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Business Technology, Associate Consultant
ZS Career Path
Business Technology Associate Consultant (2012-Present)
Business Technology Associate (2010-2012)
BIS Associate Intern (2009)
Why ZS?
I joined ZS because I wanted to come home from work every day having learned something new. ZS has a wealth of expertise, smart people, interesting work and a scholastic foundation. It was just the environment I was looking for.
My Favorite Project
My favorite project so far involved implementing a differential resourcing structure and marketing plan for a large sales force in the pharmaceutical industry. In 6 months our team created the plan and rolled it out to the sales force across the nation. The project involved scenario analysis for multiple possible launch products. Currently we are helping our client build the capabilities required to perform a similar analysis in house as well as quantifying to them that differential resourcing is working for them. I could not ask for more, being able to create a plan, see it in action and then prove the plan is working while teaching the client to do it all. This project has had everything.
My After-Hours Engagement/Activities
Outside of work I enjoy playing lacrosse, eating all the great food Chicago has to offer, city life, hanging out with family and friends and nature. I love being outside whether it’s a long bike ride or a weekend camping trip. Ironically, I also have a real passion for technology and the ways it can improve everyday life.
PROFILE
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Location
Chicago
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Education
B.S., Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010
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Career Path
Business Technology
My ZS Values Story
Everyone at ZS cares about getting the right answer. This makes a world of difference when you are working on a project. I often feel like I am working with a bunch of aerospace engineers on the next mission to mars. No room for error and no variable left out of the model. ZS fosters an environment where brilliant people work together with an abundance of expertise. It is exhilarating to work in an environment when you can learn something new every day and teach someone something new every day.
My Advice for Potential ZSers
I would learn what the company does, be sure it interests you, and make sure there is work for you in that area. Also, be sure you like the people, everyone has different taste but there is nothing worse than working with people you don’t like.
A Week in the Life
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7:30 am CST
Getting to work - I wake up on Monday, get ready for work. Eat a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch. I have a 10 minute walking commute to work. When I get in I open up my computer, check some emails and brew some tea.
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8:30 am CST
Review optimization - I check on an optimization our team has been working on that just finished. I review the results and then kick off a new run with improved optimization settings.
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12:30 pm CST
Lunch - For lunch I go to my favorite lunch spot Hannah's Bretzel. I go with two of my teammates and get the best sandwich there the Sergio’s special- french Madrange ham and Swiss Gruyère cheese with avocado, sliced jalapeños and a tasty mango chutney on organic bretzel baguette. Yum!
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1:00 pm CST
Deep analysis of optimization results - I perform a deeper statistical analysis of our call plan results, this is done using SAS. Our team needs to pull key metric from the data to ensure optimality and that all of the client’s business rules are being enforced.
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3:00 pm CST
Review results with Associate Consultant - I review results with the Associate Consultant (AC) on my team. This meeting leads us to explore other areas and new perspectives for metrics we will use to judge the optimization results. We kick off another optimization with different business rules and settings.
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5:00 pm CST
Request from client - The client phones in a data request for a breakdown of targets that reps have removed during a rollout and planning session we had. This request needs to be handled in SAS. I outline the request and the new process required to create the deliverable and start working on it.
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8:30 am CST
Request from client - I continue my work from yesterday on creating the deliverable for the client’s request. I add some additional information that I know the client would like to see as well. I review my work, and perform a couple of sanity checks. Everything looks good.
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1:00 pm CST
Review deliverable and process with AC - I check in with the AC on my team. We both look over the deliverable to ensure the output is correct. We also look over the SAS process to ensure everything is in order. We make a couple of formatting tweaks and then send it off to the client.
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2:00 pm CST
Tool building - I start designing an excel tool that uses VBA to help our client better manages vacancies. The tool will host the results we get from the optimizations we have been running. The tool is to enable our client to make better informed decisions about vacancies based on the financial impact.
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10:00 am CST
Complete reviews - It is that time of year again, reviews are due. I work on giving my project team and myself feedback from the last couple months of work. I fill out some reviews, to help give the firm, my team and myself some feedback. These are very helpful and help paint a good picture of your abilities and progress across many dimensions.
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1:30 pm CST
Call another project team - I need to talk to another team, who had done a similar project before. I give them a ring and see how they approached the project. After talking to them about their past experience I briefly tell them our plan of action. I get feedback through some intense discussion. After all of this I have found out what they learned, and what they would do different. A couple of new ideas spawn from this talk, and I am well on my way to improving the vacancy management tool.
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6:10 pm CST
Client request part 2 - The client calls us back requesting new information be added to the recent deliverable. They want additional fields of data calculated and created for their marketing team. I handle this request tonight and early morning delivery after I review the updated deliverable with my team.
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9:10 am CST
Chicago office Friday Bagels - I grab a bagel from the break room in our Chicago office. We have bagels every Friday. I wait in the long toaster line and catch up with coworkers. It is a great time to see what projects people are working on and what their plans for the weekend are!
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1:00 pm CST
Call with Project Manager and AC - I review some optimization results along with the vacancy management tool outline and functionality, with my team. We discuss some other interesting ideas for the vacancy management tool on key metrics we can use for the decisions other than just financial information. The meeting ends with a list of action items that need to be completed over the weekend. As optimizations can take 24+ hours to run, so it is critical that the weekend be leveraged from a number crunching standpoint.
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8:00 pm CST
Friday night dinner - I grab dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago - Mercadito. They just got a new chef from Sunda, who put together this awesome new pork belly taco. It is a great way to wrap up my work week and start my weekend.