Yang Yu spent 8 years in healthcare and life sciences before pursuing an evening MBA at Chicago Booth with his sights set on consulting.
His first recruiting attempt ended without the offer he wanted. His second? 3 top-tier offers, including McKinsey, Bain, and PwC Strategy&.
In this episode, Yang breaks down exactly what changed – and how he stayed grounded when the pressure was highest, including a Halloween night offer call he'll never forget.
We cover:
- What it's actually like to choose between multiple top consulting offers
- Why doing more cases doesn't mean doing better cases
- His 3-step reflection framework for identifying and fixing blind spots
- How he tailored his prep firm-by-firm – and when to bring in professional coaching
Resources:
- Join Black Belt – Yang's go-to prep program throughout his recruiting journey
- Book a 15-minute consult with Katie for guidance on which MC program is the right fit
- [email protected] – For consulting club leaders looking to bring MC support (resume edits, case coaching, and more) to their campus
Transcript:
Japheth Mast: Strategy Simplified, I've got a great candidate story for you today. I'm sitting down with Yang, who landed a couple of different top-tier offers inside of consulting. We're going to dive into his journey, extract a lot of great learnings and insights, and I'm really looking forward to the conversation. Yang, let's not waste any time. Welcome to the podcast. Can you start off by giving us the roughly 60-second version of your story — your background and what ultimately pushed you to pursue consulting during your MBA program?
Yang Yu: Definitely. I'm honored to be here — I've been a loyal subscriber, so it's really fascinating to contribute to Strategy Simplified. My name is Yang Yu. I did an evening and weekend MBA at the University of Chicago Booth. Before that, I got my master's degree in biochemical engineering and spent about eight years in the healthcare and life sciences industry, moving from scientist to project manager to business manager.
What drove me to pivot to consulting are two things. First, I wanted to leverage what I learned in the life sciences industry to contribute to higher-level strategy advisory work. During my time in the industry, I saw clients' successes and failures firsthand, and I believed high-level strategy advisory could help them a lot. Second, I didn't want to limit myself to life sciences and healthcare. I wanted to see the broader world — what the AI and digital implementation industry looks like, what other buzzword industries look like. MBB and consulting firms generally gave me a great opportunity to discover the possibilities across different types of projects.
Japheth Mast: Great. So broadening your impact, and broadening your scope across industries and practices — very common. You mentioned the evening and weekend MBA, which I think is really cool, because we have a lot of folks who come to us and say, "Hey, I'm in a part-time or evening MBA — can I still do this?" Short answer: yes. And we're about to share how Yang specifically navigated that journey.
The Recruiting Journey
Japheth Mast: I know you landed a couple of really cool offers. Congrats on those. Can you walk us through your recruiting process — start to finish — and where you ultimately landed?
Yang Yu: My journey is quite interesting. I started as co-chair of the Booth Consulting Club, which is how I first got into the consulting world. In that role, I arranged a lot of activities — setting up training processes, working closely with Management Consulted to bring training to the team, and learning about the industry through organizing firm events for club members.
After getting a general understanding of the landscape, I decided to try a two-step approach — first attempting the summer internship recruiting cycle. I got some traction and interviewed with the McKinsey St. Louis office. Unfortunately, I didn't receive an offer, but they liked my performance and thought I was close. They kept me in what they called their "Keep in Touch" program — routine check-ins and coffee chats to keep me in the loop. In the meantime, I did a short-term internship with a boutique consulting firm to keep my momentum going.
After finishing that internship, I applied again through full-time on-campus recruiting — and I got three offers: McKinsey, Bain Chicago, and PwC Strategy& Chicago, which is focused on private equity and value creation. I ultimately chose McKinsey St. Louis and will be starting there in September.
Japheth Mast: So an initial no doesn't always mean the end of the journey. You got a "not right now, but we like you" from McKinsey — and look where that ended up.
Yang Yu: Exactly. Consulting is a people business. How you maintain your network and keep reaching out to your advocates matters a lot. And it's always about mindset — staying positive, keeping up your practice and rhythm, and reflecting on what you can do better. How do I improve for the next round? How do I position myself as a stronger performer? That reflection is really important.
