Briefly describe your own career path.
I joined Andersen Consulting because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.  Working for a consulting firm gives you a lot of opportunities to see a lot of industries, which is what I wanted.  Also I didn’t want to be doing the same thing everyday for work.  I wanted to work on different projects and basically do different things everyday.  I don’t know exactly how long I will be doing this, I am definitely getting exposure though.  I may end up going back to graduate school.  I majored in engineering and a lot of that applies to IT Consulting, which is what I am doing now but it is not necessarily the work that I would be doing as an engineer.  I might go into architecture also.

Does Andersen have different sub-divisions in which people can specialize?
We have more divisions that are specific to technology.  I am in the technology group.  We have people that are in the process group that deal more with functionality.  We have people that are in the change management group that deal with helping users of a new system to get acquainted with the system.  We have a strategy group as well.  One of the things that I like the most about the work is that in the first year as an employee I was not just in the back room doing work. I am going to meetings with clients and managers and making suggestions and having them taken into account.  

How did Trinity prepare you for your work?
I majored in engineering and one of the major things I took away from that is how to approach a problem.  I also learned how to handle myself in a situation that I am not necessarily accustomed to and how to reason through what is going on and I have found that it has been very valuable.  I also learned time management at Trinity. 

Do you think that the classes you took at Trinity have prepared you for the business world?
The classes that I took didn’t particularly prepare me for what I am doing.  I did have a few computer science classes but other than that there was nothing specific that I am doing day to day now. 

Is there anything that you wanted to take at Trinity that you didn’t get a chance to do?
Because engineering has the most requirements out of any major I didn’t get to take as many liberal arts classes as I would have liked to.  I feel that I was real fortunate, though, that I did get the engineering degree at a liberal arts school because I was at least able to take more liberal arts classes than engineering majors at technical schools. 

Did you do any extra-curricular activities while you were at Trinity?
I was on the soccer team for four years and I was on the indoor and outdoor track teams for four years.  It is not the same in the work force though.  We still have some sports clubs at Andersen and I like to participate in those but it is different working an 8-hour day and then going out than splitting up the day with school work and outside activities.

Can you give an overview of company operations?
The mission of Andersen is to help clients create their futures.  Basically I am implementing IT solutions and IT systems to help clients do their business better.  Everything is very technology based.  We work for most of the fortune 500 companies and we go in to find out what they want done and find out how they want the process changed.  We try to implement a system that can help them accomplish that.   We work hand-in-hand with the client, which offers a very good opportunity to learn about business. 

What is the hierarchy that Andersen Consulting works with?
You come in as an analyst and it is usually two years before you become a consultant.  Then another three years to become a manager.  Then there is another 5 years after that to reach upper management.  This is a pretty structured promotion system.  You may be promoted early but to not reach the next level you would have to be doing something terribly wrong. 

Is Andersen a national company or is it based in Hartford?
Andersen is actually a global company.  There are over 65,000 employees of Andersen.  This is something that the company really boasts because it is not in the business of selling a product or anything.  We go into a company with experience and knowledge about how to approach any given project and that is what we sell. 

In your position are you also responsible for building a client base?
We usually have a sort of client that we tend to do work for.  The fortune 500 companies are the ones focused on primarily.  And Andersen just keeps on trying to sell work to those companies whom they have built good relationships with and those companies that believe in us.  Some of the smaller consulting firms just try to get their hands in on any work and lately they have been doing a lot of Y2K work.  And this obviously has only a set length of time that you can be hired.  There are going to be running out of clients in January or February.

What are the major trends currently affecting your industry?
Probably the biggest trend is e-commerce.  Practically every business is realizing that they need to get on the web.  Whether it is just doing the business and being available for the customer using the web for advertising or consumer information.  One of the greatest sellers of the web is that you can now look up any product or any information about any kind of business that you can think of which allows you to compare to find the best value. 

What can I expect for a lifestyle with this career?
Basically the lifestyle that I have been accustomed to is that it is always changing.  So I like to change with it.  I can’t really say that I am personally working towards a goal or working to become a manager, but we will see how things turn out.  I want to go back to school.  One of the good things about working here is that they are constantly training you and you are constantly learning new things.  As long as that keeps up I can see myself staying here. 

