I’ve finally built something that accomplishes just that.

Introducing The Consulting Bible

The second edition is a 92-page interview guide to conquering consulting interviews and landing jobs. Here’s whats new:

1. Two brand-spanking new case studies, including one that’s conversationally-based. You’ll find that some interviewers prefer more interactive discussion, less traditional Q&A. Now you can master both – especially with the running commentary that I’ve added to each case

2. “Ethics and integrity” fit questions. Let’s face it, the corporate world has been remarkably tarnished in the past decade, and client service demands ethical behavior. Master these questions to demonstrate that you have both the instincts and experience to make principled decisions

3. Two new, internationally-focused sizing questions (what I call mini-case studies). Global awareness is key to management consulting success

4. More than 15 additional fit questions scattered across categories including Personality, Teamwork, and Experienced hires

5. A new “Brainteasers” section. While relatively uncommon, chance favors the prepared consultant

6. More case study tips from the experts – learn tactics for tackling open-ended questions and why well-timed pauses can save you from disaster

7. 10 great interview followup questions – because 98% of interviewers miss a chance to make an excellent impression and strengthen the interviewer relationship. The other 2%? They’re getting the offers

Here’s a preview of the Table of Contents:

Here’s what a customer said about the first edition:

How much does it cost?

As a limited time launch promotion, The Consulting Bible will stay at $25. In full transparency, that price will increase to $35 at the end of May.

In addition, by purchasing in this timeframe you’ll still receive free lifetime updates. After the month is over, that bonus will officially end.

It still comes with the same 60-day, 100% money-back guarantee.

If you’re not happy with the interview guide and its promises, email me to get a full refund.

Of the hundreds of customers so far, only 2 have requested refunds. I hope that says enough about the quality of this guide.

Click here for more information, including additional benefits, previews, and customer testimonials.

Thanks everyone for your readership of the site! Based on peoples’ feedback, this week we’ll focus on the consulting lifestyle – everything from job perks to understanding what separates great from mediocre consultants

Some background: I’ve been reading Marquis’ blog for several years. He is a prolific and insightful poster who truly cares about his readers. Head over to his blog to read tons of great articles about consulting, business school, and general career advice.

Now on to the interview! I’ve bolded a few things that are particularly helpful for prospective applicants

Please note, the personal views and opinions expressed are strictly those of the interviewee and do not reflect the views of the interviewee’s employers or affiliated entities.

1. For the benefit of readers, can you give us a summary of your background?

I’m originally from a small town in Virginia and, through some miracle, I ended up at Princeton University, where I earned an A.B. in Computer Science. After college, I worked as a Software Engineer for a couple of companies (a internet consulting firm in NYC and a software and systems engineering firm in the DC area), focused primarily on Java development. While at the second company, I earned my first graduate degree, an M.S. in Management of Information Technology from the University of Virginia, as the first step toward stepping from behind a computer to learning about management. After five years as a Software Engineer, I attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business and completed a joint-degree program, earning an MBA and an M.A. in Education. Following business school, I spent a couple of years as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where I worked on projects in a range of industries/functions. In late 2008, I left McKinsey and started an exciting new gig in Chicago, where I’ve been for two months now.

2. You run a popular career-advice blog over at Marquis’ Weblog. What inspired you to start this site?

I started the site back in Oct. 2003 as a tool to help other B-school aspirants by sharing stories of my own B-school process. I didn’t know any MBAs while I was applying, which made the application process a huge mystery for me. I figured that, if there were other aspirants who didn’t know anyone in the MBA world, they could rely on me as the person that they “know”. Over time, I learned that telling my story was giving a lot of people hope because, “if someone as silly as [me] can get into and through a top B-school, then just about anybody can” (that is a direct quote from a reader I met a few years ago). After graduation, the site continued to morph into its current form where I help readers even more by answering their questions on just about any topic they generate for me, including career, education, and business. It hsan’t been easy to keep my site going for so long, but, as long as it’s helping people, I’ll keep on doing it…well, as long as I’m also having fun doing it, that is :-)

By the way, I wrote up a much longer response to this question in a past entry on my blog, which can be found here.

