Job Responsibilities
Job responsibilities in management consulting vary greatly
depending on the consulting firm, project, client, teammates and
your length of employment.
Beginning associates and business analysts (junior associates)
are expected to concentrate on the basics of consulting: problem
analysis skills, communicating clearly in both written and oral
formats, building relationships with the client and consulting
team members, and professional demeanor.
A typical work week is 50-60 hours, although it can be much
higher and require weekend time if a major presentation/report
is imminent. It is important to note however that different
firms and office locations have different expectations about
evening and weekend work.
An example of a breakdown for a typical McKinsey week from the
MidWest Offices (Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis,
Pittsburgh) would be:
8 hrs collecting client data
10 hrs analyzing data
8 hrs drafting & revising powerpoint slides
2 hrs reviewing/contributing to other team members work
4 hrs team problem solving/brainstorming sessions
6 hrs preparation for meetings (scheduling, e-mailing documents,
setting agendas, printing copies, etc.)
2 hrs meetings/conference calls with consulting partners
2 hrs meetings with client teams
5 hrs breakfast/lunch
4 hrs team dinners
0.5 hrs feedback
6 hrs travel (which is often spent doing some of the work
detailed above)
As tenure lengthens, responsibilities change and move towards
project management, team management and client interactions.
This means responsibilities shift towards motivating,
supervising, and trouble shooting problems with teammates who
perform the analysis and generate powerpoint slides and reports
rather than actually generating the work yourself. Also
communicating with the partners, clients, and teammates plays a
larger role and requires finesse, tact and skill to manage
everyone's expectations and preventing them from becoming
misaligned.
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Job Requirements
Business Analysts or Junior Associates typically have
undergraduate degrees in analytical and quantitative heavy
fields such as engineering, computer science, science fields,
enconomics, pre-med, etc. Many come from Ivy League schools
since positions are highly sought after and consulting firms
often focus their attentions on recruiting from top programs.
For Associates, typical career for most firms paths involve an
undergraduate degree (often engineering, science, economics,
business, etc.), ~5 years working beginning with an entry level
poisition and earning a promotion or two and then an MBA degree
(again often from a top MBA program, many Ivy League). Many MBA
programs have recruiters regularly come on campus from top
consulting companies and students are hired right out of the MBA
program.
Some firms hire other advanced degree holders (PhD, MS, MD, JD,
etc.) for associate positions. The number of advanced degree
holders in firms can vary (McKinsey hires ~50% advanced degree
holders, some firms hire none). Those with advanced degrees
should make sure that the firm and locations they are
considering hire advanced degree holders and have a good track
record with them. This includes adequate training of business
knowledge and support during your transition from an academic
world to the business one. Since the advanced degree hiring
process often varies from the MBA track, it is important to
speak with advanced degree consultants at your target firms to
learn the specifics of the interviewing and hiring process (for
example, some firms are skilled at screening CVs while others
are not. If the firm is not used to looking at CVs, you are
probably better off adapting your CV into a one page resume.)
Although management consulting firms are always hiring talented
individuals, there is an application and recruiting cycle at
most firms. That doesn't mean can can't or shouldnt apply off
cycle, especially if you are an advanced degree holder, but
typically it is best to try to fit into the hiring cycle.
Generally applications for full-time positions begin in
September/October and summer internships begin in January.
While not offered by all firms, summer internship application
screening begins in January with offers to candidates made in
the middle to late spring. Interviews are typically 2-3 rounds
of case interviews. Internships are usually 8-10 weeks long and
begin in June. Typical salaries are $15-20,000 for the summer.
Because summer positions are not offered by all firms and many
individuals apply, the competition for managing consulting
internships is more fierce than for full-time positions. In
summer internships, it is important to determine what the work
as a full-time consultant will really be like (some firms make
the internship such a fun experience that consultants who return
to accept full-time positions are extremely disappointed that
their full-time employment is nothing like their internship).
Most firms begin screening applications for full-time recruits
in September or October with final deadlines for application
submission usually in the late fall or early winter (of course,
earlier is better). The interview process typically involves 2
or 3 rounds of case interviews with offers to candidates being
made in late fall (November) to early winter (December-
January). Start dates for full-time positions are typically
summer to fall, approximately 9 months to a year after the
initial application submission. For business analysts (junior
associates) salaries are $50-70,000 annually with some firms
paying 10,000 bonuses or giving raises to top performers. For
associates (regardless of degree), typical salaries are $90-
120,000 annually with a bonus potential of $0-40,000 depending
on your performance.
