Hosted by the iQ Career & Experiential Learning Lab and the School of Business, the February 26 “Unlock Your Consulting Career,” panel was moderated by event organizer Jonathan Haspilaire ’11. Haspilaire is a partner with Brazos River South and founder of Massminds Ventures.

Haspilaire said he gathered the panel to give Quinnipiac students a better understanding of what’s involved in consulting work and how to get into the field.

“I want to break that wall down to say that consulting can be a potential career path,” said Haspilaire. “You have an opportunity to learn what consulting really means from this group.”

Haspilaire was joined by Rajesh Budhani, MBA ’14 director, strategy and internal consulting, CITI, Adam Canosa ’07, consulting principal, Grassi, and executive vice president and principal, Holzner Construction and Ron Kubick, founder and managing partner, Oceanarc Capital Partners and Charter Diligence Group.

Kubick said he came to Quinnipiac in the mid-1990’s to bolster his degree in business management by earning a certificate in accounting which qualified him to sit for the CPA exam.

“Quinnipiac gave me something tangible and that gave me confidence," said Kubick. "I just needed that spark. Quinnipiac was integral to getting that content knowledge and the confidence to be resourceful and a problem-solver." 

Budhani said Quinnipiac brought out his passion for problem-solving, which helped point him toward a career in consulting. After earning his MBA, he began working as a senior analyst with global Top Four accounting and consulting firm KPMG.

“When I came to Quinnipiac to earn my MBA, I thought I wanted to leave finance," said Budhani. "When I realized I liked problem-solving and giving advice, I realized I do not want to leave my career in finance and I do want to help my clients. That’s why consulting drew me." 

Canosa said Quinnipiac was a catalyst for his career.

“Quinnipiac gave me a great business foundation but also it helped me with relationship building, going back to when I first started my career in public accounting," Canosa said. "That great camaraderie of friendships helps develop professional relationships over the years."

Whether working with a Big Four company or someday starting their own consulting and advisory firms, the panel advised students to be alert to opportunities to grow in their knowledge and make important connections as they embark on their professional career paths.

“When I started out of Quinnipiac at a Big Four, there were some long hours,” said Budhani. “I look back at my second client meeting, when I was a young senior analyst in a meeting with clients who were CFOs and CEOs for Big Four firms, and I realized my role was to take meeting notes and just listen to what they were saying. The exposure was amazing. That exposure and that experience proved really fruitful.”

Canosa said young professionals who make the effort to take every opportunity to learn on the job, ask questions and develop a better understanding of clients will leverage their value and create opportunities for more dynamic interactions with stakeholders.

“Stakeholders go hand-in-hand,” said Canosa. “Consulting can be very dynamic. Understanding who the stakeholder is that your deliverable is going to makes the engagement exciting.”

In his advisory role, Kubick said generating critical information which can be clearly communicated to clients is essential.  

“When I’m advising, I don’t decide what deal they should take. What they’re paying me to do is provide them with all the possibilities, what can go right and what can go wrong and assign probabilities to the outcomes,” said Kubick.

Haspilaire also asked the panel what qualities they look for in their employees.

“I typically prefer working with people who are eager to learn,” said Budhani. “I’m building a team which wants to learn, wants to be out and about and help people. I think building a team of professionals who are intelligent, curious and want to build up their skills is the most important thing to me.”

Canosa said he’s looking for people with drive, which is what fueled his own consulting career.

“You have to have a drive. That is where consulting is very different. You’ve got to find what drives you and that is what makes consulting such a dynamic career path,” said Canosa. “If you understand your stakeholder and what makes you get excited, you can make a lot of changes as you move forward in your career to develop that relationship and that really adds to the great value of your consulting work.”

Kubick said the goal is to serve clients well.

“You have to be technically proficient and have a desire to provide the best advice or service to your clients," said Kubick. "You have to serve your clients well, because in the end, people are paying you for a service."