Chatting with Christine: Tech Careers & Badass Women

I met Sid back in college at Boston University when recruiting for the Personal Finance Club, and we both were on our journeys towards consulting! He is now a consultant at Deloitte based in New York City, and it wasn't without hardship as he did it as an international student when many companies and firms have been restricting recruitment of international students due to the risk of the sponsorship lottery! We talk about his experience as an international student, going through the recruitment process at Deloitte, and his current consulting experience now as well as a big tip he shared to us for international students bypassing the H1B lottery!

Mari Taksa was pivoting away from her work fundraising for a nonprofit through a coding bootcamp that helped her connect to Accenture's apprenticeship program where she is now a Data Engineering Associate! She tells us all about her experience and her tips for the Accenture apprenticeship program! 

I worked with Ivan on a job application strategy to enter into technology consulting! Sometimes pivoting in isn't that hard if you think about the important and relevant skills needed and pull it from everywhere, not just your work experience! We also spoke about how to stand out by networking (and some juicy tips using Linkedin), as well as the interview process and how to prepare! I've covered in previous episodes about case interviews and my YouTube channel also has a lot of resources on that! Check out PrepLounge as well!

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I've had the pleasure to collaborate with PrepLounge, a leading case interview prep library, community, and service! They have so many cases for you to practice with AND professional case interview coaches with the experience and background to help you excel! I was able to use a premium case, the Yodaphone case, for this episode, and I hope this helped provide a lot of value to you!

If you sign up today, you can get 15% off your Premium Membership with CHRISTINE15!

Most consulting firms do follow a "recruitment season" to hire entry level, specifically from schools like college, university, or graduate programs. So many people ask me what they should prepare or how should they even get started, so here's all of my advice jam packed into one video so you can get that job offer!

Something I pride in a lot about myself that really helped me achieve as much as I was able to at this point is simply how I don't give a f*ck. Because of that, I can recover very fast and start taking action to improve, reinvent, or pivot. I don't exactly have a method per se, but I broke down what goes on in my head into 5 digestible steps and hopefully this can help you as well! I think a lot of times, we are so self-critical about ourselves or we care too much, but sometimes we spend so much time thinking we don't act!

There's a lot of changes your life and yourself goes through when you go through the phases of adulthood whether that be friendships, professional, and life events. It's tough on growing and changing and constantly reinventing yourself, but it's possible! Let's talk about all of the growing pains that I've gone through and let me know if you can relate! I'm only 25, but I feel like I've been through a lot already, HAHAHA.

Making a good first impression is so important in the corporate and also in personal life too! But does that mean you should be a very fake or energetic version of yourself? You should bring your best version of yourself when meeting new people, and you do that with your personal brand! I will NOT be providing general tips (some of them are pretty self-explanatory) but rather how to put your best food forward as genuine and authentic self. This video is for you on how you can approach this!

Thais Pulliam is based in Miami as a solutions architect, product designer, and technology consultant at Glidefast Consulting! She was a fashion model before she went through General Assembly's coding bootcamp and now pivoted to her career today! What exactly does a solutions architect do? Let's dive in!

In a prior video of mine, I spoke about how I manage my time, and I use goals as a huge driver on how I prioritize my time and how to even approach my plans. Here, I'm with Derek Mei and we're talking about how we set goals for ourselves whether it be personal or professional goals! We talk about how it's important to set goals, SMART goals, having a support system, building habits and systems, and what our current goals are now!

Addison Chen and I have been together for four years ever since that fateful first date on July 20, 2017! We went to celebrate our four year anniversary in Chicago this year! We also recorded a podcast episode reflecting, for both on our own accounts and moving forward! We've gone through a lot like living together, having cats together, and buying a condo together!

Deniz reached out to me as a sophomore in college doing a consulting internship. This is also her first internship as well, so she didn't know what she needed to do to navigate the waters! She hopes to get that return offer for her junior year summer, so we sat down to talk about all the tips and answer her questions!

Follow Along! Did you know case interviews are usually different for technology consulting case interviews? In today's video, we go through a real mock interview with Diego so you can join along and learn as well!

Adrian Chu received a bachelor degree in electrical engineering and received an MBA at University of Washington. He also studied data science in real estate at the school of architecture and planning at MIT. He also worked as an engineer at Boeing, Intel, and Microsoft while being the managing broker and principal at Specialty Real Estate Group as well as principal at CHU Design + Build.

He has left the tech world and is now fully in the real estate world. He walks us through how it's like to purchase and invest in real estate in today's age!

Follow Along! In today's episode, we go through a real mock interview with Kevin on an interviewee led tech case interview! It is good to do this with a partner as this may be a bit hard being very interactive, but make sure your partner knows what goes into an interviewee led tech case interview and is equipped to answer your questions.

