professional development

skills development

• Our 2007-08 On Campus Recruiting Schedule

To maintain our competitive position, we must continually expand and enrich the consulting skills of each individual professional. Building programs to support individual development is therefore a core element of our strategy. This starts with the selection of top quality people with high growth potential but extends much further.

Many of the skills needed to be successful as a consultant in our segment of the industry cannot be taught effectively by academic methods. Accordingly, while we utilize specific skills training where appropriate, we place great emphasis on on-the-job training for developing our consultants - we believe that the best way to build problem solving skills is to try to solve problems. Some of the means we use to achieve this goal include:

Flexible management support - Individual roles are not standardized but are tailored to the specific capabilities and needs of each individual. Our project management philosophy emphasizes giving each individual the amount of management support (s)he needs, thereby stretching the individual's development. As individuals grow, the degree of support is reduced.

Early responsibility - Consultants are given as much responsibility as they can handle as early as possible. We constantly seek to challenge consultants to accept broader responsibility within their client work. This philosophy also extends to firm management functions, where consultants play a number of important roles.

Involvement in planning and structuring - Consultants are expected to play key roles in the planning and structuring of their work; they are not simply presented with a task and required to execute. We constantly push individuals to go beyond the limits of their particular tasks and understand how they contribute to the overall project.

Early involvement in managing people - Consultants at Dean & Company are expected to start assuming responsibility for managing other consultants earlier in their careers than is typical in the industry. We believe such responsibilities should be tied to an individual's career development, not to their position in a hierarchy, and our experience has shown that consultants benefit from early experience in managing others, both directly and through increased sensitivity to the challenges faced by our clients in implementing change.

Early client contact and presentation experience - Similarly, we believe consultants grow quickest if given early practical experience in dealing with clients and making presentations. These are regular parts of most Associate and Analyst roles upon joining Dean & Company.