Creating Opportunity Through the DePaul Consulting Club

By Matthew Rottman

Like many Kellstadt students, I came to DePaul to pursue an MBA to make a shift in my career.  I previously worked in industry, but knew that my passion and skills were calling me to work in management consulting. I was interested in using data and evidence-based practices to help companies address issues, to both add value and stability to the company and to make working there more enjoyable for the employees.

I knew that Kellstadt could help me launch this second stage of my career because I saw online that many Kellstadt alumni were working at prestigious consultant firms. This made me feel confident that the coursework and DePaul alumni network would give me the education and connections I needed to start my career shift.

At the start of my MBA in autumn 2019, I quickly realized that I needed a dedicated group of like-minded students that I could team up with, so that we could help each other build our skills and connections, and prepare for the rigorous consulting recruiting process.

I reached out to the Kellstadt Career Management Center (CMC). They told me that while there was no such student organization, there were many other students who shared my goals. The CMC then helped me find those students, and DePaul’s Office of Student Involvement gave us the tools we needed to found our own group: The DePaul Consulting Club.

The DCC grew quickly; we had more than 100 members within the first few months. We held a few meetings to network and understand one another’s goals in consulting, then we thought it would be a good idea to host a guest speaker event for interested students to hear more about consulting from experienced consultants. The CMC came back with an even better idea: they offered to host a panel for us at their bi-annual career conference, which was taking place that fall.

Our first DCC panel was a great success: not only was it helpful for students who were considering consulting, but it was helpful for us club leaders who organized it. As we reached out to dozens of consultants, the other leaders and I expanded our networks. A year later, I still chat with many of those contacts regularly, and several of them have referred me to full-time positions in their consulting firms.

I was impressed with the community at Kellstadt in those early days. A small band of students decided we wanted a space to meet, and the school gave us the resources to turn it into something big. As I reach the end of my MBA program, the DePaul Consulting Club is seeing new young leaders step up to carry on what my colleagues and I started.

If you’re a DePaul graduate or undergraduate student interested in the DCC, join our DeHub page. We have regular guest speakers (virtually) and do three real consulting projects each year.

Matthew Rottman is an MBA candidate at the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, and co-founder and vice president of the DePaul Consulting Club. A soon-to-be Double Demon, he graduated from DePaul in 2013 with a BA in industrial-organizational psychology. In addition to his graduate studies he works as a consultant for local small businesses and non-profits. His passion is in bringing value to organizations that benefits both the bottom line and the everyday lives of the people within the organization. When not consulting or studying, Matthew can be found hiking with his Shar Pei, Genghis Khan.