Fall 2014 alumni spotlight series darryl koh

alumni spotlight series fall 2014

a pleasure doing

business

with you How one grad is following his passion for business in Canada and around the globe.

A graduate of the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto, Darryl Koh, Mulgrave Class of 2007, landed himself a position as a management consultant with A.T. Kearney right out of university. While on a flight to meet with a client in New York, Darryl kindly took the time to share his career journey with the Mulgrave community.

Darryl Koh Q&A What type of work does your role as Management Consultant entail?

Management consulting is probably one of the most difficult jobs to explain succinctly. The short version is that companies hire us when they have a problem they can’t (or won’t) solve themselves. This could be anything from figuring out how to enter a new market, to making their manufacturing network and supply chain more efficient.

As a result, our work is project-based. We spend anywhere from four weeks to a year working on a single project, meaning we get to see a lot of different work across many companies and industries. We typically work hand-in-hand with our clients, which means we travel weekly to work with them in their offices. I’m writing this while on a plane to New York!

Was consulting a career you always planned to pursue?

No. I had honestly no idea what career I wanted

to pursue when I graduated from Mulgrave. I choose a commerce degree because I didn’t want to deal with the lab and course hours of an engineering or science program, but felt that an arts or academic social science program would not be applicable enough to land me a job later.

Frankly, it just kind of worked out this way.

What led you to your current position with A.T. Kearney?

With the job market still feeling the aftereffects of the 2008 financial crisis, I applied very broadly for my third year summer internships, sending out over fifty applications. In the end, that landed me only two offers, one of which was for the in-house consulting wing of the transportation company, DHL. That internship sparked my interest in the field, and I applied only to consulting first during full-time recruiting.

A.T. Kearney is a midsized firm (large enough to have a good brand name, but small enough to know that I wouldn’t just be part of a big machine). The firm also has a great growth

trajectory and is one of the few independent consultancies not in danger of being bought by a professional services giant like Deloitte. Based on criteria like this, I applied to only six firms in my graduating year and ended up getting the offer at A.T. Kearney.

What types of industries do you provide consultation for?

The firm consults for a wide variety of industries – pretty much anything you can think of.

Personally, I’ve worked in consumer goods, retail, energy, transportation, and healthcare. As my career progresses, I’ve begun focusing more and more on healthcare.

Can you describe a ‘day-in-the-life’ of a management consultant?

My weeks typically start off with a Monday morning flight to wherever my client’s office is.

From there, my work will vary tremendously based on the particular project and client.

Sometimes, I will do things like build quantitative models leveraging data from their internal systems to trace costs back to a unit level (so the client can know exactly how much each of the things they make costs). Other times, I’ll be scanning headlines and market reports to come up with a point-of-view on consumer spending in China, or interviewing client staff to get their points of view on a particular company initiative. In almost all cases, I’ll probably end up working closely with someone from my client’s company to complete this work, and will present recommendations and solutions to a variety of client executives (often including the CEO).

I fly back home to Toronto on Thursday evenings, and get to work from home on Fridays, which is a really nice break from all that travel! Occasionally, I’ll take advantage of the travel and spend a weekend in New York, Chicago or wherever else I happen to be.

What advice would you give students who are interested in pursuing a business degree?

Understand that when it comes to undergraduate business programs, there are only two things that matter: network and brand. Unlike technical fields like engineering, the academic skills learned through a business classroom are relatively broad.

What’s most important to your future career is that your employer instantly recognizes your degree and institution, and that you put yourself in a position to build connections with key people in your target industry.

Also understand that if you are serious about doing business in Canada, Toronto is a fantastic place to get your foot in the door. Toronto is an epicentre of corporate Canada, and because of this, offers students unparralled opportunities to gain experience in the business world. Besides, think about how much more fun undergraduate life will be when you’re a five hour flight from mom and dad!

As a student at the University of Toronto, what types of organisations or clubs did you participate in?

I participated in many different clubs including the Taekwondo Club and intramural soccer, but most of my time was spent with the Rotman Commerce Students’ Association (RCSA). RCSA is the student government organization at UofT for Commerce students (similar to the CUS at UBC). I held a variety of positions there including President in my final year. I actually ended up spending more time working on the RCSA than I did studying during my final two years!

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How did your involvement with RCSA help you to navigate your career?

It helped tremendously. The RCSA was full of ambitious students interested in a variety of careers. Through them, I was really able to get a sense of what kind of people were pursuing each potential career path. In a way, I gravitated towards consulting simply because I felt more closely connected to other students pursuing the field.

Perhaps the biggest impact my involvement had on my career was during the recruiting process itself. Being a student government president allowed me to demonstrate teamwork and leadership potential on my resume and in interviews. It also gave me the opportunity to make positive impressions on key professors and administrators at UofT, who put in a good word for me and helped me foster strong connections at consulting firms before my resume was even submitted.

What do you miss most about being a University of Toronto student?

Wow, that’s a hard question. UofT was the best time of my life‌ I miss so many things! I think overall, I just miss the lifestyle the most. Sure, I ate too much instant ramen and bought my furniture secondhand, but just the amazing environment of being surrounded by ambitious peers who really believe the sky’s the limit is probably what I miss most.

Darryl Koh, August 2014 As interviewed by Chloe Scott Know an amazing Mulgrave grad you would like to see featured? Contact alumni@mulgrave.com.