Consulting Services

I was an analyst/ consultant for not one, but two of the Big 5 management consulting firms. My experience there has told me that this is how it is no matter which of the firms you work for. It may seem "glamourous", and you might think you are truly helping clients do something they can't on their own, but realize that you are actually doing something that no one else wants to do. You are basically a glorified temp. The consulting firm you work for gets paid $175/hour for you, while you get what amounts to be about $23/hour (remember you work 12 hours days)

A typical project can be broken down into three phases: 1) Fieldwork/Research, 2) Analysis, and 3) Communication of our Findings.

Fieldwork is everyone’s favorite as it usually involves being out of the office and visiting properties or sites. The goal is to learn about the different markets where the property is located, which, in the hospitality industry, requires you to essentially become a traveler, tourist, or patron. This is the part of my job that requires me to play golf, drink wine with every meal, scuba dive, and get spa treatments.

In the Analysis Phase, I am usually immersed in number crunching and financial modeling. This typically involves abnormally large Excel files, which I now appreciate as the greatest program ever invented. In financial analysis, there are usually some pretty large assumptions that are made. Here is where you do your best to analyze and support those assumptions empirically.

The Communication Phase usually takes one or more of three forms: 1) meeting with clients to verbally communicate our findings, 2) presentations to boards, city officials, or judges, and 3) writing large narrative reports that encompass everything you would have discussed or presented. The report aspect of this phase is the most gruesome and time consuming. However, since I enjoy public speaking and giving presentations, the other two forms are very enjoyable.