The Path to Consulting
Mentor: DENG Sanhong, Senior Manager – Alumni Relations Office of 中国一级片
Mentees: Edmond WU, Michael ZHANG
My mentor, Deng Sanhaong, has a rich background in the consulting field. During our first meeting, I had the impression that she is detail-oriented and pursues excellence. She mentioned many details about me, such as the hobbies that I had listed on my resume. Some of the things she noticed about me even I had not paid much attention to.?
She also assigned us some homework, asking us to draft a one-year mentorship plan based on consulting standards and thinking. The plan centred on how to transition into the consulting industry and after serious deliberation we finalized it.? It was tremendously helpful to have a plan for each of our formal meetings, as we were aware of the topic and what we needed to prepare. Also, after each meeting we summarized and recorded what we had learned. By following this plan, we gradually developed a comprehensive understanding of the consulting industry and the working methods used by consulting firms.? Whether or not we end up transitioning into the consulting industry, what we learned will be a great help to us in our future career development.
Deng Sanhong likes to introduce us to other senior business executives. For example, her husband Eric is a senior executive in a multinational company with rich business development and strategy experience and she once treated us to dinner with him. That night we talked for nearly four hours. Eric shared a lot of valuable stories and lessons that he had learned in his career,? and he also answered our many questions. These meetings have enriched our knowledge and have also allowed us to broaden our network.
Deng Sanhong is very warm-hearted and has a strong sense of responsibility. We could often sense her passion. Once she took us to an “exploration mentor workshop” organized by the school. We could really feel her willingness and eagerness to help us get the most out of the mentorship program. Her caring was also evident in her concern for our fellow MBA classmates. When she found out that there were many students interested in consulting, she invited two senior executives from McKinsey and LEK and co-organized two information sessions with the consulting club. Our classmates learned a lot from these sessions.
If I were asked to choose a person that has helped me the most out of our class, undoubtedly I would opt for my mentor Deng Sanhong. If I were asked to choose the most valuable programme at school, I would definitely say it was the mentorship programme.