As far as upper management is concerned, is it a very stressful career field?
From my experience I have seen that it can be stressful.   Sometimes you have to do late hours.  You really want to show the client that you are producing value.  Sometimes things don’t get done as fast as the work plan that you have set up.  So you have to put extra time in.  You really don’t want to not come through for the client. 

What is Andersen looking for in a new employee?
I have been helping out with the recruiting effort lately.  A lot of what they stress is for a student to be well rounded.  Students have to be able to adapt to new situations, they have to be motivated and really enthusiastic.  You will get on a project and it may not be exactly what you want to do but you still have to be motivated and enthused about the project and want to overcome the challenges.  Also, lately they have focused on backgrounds with a lot of technology experience such as computer science majors.  More and more of our business is geared towards e-commerce and we have to respond to that.  So Andersen is really looking for people with technical skills. 

Is Andersen looking for recent graduates or are they looking for people with a little more experience in the field?
Actually right now Andersen is leaning less towards the experience side and more towards the recent graduates. They have built a good relationship with the schools and they have had a large presence on Trinity’s campus for years I am told.  Andersen trains everyone in the methodology of the business.

What is a typical day like at Andersen?
I really don’t have a typical day.  Everyday is different, which is what I really like about it.  Your manager will give you a different task to do and you have to complete it.  I don’t think that I have had the same thing to do two days in a row yet.  Yesterday I was doing some training and today I have to prepare for a recruiting session this evening.  One of the good things is that you are responsible for a lot.  When you first come in they grant you a lot of responsibility so there is nobody watching over me, I am just out there doing my work.  You get an assignment, you get it done, you give the best effort that you can and then you go on to new assignments. 

What do you like the most and what do you like the least about your job?
What I like most is the people.  They hire a lot of people right out of school so it is a young group that you are working with.  I think that it makes the adjustment from college to the working world a lot easier.  Also working with so many smart people is fun.  You get to work with global firms and people all around the world.  It just makes work more enjoyable.  I couldn’t imagine going into work and dreading it everyday. 

What do you do to keep yourself on the top of your field?
We have our database system that we call the “knowledge exchange”.  This is how we stay up to date with all the latest projects.  We are selling knowledge and not products.  So the most important thing is to efficiently get the data and best practices.  Whenever anyone on a project is asked what did they do they document it so people can use that and not reinvent the wheel.  You don’t necessarily figure it out on your own if someone has done it before and it has worked well you can usually take something away from that.  Other journals and resources would be business magazines and other IT journals and computer journals.

What advice would you offer an alumnus who is looking into your field of work?
Personally I think they are looking for the well-rounded person.  When they look at your resume they want to see the you have been involved in different things.  Maybe if you have seen or done something with computers will help.  This is not always the case because we have some people that had very little computer experience previously.   They want you to show them that you are really motivated and that you want to work for them in their group environment.  That is what they look for in interviews.  They also look to see that you can balance things in your life so that you can handle the work and everything in your personal life together.  This is because there is a lot of travelling, it does take a lot of time if you are going from Texas to Hartford every week.  You could be working long hours and it is cyclical so you have to balance these changes in work with the rest of your life. 

What made you want to stay in Hartford and go to Andersen?
When I applied they asked for my first three choices of location and I actually chose Boston as my first pick.  That is where my family lives and where I grew up.  I had a great time while I was here at Trinity and I don’t mind Hartford at all.  But it is not Boston and it isn’t what I am accustomed to.  It has worked out great though because it is a cheaper cost of living and it is a smaller city to get accustomed to the working world.  When you asked the question what do I like least it is probably that I have to work in Hartford away from my family.

Do you have to travel a lot for your work?
My first project I had to travel a lot.  I personally like to travel because I get to go to places that I normally wouldn’t be able to go to.  My first project was in Dallas, Texas and I loved it.  I had great accommodations and the work was good.  After five months though it was tiring going back and forth to Texas every week.