3. You went to Stanford GSB for business school before working at McKinsey. Can you tell us why you chose Stanford GSB?

Hmmm…why did I choose Stanford GSB?…That’s basically what the first three year’s worth of entries in my blog are about :-) That exact question was posed to me in an entry from last October, so I’ll copy over what I used to respond to that reader:

At a high-level, I was looking for the following things in a business school and Stanford offered all of them:

–

a. Strong general management program –> My goal was to finish B-school with a strong overall understanding of business, so I targeted general management programs when selecting schools. Stanford is among the top general management programs out there, so it immediately make the short-list of schools for me.

b. Small class size –> I wanted a school where each incoming class was small enough for me to really get to know my classmates over my two years. I was trying to find a place that would allow me to be a name and not a number and Stanford’s average class size of 370 made it a great fit in this metric.

c. Strong “transformational” and diverse culture –> Every business school has a strong culture, but not every school’s culture will be a fit for everyone. I was looking for a culture that embraced diversity of thought, background, nationality, and perspective among its students. Even more important to me was finding a school whose culture left its students feeling like they’d reached their full potentials and had been transformed by their MBA experiences. As I researched Stanford and spoke to students, I learned that the GSB scored off the charts in both of these areas, cementing its position as my #1 choice school.

–

4. What sparked your interest in McKinsey as a career? Can you tell us about your recruiting experience with the firm?

My interest in McKinsey was sparked prior to applying to business school as I researched the management consulting industry. During this research, I found that McK had a reputation for creating CEO’s and other business and organizational leaders, which is what I aspired to become. Also, I learned that it was known for tackling mission critical issues for its clients, which also appealed to me. Finally, I thought that having a stint at McKinsey would do wonders for my own professional brand since my first employer collapsed after the dot-com bubble burst and my second employer was too small for anyone to have ever heard of.

My recruiting experience with the Firm was very straight-forward and positive overall. It started during the first year at Stanford by attending several events and getting to know people, which confirmed my liking for the place. I was dinged for the summer internship after second-round interviews, but several people from McK stayed in touch with me during that summer, which made me put McK back at the top of my list for the full-time recruiting process. Fortunately, I did better the second time around and was able to secure a full-time offer. My experience was so good that I devoted significant attention to recruiting once I joined the Firm in order to have a positive impact on the recruiting of other candidates.

5. During your time at McKinsey, you were based in Atlanta. Did you notice any differences between working in a smaller office like Atlanta versus a larger office like New York?

There wasn’t a difference in terms of the actual nuts and bolts of what I did day-to-day, but I did note a few differences, including:

1. Types of projects available within the office and region — Different offices have core sets of clients, which have different needs from teams, so I found that I’d have different options (topic areas, industry, function, etc) for studies than my friends in other offices…it is possible that there’s a correlation between variety of available work and office size, but I’m not certain about that.

2. Ability to connect with other Associates in the office — I found it much easier to build good friendships with the majority of my fellow Associates because there were fewer of us and we’d hang out quite often. I imagine that it is more difficult to get to know as high a proportion of the Associates in a bigger office like New York.

3. Social options for outside-of-work times — Often, it doesn’t take long to see what there is to see and do what there is to do in a city with a smaller office. Whereas, in a huge city like NYC, there are any number of social outlets and they change all the time, which provides more options during one’s off-time.

