This is my final post in the management consulting interview series. Previous topics included case studies, followup questions, and fit interviews.

Here, I’ll focus on 10 key steps to prepare for consulting interviews. As a general piece of advice, the best way to become a great interviewer is to interview in real situations often – thus the rationale behind spreading a wide net and applying to many firms.

Case study preparation

1. Read Case In Point – a high-quality, 100% case-focused resource

2. Review Victor Cheng’s www.caseinterview.com – a former McKinsey consultant, Victor has a great handle on successful case tips and techniques

3. Practice online cases – most consulting firm websites have plenty of cases (Bain even has simulated video case studies). The key here is to attempt answering the question before reading the real answer. There are good consulting websites with case resources as well, including Rice’s Consulting Club

4. Practice cases with friends – if no friends have relevant experience or interest, search Craigslist, consulting forums, and the like for partners

5. Practice sizing and estimation questions all the time (eg, if you see a Lexus while driving, think about how many Lexuses are manufactured in the U.S.). Sounds silly, but this is how you become fast and resourceful

Most important: practicing cases with and getting feedback from actual consultants. Never underestimate their willingness to help, as evidenced in Consultant99′s comment

Fit interview preparation

1. Generate sample fit interview questions and prepare outlined responses – the key is avoid rote memorization, but outline your main points. A useful resource is my guide to consulting interview questions

2. Practice responses in front of a mirror – this helps you become comfortable with body language, pacing, tone, etc

3. Practice with friends – have them ask you questions without prepared responses. Improvisational interview skills will serve you well far into the future

General interview preparation tips

1. Wear something that looks good and makes you feel confident – never underestimate the power of first appearances. Dress like a consultant, and you’ll look like you belong. Great post on consulting dress code here

2. Talk to as many current and former consultants as you can – the better you understand the work, the more comfortable you are with consulting terms like “on the beach” and “scope“, the better you’ll do. It’s also great for job networking

The site was down briefly on Thursday – minor database problems as I finally upgraded to the latest version of WordPress.

Here’s a roundup of reader questions – covering topics including role play consulting interviews, consulting interview dress code, consulting lingo, and cover letters.

To start, I found an online copy of the Wetfeet Guide to the Top 25 Consulting Firms – worth a quick browse as their company profiles are strong on the basics.

Now onto the questions:

I have an interview coming up, and the recruiter just informed me that there will be a role play portion to my case study. I’ve never done one before, any advice?

Role plays are not uncommon in management consulting interviews. Generally, you play a consultant presenting information to a client (played by the interviewer). Your job is to present your findings and recommendations in an analytical, persuasive manner. The client may throw up roadblocks, be difficult to deal with, and it’s up to you to stay calm, confident, and present your points with good reasoning and data.

These situations come up frequently on the job, and interviewers want to know that you have the presence to handle yourself adeptly.

How come consultants like to use so much lingo? Is this also true in the Fortune 500s?

Management consulting terms is a topic I’ve covered extensively here. It’s simply a function of the industry, and successful management consultants are masters of consulting lingo. To a lesser extent, these phrases are used in Fortune 500s – although I’d say your bigger concern there is unique, company-specific acronyms, nicknames, and terms. The better you are at it, the more natural you appear.

Okay, so I am in my sophomore year and I am trying to position myself for a consulting gig next year. What are some good summer internships for a sophomore that will look good come recruiting season?

I cover consulting summer internship recruiting here, but if you’re unable to land a consulting job, aim for two criteria: prestige and skill development. Prestige is more important if you want to ultimately work at a McKBain Group. As an example, I’d choose Goldman Sachs Asset Management over Gallup’s consulting group, even if you’ll acquire more consulting-like skills at Gallup.

What career paths are available when you’re leaving management consulting?

I postponed answering this question because of my last 2 posts, both covering management consulting exit opportunities. There are lots! From business to public sector, from non-profit to grad school, one of the biggest attractions to management consulting over investment banking is its breadth of opportunities.

What’s the proper attire for management consulting interviews?

I briefly covered consulting interview dress code before. On this topic, everyone has an opinion. To keep it simple: wear something nice but not flashy, and keep your outfit neat (eg, no wrinkles).

What other sources besides your blog would you recommend to understand the job better?

I’ve interviewed 2 big bloggers in this space – Marquis from McKinsey and Steve Shu from Nortel. Both of their sites have tons of high-quality information about the industry.

For case study questions and preparation, I’d look at www.caseinterview.com

Check out my blogroll for more resources.

Finally, I recommend some books and periodicals for consulting applicants.

Can you do an update to your day in the life of a management consultant?

One of my most popular posts is A Day In The Life Of A Management Consultant. It took a long time to craft that post, but I’m planning at least one more version (and if current consultants are interested in guest posting on that topic, please contact me!).

