News
West Monroe Partners’ Case Competition Gives Students Valuable Experience
April 2016
On Friday, April 15, students from the Farmer School competed head-to-head with students from DePauw and the University of Illinois in the 1st annual West Monroe Partners Case Competition. The competition, held at the Farmer School, provides students with the opportunity to analyze a real-life case for a West Monroe client.
West Monroe Partners’ Chris Stafford explains, “By using a case that represents a situation that integrates the need for our uncommon blend of business consulting and deep technology advisory, students have an opportunity to expand their understanding of how businesses tackle complex challenges. By bringing together students from Miami University, DePauw University, and the University of Illinois, our goal is to help prepare students to enter the consulting field in an internship or full-time capacity.
We hope that this competition allows students to better understand how to approach a complex and cross-functional international consulting engagement. At West Monroe, we provide both advisory and operational execution services to our clients, so we want participants to gain a better understanding of how to develop a strong business strategy and also create a plan to execute on that strategy.”
“A career path in consulting is one of the fast growing areas of interest among our students,” noted Matt Myers, Dean of the Farmer School of Business. “By partnering with such strong firms as West Monroe we are able to provide our students with practical experiences to develop their skills and prepare them to launch their careers.”
West Monroe Partners created this competition, in part, to assist them in identifying potential hiring candidates. What do they look for? Stafford replied, “An ability to articulate your message succinctly, to handle difficult and challenging questions on the fly, and an ability to provide not only ‘best practice’ recommendations, but recommendations that make practical sense for the business situation at hand.”
Although the Farmer School students were edged out by a team from Illinois, the experience and exposure they gained was priceless. Chris Stafford concluded, “Case studies are a major component of every interview process.”
West Monroe Partners’ Case Competition Gives Students Valuable Experience
April 2016
On Friday, April 15, students from the Farmer School competed head-to-head with students from DePauw and the University of Illinois in the 1st annual West Monroe Partners Case Competition. The competition, held at the Farmer School, provides students with the opportunity to analyze a real-life case for a West Monroe client.
West Monroe Partners’ Chris Stafford explains, “By using a case that represents a situation that integrates the need for our uncommon blend of business consulting and deep technology advisory, students have an opportunity to expand their understanding of how businesses tackle complex challenges. By bringing together students from Miami University, DePauw University, and the University of Illinois, our goal is to help prepare students to enter the consulting field in an internship or full-time capacity.
We hope that this competition allows students to better understand how to approach a complex and cross-functional international consulting engagement. At West Monroe, we provide both advisory and operational execution services to our clients, so we want participants to gain a better understanding of how to develop a strong business strategy and also create a plan to execute on that strategy.”
“A career path in consulting is one of the fast growing areas of interest among our students,” noted Matt Myers, Dean of the Farmer School of Business. “By partnering with such strong firms as West Monroe we are able to provide our students with practical experiences to develop their skills and prepare them to launch their careers.”
West Monroe Partners created this competition, in part, to assist them in identifying potential hiring candidates. What do they look for? Stafford replied, “An ability to articulate your message succinctly, to handle difficult and challenging questions on the fly, and an ability to provide not only ‘best practice’ recommendations, but recommendations that make practical sense for the business situation at hand.”
Although the Farmer School students were edged out by a team from Illinois, the experience and exposure they gained was priceless. Chris Stafford concluded, “Case studies are a major component of every interview process.”