MC note: these themes echo my global firms vs boutiques post

6. What do you think are the most important lessons you took away from McKinsey?

It’s difficult to give a short answer to this question because I learned a lot in my years at McK. A few lessons that come to mind are:

1. The Consulting Toolkit — Structured problem solving, analytics, frameworks to think about business issues, methods to effective present/lay-out arguments/analyses, etc

2. Ways to leverage both EQ (emotional quotient) and IQ (intellectual quotient) — I’ve heard it said that EQ gets you through life and IQ gets you through school. I’ve always been an killer EQ guy, but McK taught me how to effectively leverage IQ to be even more effective

3. Importance of developing a network of supporters within an organization/office/etc.

4. Ability to get spun up on a particular company, industry, function, or topic very quickly and develop a perspective on it

5. Understanding of the impact of professional presence and tools to develop that presence

6. Importance of maintaining a strong work-life balance (I was terrible at it, so I learned from the downside of it…more on this below)

7. I know this question is huge for readers, and you seem as well-placed to answer it as anyone: what would you say are the biggest differences amongst the Big 3 (McKinsey, Bain, BCG)?

This is a great question, but one that I’m cautious about answering because I’ve never worked for Bain or BCG. From what I’ve heard, all three companies tackle the same types of questions for their clients and bring tremendous intellectual power to every client situation. The two biggest differences I always hear about are the methodology/approach used by each firm and their corporate cultures. I’m sure many of your readers have heard about “The McKinsey Way”, the McK approach to problem solving and delivering client value…a few books have been written about it, so there’s a lot of information about it out in the market. I’ve heard that Bain and BCG have their own methodologies that, while different, provide a similar guideline upon which to rely when doing client work. I imagine that there are nuanced differences between the three though. And, as for the culture issue, I’d suggest that your readers attend a few info sessions for each firm and talk to some of the company representatives. That process should leave them with a good idea of each company’s culture.

8. What motivated your transition from consulting to finance?

Actually, I didn’t really make a full-on transition into finance, which I’m very happy about considering the state of the finance industry right now. Rather, my new company is a strategic advisory and capital investment firm and my current work is still strategy-based, just with a different focus and in a different arena. But, I’ve been diving into company financial statements (to learn about those companies) more than I have since taking my Corporate Finance course at Stanford GSB. As I looked at my options, I was trying to optimize on several factors, including my interest in the work, what I’d learn in the role, and how it would fit into my overall “story” in the long-term, and this gig fit the bill perfectly. Plus, it didn’t hurt that it is based in Chicago where I had a lot of friends, so I wouldn’t have had to build a social network from scratch like I did in Atlanta.

9. Any last words of advice to prospective consultants?

As you can imagine, many of my reader requests are for advice about consulting, so I’ve thought and written about this a LOT. You know that consulting people like to use structure whenever possible, right? So, I’ll break this into two parts: getting the job and then nailing the job.

Winning an offer in consulting is no easy feat, so prospective applicants need to be on point from the beginning. Here are a few lessons that I learned along the way in my own process:

1. Start preparing for case interviews as early as possible (case prep guides, practice cases, mental math exercises, etc)
2. Do as much due diligence on the different firms as possible (leverage company websites, recruiting sessions, industry publications, etc)
3. Develop your “Why Company X is a fit for me” and “Why I am a fit for Company X” stories early on and continue to sharpen them as you find out more about the firms during the due diligence process
4. Take stock of your professional, educational, and life experiences and figure out how to concisely describe them in depth (this will be helpful in the fit interviews)
5. Remember that you have a lot to offer wherever you end up, so, if you don’t get a consulting offer, the world will not end, your life will not be over, and it doesn’t mean that you’re not a high-quality candidate

Once a person gets their consulting offer, they should immediately shift their mindset to preparing to do well at the job. To address this point, I’ll leverage some content I wrote for an entry a while back because the readers here might find it useful. With that in mind, my top-10 list of tips for soon-to-be consultants are:

1. Be confident, but humble
2. Get really good at Excel modeling (or any other core skill to the job) as early as possible
3. Always present the best “you” as possible
4. Be prepared to be pushed
5. Don’t be afraid to seek help when needed
6. Build a support network within your office as early as possible
7. Show enthusiasm and interest
8. Always execute on deliverables
9. Don’t be afraid to be active/vocal in team settings
10. Sign up for frequent flier, hotel loyalty, and rewards credit cards as early as possible (if you’re going to be living out of a suitcase, you might as well benefit from it, right?)