Manal Meer studied biology and psychology in University of Toronto and then an MBA at McMaster University where she discovered consulting during an internship. Recently pivoting into technology consulting at Ernst & Young in Canada as a Strategy & Technology Transformation Consultant, she walks us through her journey, is an MBA worth it, how she pivoted herself, and even how it's like and some tips she has for those starting their jobs in a virtual or remote setting!

Alankrita Dayal is focused on developing educational technology that utilizes machine learning and artificial intelligence to curate effective and personalized STEM learning pathways for students in K-12. She is also the Executive Director at Program yoUr Future (PUF), where she organizes large-scale academic bootcamps that educate and empower underrepresented, at-risk youth into the STEM and Computer Science fields.

It could be a little tricky with networking especially at your internship or outside of your internship to see if the role or company is right for you. How do you navigate those waters without stepping on anyone's toes or crossing boundaries? Luke is about to start his internship at a Big 4 firm and he wants to make sure he puts his best foot forward!

Amanda Wright is a management consultant based in Victoria BC. She has worked at Deloitte in Strategy & Operations for several years after completing her MBA, and then decided to start her own consulting business. In 2020 she began offering coaching to female consultants who want to exit Big 4 or MBB consulting to start their own independent consulting business.

Amanda also has a program called Take the Leap and I'm having so much fun delivering it! She is super passionate about supporting and encouraging other women to stay in the consulting industry, but on their own terms.

Dr. Nicole Tschierske is passionate about helping overlooked women in STEM become influential, so they can confidently unlock new opportunities for themselves, get their employers saying “we need you on this job!” and make a bigger impact. As a Scientist and Positive Psychology Coach, Nicole helps her clients strategically turn their career frustrations into a renewed love for their work.  In this episode, we dive into a lot of the problems women in STEM face and discuss how we can push through them to empower our careers! 

Myoshia is now the award- winning founder and CEO of one of the leading IT Consulting companies in the country, AndTech Solutions, LLC. Right after high school, Myoshia went straight into the workforce in technology for healthcare industries. She later started her own IT consulting firm, and we walk through the process of doing so and gaining credibility and rapport with new clients. 

AndTech Solutions is providing custom application development and other technology services to some of the top U.S. companies and organizations. They’ve implemented health plans responsible for managing over 56 million members across 25 states and consulted with small businesses in creating custom application solutions to meet their technology challenges.

Kajol Phadnis Patel is no stranger to my channel as we did collaborate on a Women in Consulting YouTube video! I invited her to my podcast because she shares such a wealth of knowledge and energy from her bubbly self and her passion in content creation, entrepreneurship, and consulting! Let's dig deeper and see who Kajol really is!

Mohammad Misbah, other known as "The Consulting Guy" on Instagram, started off at Accenture as an analyst and then rose through the ranks as a senior manager. He now runs The Consulting Guy, hosts The Consulting Podcast,  an entrepreneur (crypto, real estate, angel investing), and is a Dad of a 2 year old trouble maker, husband to a wonderful woman.

Starting off in systems integrations and then moving into management consulting where he focused on CRM in the financial services industry, Mohammad shares his wisdom of how his journey, responsibilities, and expectations have changed from when he was an analyst and all the way up as he got promoted within the firm to senior manager. He is now an ex-senior manager at Accenture! 

I met Natalie Barbu back when we were in training at Q Center for the Accenture Technology Development Program. Back then, I didn't know she had a YouTube channel, but she later left Accenture to pursue entrepreneurship with Barbu Agency, her own personal brand, and a podcast. She now rebranded Barbu Agency to WeBloom Social, has a podcast of 100+ episodes, and recently founded a startup and developing an app called Rella Social!

As someone who's a full time consultant, content creator, and aspiring entrepreneur, I'm so excited to bring Natalie onto the podcast because I have so many questions to this inspirational young entrepreneur on how she pivots her business, her decision making process, and her social media strategy. 

With what's going on with the Asian American community, it saddens us to hear all of the harassment and assaults aimed at the Asian American Pacific Islander community. We wanted to bring to light about our own experiences as Asian Americans for you to learn about how it's like living in the US, the prejudices and racism we experienced, the "model minority" myth, and how we feel on where we belong. We do not represent the entire Asian American population, but these are our personal experiences as Asian Americans!

I have a strong philosophy that you can manage your time to STAY productive. You don't manage your time without taking in consideration with productivity and you can't be productive without managing your time. Today, I break down how exactly I do it, and it really starts with planning big then breaking it down into bite-sized pieces which helps you stay motivated.

