By Jed Carr
As a student, choosing an internship can feel like you’re deciding on your entire future. But the pressure faded quickly once I started my internship at SATOV. Now as my term reaches its end, I can confidently say that gaining experience in consulting was one of the best career moves I could have made. If you’re stepping into the field for the first time, here are a few things that I wish I had known earlier on as a now slightly wiser intern.
Leave your lunchbox at home
One of the first things I learned about the culture at SATOV was that this team loves food. Not a day went by without an unsolicited coffee critique or a debate about the best lunch spot. Food became an easy way to connect with my new colleagues. Beyond the fact that I found something easily relatable to talk about, the time spent walking through the path to grab food or coffee provided ample opportunity to meet people outside of my case team.
Leaving the lunchbox at home (or tagging along for the walk or finding other small ways to connect with your team throughout the day) can help make the most out of your breaks and ultimately your internship. As a bonus, you’ll learn how to navigate the labyrinth that is the path.
Train off the track
I spent the first few weeks of my term at SATOV unstaffed, meaning I was not on a client engagement. As an intern new to consulting, I was admittedly feeling antsy – I wanted to get on a project and dig in. After working on countless internal projects, I was staffed on two client engagements. Looking back, I can say that those early weeks were invaluable. I built technical skills without case pressure. I developed my industry knowledge from past engagement histories. I got comfortable working with managers and familiarized myself with the expectations for my level.
SATOV treats interns like full-time analysts. Whether you’re working on client-facing projects or behind-the-scenes initiatives, you’re constantly learning by doing. Having the time to get your bearings and gain confidence in your skills before going into an engagement is something to take advantage of. The cases will come and when they do, you’ll be more than ready.
Get ready to make mistakes
I made a few errors over the course of my four-month internship. Maybe more than a few. I had to come to terms with the fact that making mistakes is inevitable.
The work at SATOV is fast paced, deadlines are non-negotiable, and standards are extremely high. Feedback is direct and often comes in the form “blobs” of text on your slide. It isn’t personal, but it can be hard to digest.
The pace of the work can sometimes cause you to make more mistakes, but it also forces you to adapt quickly. The important thing is to learn and move forward. You’re trying something new and you won’t be good at it right away.
Resilience and humility in the face of adversity are traits you can observe in everyone on the team at SATOV, and it’s infectious. Remind yourself: nobody’s perfect. What would be the point of an internship if you already knew exactly what you were doing?
Put down the textbook
One of the biggest shifts for me was letting go of the student mindset. There was no syllabus to tell me what to expect, no “right” answer to work towards, no standard set of concepts to memorize.
Consulting is unpredictable and I had to learn to get comfortable with the unknown. A case may have a concrete end goal, but the steps taken to reach it will be in constant flux. Be ready for the scope, tools, and purpose of your workstream to change. There is no exam at the end of your internship – the test is how you manage the unexpected.
These past four months have flown by, and I am incredibly grateful for the unique experience this internship has given me. If you’re a student weighing your next move, I cannot recommend SATOV and the consulting world enough. Those seeking challenging work and both professional and personal growth will not be disappointed. Don’t forget to forget your lunch and bring your best foot forward.