And, one last piece of advice…be prepared for the strain that the job can put on real-life relationships with significant others, family, friends, colleagues, etc. I underestimated this point going in and was totally unpreprepared for the difficult process of balancing the job with the personal relationships I valued. I still wonder how things might have turned out differently if I’d been more prepared for this issue from the beginning.

10. How should readers get in touch with you?

Readers can contact me at the email address that I set up for my blog. I often have a long backlog of messages, but I always send a response, even if it takes me a month or more to do so.

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UPCOMING POSTS: Reader questions; Why companies hire consultants

Are you terrified of solving Disney’s growth strategy for Brazil?

Unsure how to begin estimating the number of rhesus monkeys in India?

You’ve come to the right place.

Through Management Consulted, I’ve written article upon article about the consulting industry. From salaries to travel, from boutiques to MBB, I’ve helped people understand the job, write the perfect resumes, and ace the toughest interviews.

The Consulting Bible blows all of that content out of the water.

Through my resume editing and interview preparation, I’ve helped 50+ people land interviews and offers in the consulting world (including such esteemed firms as McKinsey, BCG, and Mercer). Through hours on the phone, I share every secret that I know – telling them exactly what fit questions to expect, the difference between good and great case study responses, and the interview answer techniques that separate offerees from the rejects.

The Consulting Bible is like a 50 hour phone call with me. And infinitely more entertaining.

Get The Consulting Bible today and be the smartest interviewer in the room.

In it, you’ll find:

• Over 50 key fit questions that will arise specifically in consulting interviews (there are important differences versus finance interviews). Why 50 and not 500? I firmly believe in quality over quantity. These will be 90% of the questions you’ll be asked. And I promise – memorizing these top 50 will give you the content and flexibility to destroy any fit question you’ll ever face.
• 3 sizing questions (what I like to call mini-cases) – including 2 where I provide multiple solution methods. These 3 are comprehensive, complex, and will be more challenging than any you’ll face from MBB
• 2 case studies with exhibits – found exclusively in this guide, these case studies are ground zero for mastering the skills needed to conquer the case

I not only provide specific tips on how to answer each question, but I tell you what the interviewer is looking for and offer an example answer that I’d be comfortable using myself!

Here is the Table of Contents and a sample page so you can get a glimpse of what’s inside!

Wow, it looks pretty good. What else can you tell me?

I’m not done yet. Read this guide and you’ll discover:

On fit and experiential questions…

• The 16 interview tips to make yourself stand out before, during, and after (pg. 6-7)
• One phrase that everyone encourages you to use but you should never say in an actual interview (pg. 6)
• The 5-minute investment on one skill that will make you better than 90% of interviewers (pg. 6)
• 4 secrets to answer any fit question that the best interviewers instinctively know (pg. 8)
• Why your business background prior to an MBA can hurt you, and how to prevent this from happening (pg. 13)
• The 2/4 point structure for tackling resume questions – and how to use this framework for any fit question (pg. 15)
• What to never say when discussing why you turned down return offers (pg. 18)
• 5 personal qualities that consultants universally respect and that you must convey (pg. 19)
• The worst mistake you can make when answering questions about your future (pg. 19)
• How to build rapport through your responses to personality questions (pgs. 21-23)
• 1 personality question where a great answer will knock their socks off (pg. 21)
• 1 topic you must avoid when asked about any question, and particularly about failures (pg. 23)
• An example response that I’d actually be comfortable giving for “Greatest weakness” (pg. 24)
• The 3 questions that if you’re not asked, then I was never a consultant (pgs. 26-28)
• The one component that people always miss when discussing their leadership (pg. 29)
• The toughest question you’ll encounter – and a response that will leave the interviewer eager to work with you! (pgs. 29-30)
• 3 traits to demonstrate a sincere interest in the firm and the industry (pg. 32)
• 2 topics you shouldn’t discuss when asked why you’re interested in management consulting (pgs. 32-33)
• 2 phrases that must be avoided when discussing why you want to work at their firm (pg. 34)
• The best way to answer the question of “Why a boutique?” (pg. 36)
• One critical topic that when explaining a move overseas (or, for international applicants, a move to the U.S.) (pg. 39)
• The 3 checkmarks you must earn in explaining your career change to consulting (pg. 40)
• The Cliff Notes method for sounding like an expert on today’s business topics (pgs. 43-45)
• How to sound like a consultant when asked about specific companies and industries (pg. 44)
• Be prepared for the one business topic that I guarantee will be discussed (pg. 45)
• What you should never say when asked questions about your recruiting status (pg. 47)

