Bruin Consulting (BC) is a unique organization founded in 2007 by UCLA students who desired to learn and teach what business consulting really entails and prepare themselves as strong competitors for real-world consulting careers. Furthermore, BC strives to mold future business leaders and influential members of the community.

Each fall quarter, BC holds its opening night, inviting all students who are interested in business or want to learn more about a potential career path. BC first addresses the question: What is consulting? A consultant advises a business how to react to its issues and concerns. But what are some business issues that companies and firms face? And how will a consultant know which piece of advice is suitable and effective? How does one become a consultant? Because there is no short and simple answer, BC takes on the challenge of showing instead of just telling students what consulting incorporates. Hence, BC encourages students to attend more events and compete in case competitions to learn how to solve real business dilemmas.  

BC has an executive board of nine outstanding students who lead the organization in mentoring and recruiting new members, finding sponsors, creating information workshops and hosting career fairs. Due to the fact that BC sharpens the skills in networking and communicating ideas effectively, most of the board members have gone on to Top 10 law schools and many other graduate programs like MBA and work for the Big Four accounting firms, huge finance firms such as Intel Finance and one of the most powerful consulting firms, Deloitte.

In order to aid business-oriented students in realizing that their rigorous class work actually merges into the real practices of the business world, BC hosts various events to create a world of business at UCLA. BC provides a social and informational setting where students meet and interact with clients and representatives of companies, firms and organizations from all across the United States. For example, at the consulting fair, BC brings dozens of firms to meet with UCLA students. Here, students are able to network with business professionals and even meet recruiters of hiring firms.

When convincing clients to come to UCLA, BC succeeds in proving that its members know practical solutions that lead to profitable and productive results for clients’ companies. BC prepares its members through hosting a couple of case competitions in strategy and operations, human capital and technology throughout the school year.

Just this spring, BC organized a Deloitte Cisco case competition, concentrating on the technology aspect of business. Students formed teams and prepared months in advance to compete in front of clients to win the competition. In Fall 2010, BC hosted a healthcare case competition as well.

Logistically, BC is also in charge of several resumé workshops that help students compose a professional and coherent resumé to send to firms. BC updates Bruinview that only UCLA students and alumni can access in order to view job listings. On Bruinview, students upload their resumes and cover letters, and BC members approve those documents to make sure they are ready to be viewed by employers.

BC encourages its members to create their own business ideas and work with others in starting a business, and hence, UCLA projects as a strong leader in the business community. This is why each of the big four accounting firms recruit heavily from UCLA.

In addition to learning about the business world, what makes BC even more special is its emphasis in helping its members achieve personal growth and development. BC has a student mentorship program that pairs new members with older members in order to help new members gain an idea of what it takes to embark on such a challenging career path and even how to survive the school years at UCLA. In BC, members are united through an understanding that academic and professional development with the help of those who are more experienced enables one to reach any goals.



For more information, visit bruinco.com.