The Reflection Process
Japheth Mast: How did you actually do that reflection? What tactical steps did you take to stay engaged and learn from your experience without repeating the same mistakes?
Yang Yu: I have a three-step approach to reflection.
The first step is identifying the waste — the time you wasted. People talk about how many cases they've done: 60, 70, 100-plus. But what really helped me was going back to my case log, reading through all the case material step by step, and identifying whether I actually learned something or whether I kept making the same mistake. In my first internship recruiting cycle, I did around 60 cases — more than most people. But after zooming in on the reflection process, I realized that for at least 30 of those cases, I was repeating the same error. For example, I wasn't setting up the math upfront and getting my case partner's approval before diving into detailed calculations. Identifying the problem is the critical first step.
The second step is tailoring your approach. You try different methods, reach out to advocates to understand how they approached cases, and seek professional coaching when needed. I didn't hesitate to reach out to coaches. For McKinsey prep, I worked extensively with Kabreya. For Bain, I worked with Maile. I tailored my coach selection to the specific firm I was targeting.
The third step is integration. You're going to receive a lot of good advice, but it won't all be tailored to your specific style. You have to understand your own case style, networking style, and behavioral style — and then integrate what you've learned into your frameworks, storytelling, and networking approach in a way that's authentically yours.
Japheth Mast: I'm so glad I asked that, because you just shared a lot of gold. A few things stand out. Number one: you can't improve what you don't measure. Get yourself a case tracker — a simple spreadsheet — and log your wins, losses, and patterns. Number two: quantity doesn't always equal success. You had 60 cases in your first round, and it didn't get you where you wanted to go. We always preach quality over quantity. If you want a magic number, it's 22 — that's the average number of cases that successful candidates do before landing an offer.
Yang Yu: I'm on the high end of that error bar — I've done 110-plus cases.
Japheth Mast: You're the one who skewed that number from 20 to 22! And number three: you got help. You were humble enough to say, "I can't do this alone." That mindset saves people a lot of time and trouble.
Yang Yu: Right. I'm also a bit of a nerd — I actually built an AI agent to help me practice. It would run a stopwatch during my frameworks and recommendations and tell me whether my structure was clear enough. Technology can be a real asset.
The Secret Sauce
Japheth Mast: If you had to boil it down to a secret sauce — one specific thing you'd credit for your success from your first attempt to your second — what would it be?
Yang Yu: Two things, actually.
The first is staying organized. I treated the case interview and behavioral interview as an organized game. When I thought about structure and frameworks, I had a set of core points to start from every time — a consistent thought process that I could then tailor to the specific case and questions in front of me. That allowed me to keep polishing my logic over time. It was a game changer between my internship interviews and my full-time recruiting interviews, and I believe it's what ultimately brought me the offer.
The second is the human element. People say, "Don't turn yourself into a case machine," and there's a reason for that — consulting is a people business. I heard a great analogy at a networking event: the reason firms want to have a real conversation with you during the interview is because they're asking themselves, "If I'm stuck with this person at the airport for seven hours, am I going to enjoy that time?" Make yourself interesting. Enjoy the interview instead of just grinding through it like a practice exam.
Japheth Mast: Likability is a skill that can be improved. Have honest conversations with people who will tell you the truth — and adjust accordingly.
Translating Your Background for Consulting
Japheth Mast: A lot of MBA students struggle to translate their previous experience into language that fits a consulting context. What was the hardest part of reframing your background, and how did you do it?
Yang Yu: It's a genuinely challenging process, because you receive a lot of advice from a lot of different sources — your career services coach, friends at firms, coffee chat contacts, and coaches at Management Consulted who helped me polish my resume. My approach to making sense of all of it is another three-step process.
First, do a ground-level analysis of your work experience. Which parts are most transferable to consulting? Data analytics, business development, sales, project management — these are all skills consultants use every day. Lead with those.
Second, connect the dots. Figure out how to string those transferable experiences together as a coherent story. I'd look at consultant profiles on LinkedIn and study how people with similar backgrounds wrote up their experience. "Oh, this is how you frame it — let me borrow that approach and tailor it to my story."