On sizing questions and mini-case studies…

• Why sizing questions can be trickier than case studies (pg. 49)
• 4 reasons why they’re asked – and the tips that will help you master them (pg. 49)
• Example questions that you can ask to sound smart without annoying the interviewer (pg. 50)
• Multiple approaches to each question so you see the best solution possible
• The one test that you must know and use with each answer (pg. 51)
• How to be 80/20…without being 50/10 (pg. 53)

On case studies…

• 5 case study principles that the best interviewers know by heart (pg. 57)
• 2 frameworks that must be memorized…and will be used repeatedly (pg. 57)
• 1 thing the best interviewers do that automatically makes you sound like a consultant (pg. 57)
• Example questions that you can ask to sound smart for each case
• Suggestions on creative responses – so you can be both structured and out-of-the-box
• Example differences between good answers and truly distinctive responses (pgs. 61-62)
• The 3 components of summary responses – aka, the elevator test
• Quantitative questions that cover market size, marginal profit, fixed and variable costs, and other key concepts that you must know

Of course, nothing’s perfect.

The Consulting Bible could have 100 sizing questions. 50 case studies. You know what? IT WILL SOON. And if you buy now, you’ll receive lifetime updates for free, straight to your inbox.

Here’s my guarantee to you – at least once every other month (6x/year), I’ll update this guide to add more fit questions; more sizing questions; more case studies. People who buy now – before the 2nd edition is out – will get lifetime updates for free. That offer ends when I release the 2nd edition

I’m already working on it – there will be at least 3 more case studies and 5 more sizing questions…not to mention 10s of additional interview questions.

60-day, 100% money-back guarantee

If you aren’t 100% satisfied, email me and I’ll personally refund your money. No questions asked. You get to keep the guide, and you’ll get a 100% refund.

This all sounds great. What’s the cost?

It’s only $25. It’s a bargain given how comprehensive it is. You can buy case study books – but they won’t include sizing questions, and they definitely won’t include fit questions. And there isn’t a single quality guide with interview questions dedicated specifically to consulting.

There’s no waiting. It’s an ebook (PDF file) – you download it immediately after purchase. No shipping, no hassle!

You’ll get free lifetime updates – which will be coming often. In fact, I’ll say it right here – I plan to release the 2nd edition by the end of February. It will be much more expensive than $25.

My final parting words:

The Consulting Bible is incredibly affordable for two reasons:

1. It’s relatively new, and I want to reward early believers

2. I want people to get 10x their money’s worth. Not 2x, not 5x, but 10x. I believe that after reading this guide and diligently working through each question, you’ll be 10x more prepared to ace interviews and land offers.

I want you to be successful – because your success will reflect well on me, The Consulting Bible, and Management Consulted

Hey, even I can be suspicious when it comes to spending money online. After all, we’re growing up in an age where many of the best services are free!

But trust me – this guide is worth every penny of that $25. I invested far more time than I planned – I pushed back the release date twice to add more content, more questions, and more insights.

Finally, if you purchase the guide and don’t agree with me 100%, you can always return it for a full refund. And if you do so, I only ask that you provide me feedback on how to make it better. Because I see this project as a lifelong investment – it’s going to get better, bigger, and more useful.

Get The Consulting Bible today and be the smartest interviewer in the room

Payments are processed through PayPal, which is 100% safe and secure

Click to purchase! Remember, it’s a PDF that’s delivered electronically. Buy it now, and you’ll immediately be able to start learning every secret I know.

