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First Year as a Consultant

A first year as an analyst or associate set up to go well: tools and notes ready from day one, a daily rhythm with your manager, feedback asked for and logged, client etiquette and one lesson kept from every project.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for First Year as a Consultant, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

200

Starter tasks

📋 Management Consulting

First Year as a Consultant

Doing well in the first year as an analyst or associate: Excel and slides, note-taking, asking for feedback, client etiquette and learning from each project.

  1. Pre-start checklist for new analysts
  2. Laptop, shortcuts and firm tool set-up in week one
  3. First 90 days plan as a new consultant
  4. Timesheet, expense and travel booking basics
  5. Client meeting note-taking system
  6. File naming and version control habits
  7. First conversation with your career counsellor
  8. Joining-a-project question list
  9. First-year skills baseline
  10. End-of-day status message to your manager
  11. Friday timesheet and expense close
  12. Monday plan and Friday review
  13. Feedback log across every project
  14. Monthly conversation with a mentor or buddy
  15. Roll-off lessons note at the end of each project
  16. Inbox and chat triage on a busy team
  17. Weekly hours check and one protected evening
  18. Personal library of reusable slides and formulas
  19. Weekly read of the client's industry
  20. Excel speed drills for analyst basics
  21. Slide mechanics with the firm's toolbar
  22. Turning a manager's whiteboard sketch into pages
  23. Emails that seniors read in ten seconds
  24. Personal error log and self-check routine
  25. Speaking up in team problem-solving sessions
  26. Reading a client's financial statements
  27. Learning a new client's organisation and vocabulary
  28. Your first client conversation on your own
  29. Client site etiquette checklist
  30. Confidentiality habits for travel and social media
  31. Working with client staff senior to you
  32. Turning vague feedback into one specific change
  33. Handling your first tough piece of feedback
  34. Pushing back on workload without damaging trust
  35. Choosing which firm trainings to take this year
  36. Owning a mistake that reached the client
  37. Recovering from a weak first project
  38. New-hire training week preparation
  39. First client meeting you attend
  40. First time presenting a page to the client
  41. Six-month development conversation
  42. One-year reflection and second-year plan
  43. Final-year student with a signed offer
  44. Studying for a qualification alongside the first year
  45. Experienced hire joining as an associate
  46. First year from a non-business background
  47. First year on a remote or hybrid team
  48. Being the only junior on a small team
  49. Becoming the team's go-to for one skill
  50. Coaching the next intake of analysts

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Pre-start checklist for new analysts

Between signing the offer and the first morning there are forms, a background check, a laptop delivery and often a training week in another city, and missing one of them means starting a week behind. Clearing the paperwork early leaves the last fortnight for rest and a little preparation instead of chasing HR.

First tasks

  • Search your inbox for every onboarding email and list what is still outstanding
  • Submit the remaining forms and right-to-work documents
  • Ask your recruiting contact for the first week's schedule and dress norms
  • Book induction travel through the firm's booking tool if one is needed

Laptop, shortcuts and firm tool set-up in week one

Analysts lose hours in the first month to slow file access, a missing slide toolbar or an Excel without the firm's add-ins. Getting every tool installed, signed in and tested in the first week, and learning the twenty shortcuts you will use daily, means the first staffing call finds you ready rather than troubleshooting.

First tasks

  • Ask IT for the new-joiner build checklist and tick off each tool
  • Install the firm's slide toolbar and Excel add-ins and test them
  • Write your list of twenty everyday shortcuts and pin it by your screen
  • Rebuild one sample slide and one sample table without using the mouse

First 90 days plan as a new consultant

Three months in, most new joiners are judged on a handful of things: reliability, quality of basic work, how they take feedback and whether clients are comfortable with them. A written 90 day plan with goals for each month gives you a way to check yourself before anyone else does, and a ready answer when a counsellor asks how things are going.

First tasks

  • Write three goals for your first 30 days in observable terms
  • Add goals for days 31 to 60 and 61 to 90
  • Send the plan to your counsellor or buddy and ask what is missing
  • Book three calendar holds for the day 30, 60 and 90 self-reviews

Make it yours.

Install First Year as a Consultant, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.