After a final round interview, the successful candidate is
typically contacted via phone within a week of interviewing to
express congratulations and let the candidate know that an offer
letter with details of employment will be arriving shortly
(usually via express mail). Firms give candidates differing
lengths of times to decide on whether or not to accept their
offer. Some firms give candidates months to carefully think
about and decide whether to accept their offer. Other firms
make exploding?? offers that expire in a week or
two. Exploding?? offers are designed to pray on your fears that
you might not receive any other offers and thus should take the
one you have currently received. Often it is possible to
negotiate extensions to the exploding date, but
fundamentally exploding?? are designed to push you into making
as quick a decision as possible.
Once you cross the magic line between candidate and offeree, it
is a different world. While previously it used to be difficult
to get the recruiter to return your phone call, now you receive
phone calls from consultants and partners in the office, gift
baskets, invitations to attend office functions and offers to
come visit the office with your spouse/significant other (paid
for by the office). This part is called cultivation. Firms
prize a high acceptance rate among their offerees and now will
do almost anything they can to get you to choose their firm over
others. Some firms and offices even stoop to badmouthing their
competition.
During the blissful offeree period, use your time wisely.
Network with consultants at the firm and in particular the
office you would accept your offer in. Try to speak with
different individuals and understand if you will fit well with
the office and culture. Senior associates/business analysts
and/or those who have left the firm are often a font of
information (not all of it rosy). Examine carefully the firm
and the office??is it a place you want to be? How did the firm
treat you when you were a candidate vs. when you were an
offeree? Does that affect your decision? What does that say
about the firms underlying beliefs in the value of people? Will
you be able to be successful there? What will your biggest
challenges be? Will you be able to and/or have you already
identified good mentors who can help you develop and succeed?
Tips for Getting hired especially if you are not a mainstream
candidate
Non-Ivy League graduates and advanced professional degrees are
hired by firms as well, but if you are not a mainstream
candidate for a position you need to make an extra effort to get
yourself noticed and into first round interviews. After that
your performance in the interviews will make or break you.
Getting yourself noticed and into first round interviews in
management consulting firms means making sure that your
application gets considered. Applications are often reviewed by
recruiters who spend 30 seconds or less on a resume before
placing it in the "Interview" or "Reject" pile. Even worse,
many applications are now electronic which makes it easy for
recruiters to search by criteria such as GPA, major, etc. so
your resume may not even be looked at by human eyes because the
recruiter has put in restrictive search terms that eliminated
your application from consideration.
The good news is you can increase the likelihood of your resume
and application getting longer than a 30 second review if you
have networked with consultants at the firms and offices you are
interested in. If you have made a good impression on those
consultants, they will tell the recruiter to carefully review
your application. The recruiter will then type in your name or
application number (hopefully you have been organized enough to
provide that to your networking contacts so they can easily
communicate it to the recruiter) and pull up your entire
application. Your entire application (which probably includes
your transcript, a short essay, notes that explain any anomilies-
-like your GPA is only 3.5 but that represents graduating with
honors which required X, Y, and Z beyond what typical students
do, etc.) may receive several minutes of attention instead of
just a 30 second resume glance. In some firms, a consultant
saying "We need to interview this candidate." is sufficient to
get you passed into the first round. In sum, networking and
making a good impression can be essential for the non-
traditional candidate to get a first round interview.
Where and how do you network? Check with your career center-
does the school hold any on campus information sessions for the
firms you are interested in? Consider checking with the career
centers for other parts of your University (for example, the
business school career may hold a session while the engineering
school career center does not) or even for surrounding
universities. Do your homework ahead of time-carefully review
the website for the firm you are interested in. When you speak
with consultants and recruiters of that firm, do NOT ask
questions about information that you could have gotten off the
website. Ask questions about the consultants personal
experience with the firm. Ask about what the office culture is
like. Your questions you should indicate you have a basic
understanding of the firm, the work it does, the application and
interview process and are looking for more specific and nuanced
answers. For example, if you were an advanced degree student
conversing with a consultant from the firm you might ask, I saw
that your firm hires advanced degree students. About what
percent of your office would you say holds advanced degrees?
What do you think are the special challenges faced by advanced
degree students transitioning to the business world? Is there a
consultant in your office with a background similar to mine that
I could speak to about how he/she made the transition? Ask for
a card from the consultants you speak with and follow up with a
thank you note and/or another specific question. Consider
asking if the consultant would take a quick look at your resume
and give you feedback.