Additional questions:

Will the guide be helpful for senior positions?

Absolutely. The tips for each section and many of the questions will be similar. There’s even a section on questions for experienced hires/career changers.

I’m interviewing for IT/technology consulting positions. How can the guide help me?

Your interview will naturally differ from the strategy consulting model – but they will ask questions about your resume, your background, your preparation for the job. All of which are covered in this guide.

Why are there no “technical questions”?

Unlike finance, management consulting interviews rarely ask technical questions. The closest you’ll come are questions about current business topics (which are addressed). The technical skills needed for consulting are tested in sizing questions and case studies – which this guide discusses in-depth.

1. I enjoy people debating and discussing my writings and opinions
2. This site is the best space for me to present my position on a topic
3. There are some takeaways about consultants that I will share at the end

So here’s the situation:

Consultant Ninja is a blog that I’ve been reading for several months now. His writing is usually insightful and humorous.

When I wrote a post on job salaries, he responded with a similar post. While his writing attempted to poke fun of mine, he did have good data and I applaud his effort to educate readers.

However, my latest post on 10 steps to solving any sizing questions really got him worked up.

His response post almost made me laugh, but more than anything, it made me cringe in seeing his misguided reasoning and blatantly wrong conclusions

In his post titled How not to do a consulting case study, he makes three points:

1. That I should’ve put “cubic feet” instead of “square feet” in step #5 of my post
2. That “10,000 to 20,000 cubic feet” is a “stupid fucking answer” in step #5 because you can’t just throw out a guess
3. Again, that “10,000 to 20,000 cubic feet” in step #5 is wrong because it’s off by an order of magnitude

First, it strikes me as slightly absurd that he would write an entire post criticizing one out of 10 points I make. Without reinventing the wheel, I’ve reproduced verbatim my response comment in the space below:

- – - – - – - – -

Consultant Ninja – clearly this post requires a personal response. I know your post is well-intentioned, but unfortunately it is just flat out wrong. Not only does it miss the entire purpose of my post, but places quotes out of context and doesn’t indicate even a cursory understanding of what I’m communicating.

I’ll respond to each of your points in order:

#1. You’re right – I meant “cubic feet” and this is a typo on my part. It’s been updated. However, any reader can clearly see this mistake and it won’t dramatically impact the lessons they take away

#2. You need to read my posts much more carefully. With step #5 of that post, the point is to avoid numerical ranges. The answer of “between 10,000 and 20,000 square feet” is not the right answer at all. Nowhere in my post do I state that it is.

Honestly, who is dumb enough to be asked how many cubic feet a 747 is and just throw out “10,000 to 20,000 feet”? The mere absurdity of that answer puts my respect for your judgment in question.

#3. I’m assuming it should be clear by now that I wasn’t providing a real answer. Nor was I even attempting to do so – it was solely about the need to avoid numerical ranges. If I actually wanted to include the real answer to the cubic volume of a Boeing 747, that would take 30 seconds on a Google Search.

I applaud the fact that you’re reading my posts closely. But please, if you’d like to pick apart my analysis, do so only after:

#1. You’ve read the entire post

#2. You’ve put some effort into understanding the content before grossly quoting me out of context

Thanks. I respect your writing, and have enjoyed the insight/attention that you put into your posts. But please, don’t make yourself look bad by writing a long post deconstructing a problem that doesn’t exist.

Kevin

- – - – - – - – -

So what should you take away?

1. Analysts and associates are expected to, as an interview client once said, “measure twice and cut once”
2. Senior consultants – because they’ve gone through the analyst/associate rigmarole in years past – have a natural bias to distrust an analyst’s work. It’s not unfair, it’s just how it works
3. Consultants like to sound smart and make others look bad. This is part myth, part reality. Consultant Ninja was taking that opportunity at my expense, but in this case he simply missed the mark

I look forward to reading his future posts, and am hoping our conversations in the future will be more productive!

