At the time of the interviw, Andrew served as a director at FTI, specializing in forensic and litigation consulting for healthcare clients. Now, Andrew serves as Senior Manager, Business Innovation - Strategy & Consulting at Pfizer.

Questions:

Can you tell us about why you became interested in FTI, and why you stayed with them?

"I was interested in consulting bc it gave me the opportunity to work with a variety of projects at the same time. The accounting internship was boring for me since the days were too similar. Not only clients, but roles differ day from day in consulting, especially with FTI; for example, I worked with pharmaceutical groups, insurance companies, hospitals, law firms in my first year, and this diversity has continued."

What is econ/lit consulting?

"What I do can be used interchangeably with 'forensic litigation consulting.' Usually, a 3rd party law firm who represents some sort of client who’s in a stressful situation will come to us, and they want us to come in to do some damage analysis and data support to give them the info to provide a favorable outcome for the client. Sometimes we work with just the legal team, and sometimes we work with a combo of the legal team and the client. Additionally, we work with valuation and private equity firms sometimes."

How do you think your education has helped you?

There are two main ways econ degree has helped. The first was developing my knowledge of statistics, which is used a lot in my occupation. The second was giving me some basic experience with coding, since many econ classes at UVA use stata.

What advice do you have for people trying to go into consulting?

Get some experience writing. Maybe take some English classes at UVA. The ability to summarize info is very important; in typical consulting cases, you’ll have to contribute some writing to a report to the third-party. Also, improve your oral communication skills; learn how to do public speaking for example.

What did you start out doing at FTI? How do roles change as you move up?

I started in health solutions, and I’ve stayed in there since then. My responsibilities have gradually shifted from being data analytics and writing-focused to a more client-facing role. Over time, as you get more experience, you will have more contact with the managers, and more will be expected from you. You will also take on administrative duties. You’re expected to become more of a leader after a while.

What do you like most about your daily work?

We are a very collaborative group at FTI; the working environment is not cutthroat (most other small economic firms will probably have a similar culture). Managers are always open to answering questions and providing help. We also have daily discussions about our lives outside of work! Everyone supports each other, and I love having hat sort of environment around me day to day. I also like the variety of projects I work on, which I’ve touched on before.

What do you find challenging?

Time management is a big issue. Nobody’s perfect at it at the beginning. You will learn when to talk and ask for help as you gain experience.

The deadlines in litigation consulting are usually a bit stricter than deadlines for regular management consulting, because of our legal- focused work.