The next 3 questions are a series from a very dedicated reader…

1. I’m very tempted to contact my past interviewers at Accenture for the coming September fulltime recruitment season, but I’m not sure if that would be a good idea since my final round interviewers never replied to my emails when I requested their feedbacks after I got rejected. Should I email the consultants who interviewed me for the earlier rounds and let them know that I’m still interested?

If your final round interviewers did not respond to feedback emails, it’s ok to email your first round interviewers to followup briefly. It’s important not to push your luck – at most, I’d thank them for the opportunity, briefly update them on final rounds, and tell them you’ll be applying again for fulltime recruiting. If you receive no response, wait until 1-2 months before fulltime recruiting starts to re-initiate contact and jog their memory.

2. Besides Accenture, I was never offered interviews from other firms. During last September recruitment season I emailed a Deloitte Consultant after the campus info session, and he answered a lot of my questions. I told him about my CGPA concern, and he advised me to briefly say why I underperformed in my cover letter, but in the end I didn’t take his advice since I was too afraid to risk highlighting a major weakness. Do you think I should mention reasons for my low CGPA in my cover letter?

If it’s very low, you should briefly mention it in your cover letter. Keep in mind that most consulting cover letters are scanned briefly, if at all. My advice here is to work hard on your grades and get a higher GPA! Think about graduate programs that offer an opportunity to “reset” your GPA for recruiting.

3. As you’ve mentioned in your blog – too much downtime or getting a job in another field (ie: accounting, marketing) could remove me completely from the consulting track. I’m no longer in school and unemployed, but also not suitable for graduate school yet. I feel like I’m stuck in the most unfavorable position, and I don’t know what I can do now so I can increase my chances for the coming September recruitment season. I’ve already tried applying to various jobs such as Business Analyst positions within banks and mid-small size consulting firms but still no luck. What type of jobs do you think I should also consider if I still want to get into consulting in the very near future – research analyst, marketing management, CRM?

Without knowing specific options available, you should think about:

1. The prestige and influence of the company
2. The skillset you’ll be developing – is it analytical? Do you build presentation skills? Functional or industry-specific expertise?
3. Career paths of people who left that company – did they enter consulting?
4. The network you’ll build – remember, networking is key for getting consulting jobs!

To an extent, #3 and #4 are the same. This is also the relative prioritization I’d have when deciding.

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If you’re not familiar with my interview with a consultant from Booz Allen, we briefly covered government consulting which generated great reader interest.

Booz guy thoughtfully followed up with some additional thoughts on the topic. My notes are in the gray boxes.

In no particular order, here they are:

1. Government and public sector consulting generally follows the workweek of your clients, so only nine or ten hours per day on site. With that said, a lot of people do work later on at night from the firm’s office or at home and you are expected to turn around deliverables on the same schedule as commercial work

For a glimpse into consulting life, click here

2. Since due diligence and budget analysis don’t tend to be an assignment in the public space, government consulting gives you an opportunity to actually work with the meat of a problem. There can be high exposure to the decision makers

This is a definite perk in commercial work but can vary considerably by project

3. Booz Allen is hiring aggressively, but the standards just jumped several rungs. You can’t rely on degrees/former companies to get you in the door. In the past few weeks, I’ve seen applicants for positions at my firm with very prestigious MBA credentials, top-level security clearances, or fantastic companies on their resume who don’t get a second look because they can’t explain their work experience, or how it relates to our needs

Another reason why interview prep and careful resume and cover letter writing is more critical than ever

4. I’m going to have to disagree with the suggestion that firms are hiring many people in the Middle East, India, etc. Up until a few months ago, this was definitely the case, but several prominent firms lost contracts in the UAE when their sovereign wealth fund dropped significantly in November, and quite a few consultants are on the beach right now because of it. If you have any experience with debt or risk assessment, you might have a shot, but kiddos fresh out of school are going to have a hard time. It will get better, and those markets will be exciting once the money starts flowing again, but for now things are really tight

5. Commercial work is in a bad state right now. I’m interested to see if some firms pick up projects that are “below them” in order to keep people billable, or just cut staff

On a side note, Siemens recently decided to drop “use of all external consultants” estimating savings at close to “300m Euros this year”

6. Government consulting is about to be extremely busy. While the Obama administration initially was talking about cutting the number of contractors and consultants that they brought in to fix problems or develop strategy, they quickly realized that the federal government doesn’t have the resources or knowledge base to do it on their own. If you have experience/interest in health care, energy, finance or other areas on the new administration’s agenda, there will be some incredible opportunities pretty soon

This site has been growing by leaps and bounds in the past weeks. I want to thank readers for making this happen.