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The McKinsey Blogs Wiki. This is a compilation of blogs by alumni and current firm members. I’ve mentioned Marquis’ blog before as a great resource for aspiring consultants, but the others are worth a browse and cover a broad array of topics – from entrepreneurship to healthcare to potpourri.

This post continues my Core Articles series. You can read my previous post on Case Studies 101

Sizing questions are tough. They can be ambiguous, complex, and you’re expected to present a sound solution with minimal data. The following are examples of sizing questions:

• “How many rounds of golf are played in the U.S. annually?”
• “How many baseballs would fit into a Boeing 747?”

To master sizing questions, three skills are needed:

1. Concise, clear note-taking
2. Facility with numbers, units, and back-of-the-envelope calculations
3. Constant, live communication

What follows are the top 10 steps you must take to master those pesky sizing questions and impress any interviewer.

At the beginning…

1) Ask for 30 seconds to 1 minute upfront to gather your thoughts. Take this time to sketch out an early course of action and generate interviewer questions to clarify what’s being asked

On numbers and calculations…

2) Round your answers at each step. If a calculation results in 101 golf balls, use 100 golf balls for the next step. If your answer is $8200, use $8000. This will minimize future mistakes and communicate to the interviewer that you know what you’re doing. As long as rounding doesn’t change the answer by more than 10%, proceed.

3) When you need to make numerical assumptions, pick friendly numbers (eg, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, etc). For instance, if you need to estimate the percentage of people in the U.S. that play basketball, it’s better to assume 5% than 7%.

4) Clearly label units when taking notes. Don’t get units confused – it’s one of the most common mistakes in sizing questions. Don’t end up with an answer for the average calls/hour/user when the interviewer is actually asking for the average minutes/user/month. Yikes.

5) Avoid numerical ranges. If the question is “How many baseballs would fit into a Boeing 747?”, don’t start your thinking process by saying “First, I’d estimate the volume of a 747 to be between 10,000 and 20,000 cubic feet”. Stick with one number. Ranges provide unnecessary complication and will double the number of calculations.

6) Use a “sniff test” for each calculation. If the answer doesn’t feel right, communicate that doubt with the interviewer (eg, “The answer seems high to me”). Double-check assumptions and steps taken. If it still doesn’t feel right, it’s ok to move on, but make a note of this potential problem area.

On structuring and communicating…

7) It’s ok to communicate doubts and mistakes. If you mess up, here’s what to say:

“Hmm…something here’s not adding up right. Is it ok if I take a few steps back and rework my calculations?”

OR

“Hmm…this answer doesn’t look right. Do you think XYZ is too aggressive an assumption?”

You can insert any question in lieu of “too aggressive an assumption.” The key is that you’re not just asking what you’re doing wrong, you’re hypothesizing on the source of the error.

8) Read interviewer body language. As you’re communicating the steps taken, it can be easy to focus solely on your notepad and calculations. Periodically look-up to see how the interviewer is responding. If they have a quizzical look, it’s ok to continue, but again, make a note that this may be a problem area. If they’re nodding consistently, you’re in good shape.

9) Communicate each step clearly and concisely. Case studies and sizing questions are as much about communication skills as they are about problem-solving skills. What value is a great solution if you can’t persuade the client to implement your recommendations?

10) Don’t over-complicate the solution. In an attempt to impress the interviewer, applicants will often add unnecessary steps that lead to mistakes. Only complicate your solution when it leads to a qualitatively better response. Here’s an example:

If the question is “how many bottles of wine are consumed annually in the U.S.?” – separating wine consumers into an active consumers group (drink a glass everyday) vs a casual consumers group (drink a glass every week) is correct and makes a qualitative difference. Further segmenting into male vs female active consumers and male vs female casual consumers is an example of over-complication.

Thanks for reading! If you’re new to Management Consulted, here are some recommended posts: The Consulting Industry 101; Investment Banking vs Management Consulting; Day in the life of a Management Consultant; Overview of the recruiting process; The Management Consulting Dictionary

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