I juggle my full time job as an Accenture technology consultant, a content creator with a YouTube channel, podcast, Instagram, and Clubhouse, and entrepreneur with Technology Consulting Community PLUS being an NYC cat mommy of three. How do I do it all? This is how!

Brianna Califano graduated from Penn State University and is now a management consultant at Accenture. Years ago, she started @essentiallybrie to grow her brand on mental health and wellness. Brianna goes over many tips for mental health she has for busy professionals as well! In this episode, Brianna talks about her experience with her virtual internship at Accenture and how to best optimize your virtual experience!

In honor of International Women's Day, Kajol and I wanted to make this video to have a very honest conversation about how it's like being a woman in consulting. Kajol is currently a London-based Big 4 senior consultant specializing in venture building and innovation, specifically at Deloitte Consulting.

We think change starts at having conversations and empowering others. We hope this video inspires you to have conversations with women around you. What are steps you would take? Share your experiences about being a woman in consulting or in the workplace! 

I met Brian five years ago when we both founded our own chapters in our respective schools. While I was at Boston University, he was at UC Riverside! He has always been interested in entrepreneurship and startups and it ultimately led him to become a product marketing manager in a Silicon Valley startup in hopes to one day go to graduate school and found his own startup. If you're very interested in startups, this is the perfect episode for you as he has over three years of experience in tech startups in Silicon Valley!

Both my boyfriend, Addison, and I were in hustle culture until we found a work life balance to come to terms with our mental health as young working professionals. Two different mindsets, two different paths. At the end, mental health is very important, and what's the point of working if you are just working to work? You should be working to live. Here are our thoughts and perspectives.

We have a lot to unpack in today's episode! Shaarika Kaul studied Informatics (data science) and Communications at University of Washington and then pivoted to Deloitte and then to AG Consulting Partners where she currently is a management consultant and a technical product manager. On the side, she also cofounded and co-authored Mindful Mansi! Definitely check out her book and the amazing initiatives MPower Media is doing!

I personally find it so interesting how other couples deal with all of the aspects that come with living with your significant other. It's actually a lot more than just being roommates, it's finding a right balance! In this episode, we provide some background of our relationships and then we go deep and BRUTALLY honest into how we mesh together with lifestyle, doing chores, handling money, as a couple, and other tips we have based off of our experience. It's a pretty long episode, but I think you'll find this entertaining and fun since we have Michelle Lam! We're even going to go into how potpourri saved her relationship! That's right. You won't want to miss this episode!

Jackie Faye is a woman of many talents! After studying computer science and business in college, she is now a data engineer AND an up-and-coming rapper in New York City. With tech and hip hop being very male dominant, I was very curious about how Jackie was doing what she was doing and the why factor behind it all. Especially when she is a Chinese Korean American LGBTQ woman from Dallas, Texas, which is totally against the norm.

This is a very personal and dark episode about family. My boyfriend, Addison, and I talk about our relationships with family and when to actually draw the line with your family in terms of decisions and even your future relationships with them. I feel like this is an Asian taboo topic to talk about what happens behind closed doors, but sometimes these conversations need to be had.

Another fun and chill episode with Sally, Michelle, and Addison! We talked about how our experiences were owning pets from a young age and how that evolved in college and as young working professionals, especially with our significant others! Owning pets is a responsibility, and you should always do your research before getting a pet or a specific species whether it be a dog, cat, rabbit, or hamster.

Derek and I go back to college freshman year when we both co-founded our collegiate chapter of Phi Chi Theta at Boston University. With a degree doing a triple major in business, computer science, and mathematics, he decided to pursue a career in UX and UI while pursuing his master's degree in human factors in information systems at Bentley University and starting a YouTube channel called The Handoff for tips, tricks, and resources for junior designers to land their first UI or UX design job.

UX is something I've always been interested in myself because I love how it introduces the psychology and overall experience into the design, so I dive deep to really learn more about UX in this particular episode. If you are considering a career in UX/UI or you're just fascinated by how technology changes lives, this is the episode for you!

Continuing our conversation about friendships! I chat with my friends, Michelle Lam and Sally Chen, about how boys have affected our friendship. It's pretty easy to get lost in the mix, but we talk about how exactly it affected our friendship and even our relationships - positively and negatively!

You guys see him on my YouTube channel and on my podcast a lot! I finally interview my boyfriend, Addison Chen! He is also a technology consultant at Accenture, but what's interesting is despite both of us being Chinese Americans born and raised in New York, our journeys becoming technology consultants at Accenture have been vastly different. He studied at SUNY Albany, a state university in New York with a degree in computer science and math, and entered the workforce with no internships or work experience as an IT consultant at a small firm (less than 5 people!) in New York City and then later moved into Accenture (over 50K people!). He also writes Medium articles on the side about coding and other topics like real estate!