Third, find a trustworthy person — a coach, a consultant, or your career advisor — to help bring it across the finish line. Condense your story into bullet points that hold together logically. During my Bain interview, I had my resume in front of me and was asked to walk through everything. If you know the logic behind every bullet point, you know exactly what story you're going to tell.
Japheth Mast: You're such a consultant — everything in three parts.
Yang Yu: I took a class with Professor Dennis Chookaszian at Booth. He's known as "the man of the rule of three" — every time he breaks down a problem, it's three points. I've been practicing the same philosophy ever since. It just works.
Common MBA Recruiting Myths
Japheth Mast: Having gone through the process twice, what's a myth that MBA candidates believe that you'd like them to stop believing?
Yang Yu: Two myths.
The first is over-indexing the networking piece. Networking matters — you need to understand each firm's culture and style. But don't obsess over every touchpoint as if it's a direct path to an interview. For McKinsey, when they came to our campus, they were clear: "We're here for you to learn about us, and for our consultants to get to know you." Some people tried to stand out at every single event and track every signal — did I get invited to the next event? Was I moved to a private session? In my experience, those signals are not reliable indicators of where you stand. Don't exhaust yourself chasing them. And once you receive an interview invitation, your networking has done its job. Shift your focus to preparation.
The second myth is over-indexing every touch point after you receive an offer. At McKinsey, once you're offered, you may be paired with a volunteer — someone who already has an offer and is there to offer you a practice case. I've seen candidates completely panic, thinking it's some kind of secret evaluation. It's not. As a volunteer, I always made it clear upfront: I haven't started yet, I don't have a McKinsey email, I'm just here to help. Trust that people mean well.
Interestingly, I fell into both of these traps during my own recruiting journey.
Japheth Mast: That's actually not what I expected, but I'm really glad you shared it. Some people listening are going to realize they're doing exactly that and feel a weight lift off them. Stay in your lane, focus on what moves the needle, and let the rest go.
Handling Pressure in Interviews
Japheth Mast: What's one moment where you felt a ton of pressure — in an interview or a networking event — and how did you keep yourself grounded?
Yang Yu: There were two really intense moments in my final rounds.
For context: during my first McKinsey interview cycle, all three of my cases involved breakeven calculations — one of the harder math setups. I gave myself breakeven phobia after that experience. So you can imagine what happened when, in my final round, the same senior partner who had interviewed me before gave me another breakeven case.
He opened with the PEI — the personal experience interview, where they give you topics and you build stories around them. He pushed hard on the details of my story, and for a moment I started wondering whether I should switch to a backup story. I ran a quick mental debate: Is this my best story? Yes. Do I have a better backup? No. Am I going to convince him? Probably. Okay — best shot. So I told him: "Trust me, I can demonstrate all the skills you're looking for. Give me four or five minutes to walk through the skeleton of this story, and we can dive into any details afterward." He looked at me, said "Sure, let's go ahead," and we moved on.
Then the second storm hit — a breakeven case. I was panicking internally. But I caught myself and asked: Do I have a process? Yes. Where do I start? I walk through how I'll solve the problem, get his approval, execute the calculation, and deliver the "so what." I trusted the process, delivered the result — and that same partner called me that night with an offer.
To make it even more dramatic, it was Halloween. He called at 8:30 PM. He started with, "I want to thank you again for interviewing with me," and I thought, that's it, I didn't get it. Then: "But I have some good news for you."
Japheth Mast: Under pressure, you don't fall to the level of your abilities — you fall to the level of your systems. You had a process, you leaned on it, and it carried you through.
Using Black Belt
Japheth Mast: You were part of Management Consulted's Black Belt program. What specifically about Black Belt helped you progress faster or more confidently than you could have on your own?
Yang Yu: Black Belt has a lot of strong coaches — former consultants who have been through the process and, in many cases, have actually conducted these interviews. That credibility matters a lot.
At the start of my prep, I worked with Lisa, who helped me set up my core framework — how to think about case structure, how to approach exhibits. That foundation was critical.
As I got traction with specific firms, I shifted to firm-specific prep. Different companies have different case styles, so I tailored my coaching accordingly. For McKinsey, I worked a lot with Kabreya. For Bain, I worked with Maile.
