited knowledge of the field, the process of consulting, and the variety of industries you can be involved in. I have always been interested in healthcare consulting, and this quarter’s client was tech-oriented, which exposed me to a different avenue of the specialty. Though I realized that I did not have much of an interest in the industry, I became more knowledgeable about the field, understood the accepted standards within the industry, and much more.

The tech-consulting company presented our team with a comprehensive project, which included analyzing their financials and accounting software, and developing an action plan for their marketing endeavors. At first, it seemed like a lot to tackle for a six-person team. However, by breaking it down into three different sections, working in pairs, bouncing ideas off each other, and asking clarifying questions, it became much more manageable. The support of our project manager and the advisors was insurmountable. Their feedback was always constructive and positive, and I always appreciated the opportunity to learn from my mistakes, developing my competence as a consultant. On the last day, as the work and anticipation from the past couple of months accumulated, I was extremely excited to share our research and recommendations with the client.

Entering this program with no experience, it was easy for me to second-guess myself and question my knowledge of the company and the research that I had done. Other members of the team seemed to have more financial and professional expertise. However, by interacting with them and observing their individual approaches to consulting, I realized that each of us has our own way of approaching a problem. I was able to appreciate their experience, while also understanding my strengths – and weaknesses. I learned to recognize and approach those weaknesses constructively to improve with each project.

This past quarter with BIG allowed me to understand consulting through a student’s perspective, and feel supported with any questions or confusion that I had. The most valuable part of this program for me was learning to be an effective consultant from a team of amazing students and advisors. Specifically, I appreciated the advice I received from an advisor about learning to be engaging and personable, while presenting these solutions, in order for the client to feel comfortable. The client also presented an interesting array of issues, allowing me to develop my research and critical thinking skills. This experience helped me realize that I could have a future in consulting, and I hope to continue exploring it.