Who Needs Some Consulting?

In searching for a source of inspiration for today’s entry, I looked to the oh-so-interesting happenings reported in the Wall Street Journal this week. Let’s see, there was Hewlett-Packard’s rising profit, Google trying to enter the television industry and Fannie Mae not paying $44.4 million in bonuses. HP and Google, they're doing pretty well, so we'll leave them alone. As for Fannie Mae, been there, done that (they were my client this summer). Then I came across an article about the increasingly popular airline JetBlue. Their flights from Richmond to Boston are less than $100 for a round trip ticket…it's no wonder they are growing like crazy.

In reading the article I thought, I would be a little bit angry if I had to sit on the runway for more than an hour or two, never mind the ten hours that passengers had to deal with last week. Not only that, but more than 1,000 JetBlue flights were cancelled. Perhaps this is a company that needs some consulting and for all I know, they already have consultants working with them. Consulting firms are dying to get their hands on clients like JetBlue that are experiencing rapid growth and have rising profits to spend on professionals who can help manage this growth. So what is the point of this entry and how does it tie into my whole interviewing theme for the week?

Well, as difficult as it is to make it through a whole issue of the Wall Street Journal each day, you need to know your current events. Before an interview, be sure to pick out at least five things going on in the news that you could talk about in your interview. Knowing what is going on in the economy is the best way for you to show your interest in business and specifically, what areas you think a consulting firm could grow. An interviewer may ask you about something you’ve heard about in the news, but if they don’t, it is perfectly acceptable to work it into an interview question. Of course, don’t sound like a know-it-all, but a firm will be impressed if you can hold an intelligent conversation about a current event.

Here are some great sites for business news:

Wall Street Journal
CNN Business News
Smart Money