In the final stretch — the last mile before final rounds — I reached out to Divya, who has over ten years of McKinsey experience. She helped me understand what partner and senior partner interviews actually feel like from the inside.
So the three phases are: establish your framework with a professional coach at the beginning; tailor your prep firm by firm as you get traction; and bring in a specialist for the last mile before final rounds.
Japheth Mast: Always three. Start with a professional to set up your foundation, check in throughout, and bring them back in at the end.
Japheth Mast: For someone on the fence about investing in a program like Black Belt — what's your advice?
Yang Yu: Think about where you are in your recruiting journey and give yourself as much time as possible to use the program. Even with one or two weeks left, it will help — but the earlier you start, the more you can digest, reflect, and improve. The ROI compounds over time.
Also, know what kind of support you need. Black Belt has coaches with different profiles — some are recent MBA candidates who landed all three MBB offers, like Kabreya, and can give you the peer-level perspective. Others, like Divya, bring over a decade of industry experience. Design your journey accordingly. Match the coach to the traction you have.
Choosing Between Offers
Japheth Mast: You landed multiple offers. Can you walk us through your decision-making process?
Yang Yu: The offer selection process was more intense than I expected. I thought it would feel like picking the best option from a great menu — but it was genuinely stressful. Once I received the offers, advocates from all three firms started reaching out. Some already knew I had multiple offers and were happy to share their own decision-making experiences.
My approach — rule of three again.
First, calm down. Don't let the volume of outreach from any one firm pressure you into a decision. Go back to your "why" — why consulting, why this firm, what do you want to get out of it. Clarity comes from slowing down.
Second, design the process. Schedule offer coffee chats thoughtfully. Build a decision matrix — mentally, at least — with the things that matter most to you, weighted by importance. You don't have to write it all down, but you need to know what your criteria are.
Third, don't burn bridges. Respond to every email. Thank every interviewer and advocate, regardless of which offer you choose. These are good people, and you're all in the same industry.
For me personally, I chose McKinsey St. Louis because St. Louis is my hometown, and because McKinsey offered more exposure to industries beyond healthcare — whereas the PwC Strategy& role was more healthcare-focused, and I was looking to broaden my scope. I also had a really strong relationship with my McKinsey recruiters and advocates. But there were no bad options. I would have been in great hands at any of the three.
Fun Moments from the Process
Japheth Mast: The recruiting process can be intense, so what's something unexpected or funny that happened along the way?
Yang Yu: Two moments come to mind.
The first was during my Bain interview. I was working through a complex calculation, following my process, and at some point I actually started enjoying it. After finishing the first half of the math, I did a quick check-in — "Is this aligned with our client's expectation?" Basically asking: am I on the right track? The consultant said yes. And without thinking, I patted myself on the shoulder. The interviewer started laughing and said, "You're an interesting person — you actually gave yourself a pat on the back." That moment made everything feel more human.
The second was during my McKinsey interview. We were trying to understand a specific industry as part of the case, and the interviewer actually started drawing on paper to show me how the machinery worked. That moment reframed everything for me. This isn't just a test. These people are genuinely curious. They want to work with someone interesting. Why not enjoy the process?
Japheth Mast: I hope you can frame that drawing and put it on your wall someday.
Yang Yu: That's the plan.
Habits That Help You Recharge
Japheth Mast: Last question — outside of work, school, and recruiting, what's one habit or activity that helps you reset and recharge?
Yang Yu: I'm a big podcast listener. I love listening while I'm driving or working out at the gym. Here's the funny part — I actually used to listen to Strategy Simplified case practice episodes during my workouts. There's something about watching high performers demonstrate their process while I'm in the gym that gives me a mental reset. Fair warning: don't try to simulate the math portion on an intense leg day. It doesn't always yield the right results. But as a motivational tool, watching great candidates work through cases with confidence — it helped me a lot. Thank you for hosting so many great episodes. They genuinely made a difference.
Japheth Mast: We need a new ad: "Take Strategy Simplified with you on leg day." Thank you so much, Yang. Huge congrats on the offers, and we're all rooting for you at McKinsey and beyond. Thanks from the entire Strategy Simplified community.
Yang Yu: Thanks, Japheth. A pleasure.