Difference between revisions of "Altman Vilandrie & Company"
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[[File:P1190190.JPG|thumb|View from AV&Co. Offices towards the Back Bay]] | [[File:P1190190.JPG|thumb|View from AV&Co. Offices towards the Back Bay]] | ||
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I was an analyst extern at Altman Vilandrie & Company during [[MIT]]'s [[IAP]] 2012. | I was an analyst extern at Altman Vilandrie & Company during [[MIT]]'s [[IAP]] 2012. | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===What I did=== | ||
| + | I worked for 3 weeks on a data center due diligence. I researched the supply of data centers. That involved a lot of Google-ing for press releases. (We also had someone doing mystery shopping.) Although I didn't get a change to actually do it, I learned about "modeling" - building Excel spreadsheets to answer a business question. For example, on the [[dining committee]] we needed to decide which dining hall to keep open. Rather than just asking that big question, a model helps you break the question apart. For example, how many people would go to a particular dining hall if it were open? Rather than thinking about the whole question, you can break it apart. You could assume that X% of people would go to a hall in their own building and Y% would go .2 miles and Z% would go .5 miles. You still need to make assumptions for X, Y, and Z, however these are smaller questions to answer than that big, open-ended question. You can conduct interviews or make a survey to help you make those assumptions for X, Y, and Z. After you build a spreadsheet with these and other assumptions you get an answer. You then check if the output makes sense, and adjust your assumptions till you get an output that makes sense. This is where it gets a bit soft, because you can't exactly tell if you made a mistake or the outcome is unexpected. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The last week I worked on the hospitality strategy for a major cable/satellite provider. I enjoyed the second project much more. I got to talk to some retired senior people in the hospitality industry. I love piecing together parts of the puzzle to answer a client's question. This is my favorite part of the job. I also liked making the assumptions. Perhaps 50% of the job is using standard tools that are applicable in other industries. The other 50% of the job is using industry knowledge to make the proper assumptions. I really enjoyed discussing the assumptions and big picture outcomes with my colleagues. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The job of a consultant is to produce slides. We produce very dense slides that contain a lot of data and are best suited for reading, rather than for projecting. We don't write traditional written reports. I also really enjoyed slide making - it's a visual exercise that I don't get much practice in. I liked building a story and then reinforcing that throughout a deck. | ||
| + | |||
| + | AV&Co is a low travel firm. That means we do most of our work in our own office. They might fly out for a few days at the start of a project and then again at the end. At other firms, you are always on the client's site Mon-Thur. We'll do that too if the client requests it, but the analysts are usually in the office. | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | ==Why hire a consultant?== | ||
| + | One of the things I was thinking about while working at AV&Co is why hire a consultant? Many times a company - especially a PE firm - does not have the staff to do the research themselves. They might not have people with the skills needed for a particular task. In addition, as with any outsourcing arrangement, it can be more efficient if you only need a particular resource part time.Or they want to hide their identity without lying. In addition, the senior people have a lot of industry knowledge. Confidential information (such as actual numbers) are protected, but industry knowledge accumulates. It's like a take a penny, leave a penny bowl at a store. As a client you benefit from the general knowledge of prior engagements, while contributing to that knowledge. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Sometime it's just an external perspective that is important. As the client, you have been so involved in your product - it's your baby - that it's hard to think objectively about it. An external person does not have that allegiance. | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | ===What I learned=== | ||
| + | I am already noticing changes of how I look at a situation. For example at a HDC meeting last Wednesday, I felt like I was thinking more objectively about how to solve a problem. I thought about building an Excel model to solve a particular problem. I am also more confident with best practices. This was my first job truly in the "big leagues." The coworkers at AV&Co are very serious about their job. | ||
| + | I also feel like I am thinking more clearly. For example, I am noticing that I often start with a topic sentence that overviews the detail points and then I dive deeper into each of the points. Perhaps I always did that, but I seem to be more aware of it now. | ||
| + | |||
[[Category:Work]] [[Category:Externships]] [[Category:IAP]] [[Category:Boston]] | [[Category:Work]] [[Category:Externships]] [[Category:IAP]] [[Category:Boston]] | ||
Revision as of 19:35, 5 February 2012
I was an analyst extern at Altman Vilandrie & Company during MIT's IAP 2012.
What I did
I worked for 3 weeks on a data center due diligence. I researched the supply of data centers. That involved a lot of Google-ing for press releases. (We also had someone doing mystery shopping.) Although I didn't get a change to actually do it, I learned about "modeling" - building Excel spreadsheets to answer a business question. For example, on the dining committee we needed to decide which dining hall to keep open. Rather than just asking that big question, a model helps you break the question apart. For example, how many people would go to a particular dining hall if it were open? Rather than thinking about the whole question, you can break it apart. You could assume that X% of people would go to a hall in their own building and Y% would go .2 miles and Z% would go .5 miles. You still need to make assumptions for X, Y, and Z, however these are smaller questions to answer than that big, open-ended question. You can conduct interviews or make a survey to help you make those assumptions for X, Y, and Z. After you build a spreadsheet with these and other assumptions you get an answer. You then check if the output makes sense, and adjust your assumptions till you get an output that makes sense. This is where it gets a bit soft, because you can't exactly tell if you made a mistake or the outcome is unexpected.
The last week I worked on the hospitality strategy for a major cable/satellite provider. I enjoyed the second project much more. I got to talk to some retired senior people in the hospitality industry. I love piecing together parts of the puzzle to answer a client's question. This is my favorite part of the job. I also liked making the assumptions. Perhaps 50% of the job is using standard tools that are applicable in other industries. The other 50% of the job is using industry knowledge to make the proper assumptions. I really enjoyed discussing the assumptions and big picture outcomes with my colleagues.
The job of a consultant is to produce slides. We produce very dense slides that contain a lot of data and are best suited for reading, rather than for projecting. We don't write traditional written reports. I also really enjoyed slide making - it's a visual exercise that I don't get much practice in. I liked building a story and then reinforcing that throughout a deck.
AV&Co is a low travel firm. That means we do most of our work in our own office. They might fly out for a few days at the start of a project and then again at the end. At other firms, you are always on the client's site Mon-Thur. We'll do that too if the client requests it, but the analysts are usually in the office.
Why hire a consultant?
One of the things I was thinking about while working at AV&Co is why hire a consultant? Many times a company - especially a PE firm - does not have the staff to do the research themselves. They might not have people with the skills needed for a particular task. In addition, as with any outsourcing arrangement, it can be more efficient if you only need a particular resource part time.Or they want to hide their identity without lying. In addition, the senior people have a lot of industry knowledge. Confidential information (such as actual numbers) are protected, but industry knowledge accumulates. It's like a take a penny, leave a penny bowl at a store. As a client you benefit from the general knowledge of prior engagements, while contributing to that knowledge.
Sometime it's just an external perspective that is important. As the client, you have been so involved in your product - it's your baby - that it's hard to think objectively about it. An external person does not have that allegiance.
What I learned
I am already noticing changes of how I look at a situation. For example at a HDC meeting last Wednesday, I felt like I was thinking more objectively about how to solve a problem. I thought about building an Excel model to solve a particular problem. I am also more confident with best practices. This was my first job truly in the "big leagues." The coworkers at AV&Co are very serious about their job. I also feel like I am thinking more clearly. For example, I am noticing that I often start with a topic sentence that overviews the detail points and then I dive deeper into each of the points. Perhaps I always did that, but I seem to be more aware of it now.
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