Next week, you can look forward to:

• Release of “The Consulting Bible” – an interview guide complete with the 60+ most common interview questions, sizing questions, and custom-written cases
• Continuation of the “Life as a Consultant” interview series which started with Booz Allen and now continues with contributors from Bain, Oliver Wyman, and ATKearney as well as perspectives on working overseas, transitioning from finance, etc
• More “Core Content” posts including articles on resumes, interviews, consulting lifestyle, and thoughts on my time at McKinsey

In the past month, I’ve had the fortune of helping 20+ people break into consulting. Unfortunately, I need to increase prices as I can’t handle demand. I will be changing the format of my coaching service (to become distinct “resume” and “interview” products). Look for these changes by next week

Now on to the questions! These are the most common and interesting ones to hit the comments and my inbox, and I figure many readers are interested in the answers.

Is there a GPA cutoff for management consulting? What is a strong GPA? Poor GPA?

Instead of saying “it depends”, here’s my take: if you have a 3.5 and above, you should be safe for most recruiting screens. If you have below a 3.5, other factors come into play – such as the strength of your undergraduate institution, the difficulty of your major, whether you have multiple degrees, etc.

3.7 and above is generally a strong GPA.

3.2 and below is generally a poor GPA.

Of course, the strength of your work experience and extracurricular experience always matter and can shift GPA perceptions.

I’m a senior in college and applying to consulting firms fulltime. Unfortunately, I have a really low SAT score from high school. Will this hurt my chances? Should I retake the SAT?

If your SAT score is below 1300, it could hurt depending on the firm. I would strongly recommend against retaking the SAT. There are better uses of your time. However, if you believe you can take it right now with no practice and score a 1500, no one will stop you.

If you have a low SAT, focus on the areas where you can make a difference – a great GPA will go a long way. Shoot for leadership positions in school, gain part-time work experience during school and recruit for quality firms over summer and post-college.

Same applies to GMAT. I’d think of 700 as your cutoff level there

Since graduating from college/graduate school, I’ve worked in several jobs and have built a strong work resume. Unfortunately, my educational background is weak – I didn’t go to a “target school” and had a low GPA in my time. How much will this affect my chances?

I’ve received many people asking variations of this theme. Here’s my advice:

If you have strong work experience – world-class firms, multiple promotions, a record of accomplishment, leadership, and risk-taking – the most important thing for you now is not your undergraduate GPA, but how you can get your resume in front of recruiters and decision-makers. Unless you plan on going back to school and utilizing their recruiting channels, it will come down to networking. There are a couple sources I suggest you hit immediately:

• School and work alumni networks
• Extended personal network (friends and family)
• Headhunters – preferably the ones that don’t charge an upfront fee but work through referrals to specific firms
• Pounding the pavement – meeting consultants at industry conferences, tradeshows, career forums, etc

Your educational record will play a part in your overall candidacy, but a minor one. If you have 5+ years of work experience, those years will be the focal point of any interview and resume screen. Your goal now is to get that opportunity.

I’ve heard that some offices are “easier” to recruit for at big consulting firms such as Bain, BCG, Mckinsey, Booz Allen. Should I apply to the smaller, “easier” offices?

This myth is partly true, partly false.

It’s partly true because selectivity varies by office at GMCs. Smaller offices may prefer a weaker candidate who ranks them #1 and has a rationale for that ranking (eg, it’s their hometown, they’re interested in the region’s dominant industries) to a stronger candidate who doesn’t rank them at all.

It’s partly false because selectivity can vary significantly in the smaller offices year-to-year. Particularly in the current hiring environment, smaller offices may make offers in the low single digits (if any).

Here’s your takeaway: if you’re a very strong candidate, it won’t matter to which office you apply. If you’re a borderline candidate, you may want to give office preferences a closer look – but only if you have good personal and professional reasons to do so.

Thanks for reading. For more background info and 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

UPCOMING POSTS: Continuation of the “Life as a Consultant” series; Top 10 tips for mastering the sizing questions (aka mini-case studies)

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“A consultant is someone who takes a subject you understand and makes it sound confusing.”

It’s a common perception of management consultants. From “bucket” to “scope”, from “sniff test” to “circle back”, to excel in the industry is to master a new and often entirely job-specific vocabulary.

I received a lot of feedback when I published my first post on consulting lingo.

Now I’m happy to announce the most comprehensive, yet still-useful dictionary of consulting terms on the internet. I want to give a quick shout to bnjammin’s Blog, which covered a lot of these terms in previous posts.

I’m hoping this database of words will grow with time – through reader feedback and my own research

So here it is!

5,000 mile view: a phrase used to describe a high-level, summary view of the situation. 5,000 can be replaced by any large number to indicate the same thing

80/20 rule: belief that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes; in consulting, this term is used to imply that 80% of an assignment can be finished in 20% of the time

adding value: quite simply, that value is being added. See also “value-add”

at the end of the day: a phrase used to attempt summarization, introduce an air of finality and perhaps close off certain avenues of discussion; since most consultants