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Here’s a checklist that you should run through before any consulting interview. 80% of the advice applies across industries and job functions as well. Happy reading!
Long before the interview…
1) Start case prep NOW. Not tomorrow, not in a week, start it NOW. Remember, the case can be more than 50% of the final “score” that will determine your candidacy. Here’s a general outline of how to prepare:
- Get your hands on as many different cases as you can – both books like Case In Point, websites like www.caseinterview.com, as well as online materials and resources (you’d be amazed at how valuable the websites of university consulting clubs can be)
- Run through them ideally with a consulting-interested friend, but if one isn’t available, practice by yourself. The key to good independent practice is to answer the question first, and THEN look at the real answer. Try to recognize patterns – is your answer always missing an analysis of the company’s internal situation? Do you always forget to discuss strategy in the context of competitors? Then make a mental note NOT to forget that
- Simulate actual case interviews as much as you can. The timing is critical – both how long your answers are, and how much time you should spend asking questions versus providing responses. Ideally, you’d practice then with a consultant who has experience in this area – but if not, a sharp friend will do. I’d even suggest getting a stopwatch, and looking at the length of your responses. If you’re over a minute, for 99% of answers that is too long
I will be uploading some very valuable, and free, case prep resources in the next week that I’ve managed to discover across the internet, and that kind readers have shared with me. Stay tuned!
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This article addresses consulting-related extracurricular activities and is aimed towards undergrads, MBAs, and other students.
So you’ve landed a spot at a pretty good college/bschool. Now, all you have to do is do well in classes, and you’ll automatically find a great consulting job, right? Wrong.
Actively contributing to consulting-related extracurricular activities doesn’t just look good on your resume. It can help you perform better on consulting interviews and even help develop the skills to perform well after starting your consulting job.
Joining the consulting club on campus is an obvious first step. However, after serving hundreds of clients using our resume editing and interview services, we’ve noticed that many people simply stop there. Simply mentioning membership in the consulting club doesn’t help your candidacy much. You should try to get a leadership position on the club, preferably President or another position that allows you to directly contact consulting firms (e.g. External Liaison, Vice President of Employer Relations). This will give you a lot more opportunities to network with consulting firms compared to people who are simply members of consulting clubs. Make sure to mention your club activities on your resume and in your interview rather than just stating your position name. Regardless of what position you have in the consulting club, you need to be proactive. Leverage your school’s alumni network and LinkedIn to connect with more consultants and invite them to speak at your school. If you’re lucky, some consultants might even agree to help out in running a mock case interview session for your club.
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This article was guest written by my friend Zeke Lee, a fellow former management consultant (Booz & Co.) and Stanford graduate who offers some great real world advice on the realities of recruiting. Zeke is also the founder of the GMAT Pill Study Method, a great GMAT prep resource for those considering the MBA route for their career aspirations – more on that at the end of the article.
Those of you who follow Management Consulted know the 2 most common ways to get into the industry are through
1) undergrad recruiting at a target school
2) business school recruiting at a target MBA program
Well, let’s say you missed the boat with #1: undergrad recruiting. Your school wasn’t a “target” school or you had no clue what management consulting was until now. How would you use #2 to get into management consulting?
Let’s first take a look from the firms’ perspective.
You see, different firms have different hiring practices between these two options.
As a management consultant at Booz & Company, I trained alongside with the rest of my hiring class. 95% of my class were MBA hires. Booz happens to have a much more “diamond” shaped hierarchy with lots of MBA level hires, but only a few undergrad hires.
Other firms like Bain & Company, on the other hand, hire a lot more undergrads and have a more “pyramid” shaped hierarchy. So a class of consultants will likely include a few more undergrads than MBA hires at a place like Bain.
Knowing the organizational structure of various firms helps you understand which firms have a higher demand at which levels. As an undergrad you may not research much about a place like Booz, but certainly at the MBA level the firm would come into mind because of the greater opportunities there.
Many of my colleagues at Booz were hired from MBA and so I naturally learned how many of them broke into the industry.
Let me give you an example of an MBA hire who leveraged his previous industry exposure to get into a specialized team of Booz & Company.
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