FUN FACT: We met on Coffee Meets Bagel because I saw his job title said he was a technology consultant. Our first two hours texting each other were literally about computer science and coding! A couple that codes together stays together.

I sit down with two my closest friends, Michelle and Sally, as we recount our friendship and how it came to be. We built very deep relationships with each other where we know what makes each other tick, what our tendencies are, and even the uglies with our demons with each other. We are 100% honest and do NOT put in any "sugar fluff," so this is a fun episode to listen to!

I met Caitlin Jones a year ago when I was apprehensive towards group fitness classes. Especially when I never did spin classes before! Caitlin was my very first spin instructor at Flywheel, and I was HOOKED! I loved her energy and has been following her ever since! Due to the pandemic, the fitness industry changed a lot, and I caught up with her on what she's been up to. I didn't even know about half of what she's done until I sat down with her for this episode! There is also a huge focus on mental & emotional health and happiness on this episode, so you don't want to miss this! 

Caitlin graduated with a degree in business from Carnegie Mellon University, became a dancer for the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA to pursue her passion in dance, and while doing so also worked at Flywheel and WillyB Crossfit! She also invests in real estate as well which I found was incredibly interesting! During the pandemic, she became her own boss with her own online fitness program and personal training!

This is a casual and fun mukbang with Addison Chen to talk about my journey on YouTube in 2020. I started back in May, and so much has happened, I even hit 1000+ subscribers! From why I did YouTube, what were my favorite and least favorite videos to make, and some tips and behind the scenes of everything.

Highlighting young women and tech professionals on their journeys and careers! Made by and made for the young working professional. On the side, we also like to talk about issues, problems, and observations we see from our generation as well! Get inspired or learn something along the way.  Make that bank (for your kitties)!

My boyfriend and I bought a condo in Brooklyn! We are so excited, but we know we are also extremely privileged to be able to do this in our 20s. Many young working professionals I know don't really know much about money, so in this episode, my boyfriend Addison and I talk about renting vs. buying, how to save for a house, and our home buying experience. It has always been the American dream to buy your own house, have your own family, have some dogs running around in the field, but is that really feasible anymore? We talk about how everything has changed for our generation.

Highlighting young women and tech professionals on their journeys and careers! Made by and made for the young working professional. On the side, we also like to talk about issues, problems, and observations we see from our generation as well! Get inspired or learn something along the way.  Make that bank (for your kitties)!

Vu Nguyen graduated from University of Maryland with a degree in biomedical engineering. He knew he wanted to go into technology consulting, so he found a job at Accenture Federal Services. Working with government clients is always interesting to explore how different they are compared to working with commercial clients. I go over all the nuances and questions I had so you can learn about working with government clients, how it's like at Accenture Federal Services (AFS), which is Accenture LLP's wholly owned subsidiary of Accenture LLP for government clients, and also more about technology consulting! On the side, Vu also has a YouTube channel with lots of entertaining content that is fun to watch, so make sure to go support his channel!

We all know that finding a job can get very stressful, but we all know too well that job hunting and navigating the recruitment process during a pandemic is even harder. I gathered a few members of the Technology Consulting Community from around the world with diverse backgrounds to share their experiences, tips, and strategies of their process landing a good technology consulting job! Hopefully you find this extremely useful and helpful for your job search! These tips and strategies we discussed apply to all careers, all walks of life and all backgrounds - not just during the pandemic!

Erika graduated from Cornell at the start of the COVID19 pandemic and returned home to live with family in hopes to start a new entrepreneurial venture! While working alongside with her father, CassCaps was born! The best inventions are the ones that solve problems you didn't know you had, and CassCaps was definitely one of them. They raised around $90,000 on Kickstarter and Backerkit with 650% of their goal during the COVID19 pandemic! In October of 2020, she will also start her job as a consultant at McKinsey in New York City. McKinsey is lucky to have her!

Watch the YouTube Video Interview Here: https://youtu.be/mcvQh6IO5m4 

Connect with Erika LaCasse!

Collin Miller has a very untraditional career path where he started off with an associate's degree in metal welding, and then pursued a bachelor's degree in computer science. Finding his love in computer science, he wanted to pursue his lifelong aspirations to "provoke genuine productive emotions." Based in Los Angeles, he first started off working with robotics in the aerospace industry, and then shortly after that, he founded a startup in artificial intelligence called nFlux.ai along with his team from California State University Northridge where he studied computer science. Founding a startup at age 26 is incredibly impressive, so I want to share his story and journey with you all!