| Topic Name: |
Management and Strategy Consulting |
| Message Name: |
info |
| Date Posted: |
05/21/2003 |
| In Reply To: |
I've got upcoming interviews at BCG, McKinsey, and others. I'm a non-traditional (PhD with no business background). Does anyone know to what extent non-traditionals are expected to be familiar with business concepts/terms in the cases (e.g., ROE, etc)--or will it be more general strategy to test our analytical ability, etc? Thanks for any pointers.
Also, do 1st round interview cases tend to be easier than callbacks, as a rule? |
| Message: |
At McKinsey, they were more concerned with "economic intution" than knowledge of terms and such. It cuts both ways. There are some MBA types (not all) who will use a term or accounting consept without really understanding the real implications of the phrase. In several interviews, I only had one person who used a couple terms that I was unfamiliar with and who seemed a little surprised to have to define it (and I think that was just him...) I also interviewed with 4 or 5 other consultancies and they all were not heavy on the speicific terms or formulas or such.
All that said, you need an intuitive bent for thinking through business issues. Things like supply/demand. (How will different levers affect the balence.) How big are different factors. What facotrs are subsets of larger factors. That kind fo thinking.
Oh...and learn how to "tree out" a profitability case. Look at a few MBA consulting club guidebooks. (Use some adapt/overcome or some coldcalling to find these...)
Good luck.
(One little last thing. The Engineering Econ section of the Landeberg EIT reference manual has a good 10 page section on time value of money and other basic concepts. It is well worth your time to work throught that, whereever you work.
|
|
