Real-Life Experience
The Community Consulting Group continues Cornell University's tradition of community service and business management leadership by creating a common platform for the Tompkins County non-profit community to obtain the assistance of graduate students at the Johnson Graduate School of Management ("JGSM"). Community Consulting Group offers a mechanism for MBA students to lend their expertise and apply their business / management skills to the Tompkins County community by addressing real-life problems and immediate business issues facing non-profit companies. In addition to contributing to the Tompkins county community, students gain practical management experience.

Consulting
Consultants are typically utilized by firms to provide an objective opinion from a neutral party or as a way to "rent" expertise that would otherwise be too time consuming or expensive to acquire. The goal is to help companies do what they do better, faster, and less expensively. Irrespective of immediate duties and activities, consultants remain focused on improving the client's business. These services have grown tremendously in the recent past, as the business world has come to realize the value consultants can generate. From billion dollar mergers and acquisitions and corporate reorganizations, consultants are the driving force behind major business events. Consulting is now one of the most popular career choices for new MBA's.

The consulting industry is highly competitive. Students are selected from the most prestigious business schools and the interview process is extensive. Students are expected to research and solve cases on a real-time basis, have an outstanding academic record, and apply relative business experience. Students working through the Community Consulting Group, in conjunction with participation in the Consulting Club and Community Impact, have a significant advantage when talking with real consulting companies and non-profits about potential job opportunities.

Responsibilities
The industry is difficult to classify because the term consulting is broad and has different meanings to different people. Depending on the client's needs, consultants might be engaged in anything from researching new market opportunities to building an e-commerce portal or developing a model to more effectively managing finances. Daily responsibilities of consultants vary tremendously between firms and clients. As consultants, our goal is to identify complex business issues and assist in developing and implementing an action plan to address them. We evaluate the companies from various perspectives, study the specific organizations, analyze operations, and talk with customers. We then present our finding to the client, recommend a solution, or start creating a plan to implement change. What an outstanding chance to practice business skills and gain valuable experience!

The Experience
We are not confined to one discipline and can work in cross-functional areas to best analyze the overall company and serve our clients' needs. We are jacks-of-all-trades. We can provide advice on an infinite array of issues related to business - finance, accounting, strategy, marketing, e-commerce, and systems integration. And we, in turn, have an outstanding experience to add to our resumes and discuss during interviews.