Other ways to network include contacting basically, anyone you
know (like your Uncle Eddie, your Dads golf buddy, your Moms
work colleague, your older sisters college roommate who got an
MBA, etc.) that who might know someone at the firm you are
interested in. Get over your shyness and start asking your
relatives and friends for assistance in your networking. Youd
be surprised by who they know. Also consider checking your
alumni database for contacts as well as using online networking
tools like Linked In (www.linkedin.com) or Monster.com.
An example of networking: You send a short e-mail that says you
are so-and-sos daughter who will be graduating in May and are
interested in management consulting. You would like to speak
with him [you dads golf buddy who has his own consulting
business but used to work for one of the firms you are
interested in] for 15 minutes about the management consulting
industry, his experiences at X firm, and any advice hed have
for someone beginning the application process. Would he have
time during the next week for a 15 minute phone conversation?
At what phone number and time would be best to reach him? For
his convenience, youve attached your resume which contains
additional details of your background and experiences.
The closer the connection, the more likely they are to give you
some time (your dads golf buddy will speak to you because your
dad is his buddy, and your dad would probably razz him or be
annoyed with him if he didnt speak briefly with you). Other
people who you have less connection with may or may not give you
any time. Remember that this person is going to be doing you a
favor so you need to make it easy for him to help you. What
ever time he suggests, works great for you to speak. If you
need to step out of class for a moment to make the phone call,
do it??you have probably missed class for less important
purposes. If you need to reschedule your dentist appointment,
do it. If you need to cancel your personal training session, do
it. If getting hired at this firm is important to you, this
phone call is important to you. Act accordingly.
When you call the contact, be in a quiet location with a note
paper and writing utensil handy. Have your questions written
out (this means youve done your web research on the firm and
will not be asking stupid questions that you could have answered
by reading the website). Start with chatting for a minute or
two. Have you met this guy before when you were 13 years old?
yes, youve grown up since then. Joke about how bad your dads
golf game is (you know this guy plays golf with your dad and
your dad sucks at golf). Has the golf buddy ever had the
misfortune to be paired with your dad in tournament? Did the
golf buddy notice any improvement in your dads golf game after
he bought that expensive driver last spring that made your mom
blow a gasket?
Then transition to your questions (Remember, no stupid questions
that you are able to answer by reading the website. Also
remember that if he no longer works for the firm, he may not
have a lot of specific knowledge of what is going on at the firm??
ask questions accordingly). Take notes. Watch the time. Ask
follow up questions that demonstrate your interest. With 2
minutes to go ask if he knows someone who is currently at the
firm or someone who would know people currently at the firm?
Ask if he could give you their contact information and also send
them a quick note to let them know you will be contacting them
soon. If you have done a good job of your conversation, he will
be happy to do so. If you seemed disorganized, confused,
ignorant, or just plain sloppy, he probably wont be willing to
do so. Just imagine the phone call that he would get from his
contact if he did send you on--Why did you dump that
disorganized, confused, ignorant, and sloppy idiot on me? I
dont have time to deal with that. Being referred to someone
else (especially when your contact makes the introduction)
intrinsically involves giving you a stamp of approval. If you
are going to make the golf buddy look bad to his contacts, hes
not going to be willing to let you speak with them. The
converse is also true. If you are sharp and turn out to be
someone that the firm hires then his contact owes him a favor
because finding and hiring talented individuals is a difficult
challenge for every consulting firm.
What if you dont have family connections? Your dad was a dead
beat you havent seen in years and your mom works as clerk at
Walmart. And you dont have any Aunts or Uncles. And your
friend pool is limited because you spent all your time
studying. First get over it. Yes, you are disadvantaged
compared to some people but that is life. Youll just have to
work harder at developing connections on your own. You still
know more people than you think. Consider talking to your profs??
especially the ones whose taught classes you especially liked
and did well in. And dont focus only on those in your major??
you probably have no idea what your profs spouses/partners do
and who they know. You have no idea who their friends or
neighbors are. When they offer to introduce you (via e-mail or
in person) to contacts of theirs, if it is a step closer to
where you want to go, then take them up on their offer. Did you
do an internship? Speak with co-workers and your supervisor
from there. The alumni database is also looking better and
better. A well-composed personal note will often get a reply.
Use on line tools (like linkedin).
In any case, the rules for networking are
1. Be respectful. Think of everything through the eyes of
those you are networking with. What does it signal to them when
you dont call at the prearranged time? It signals that this
call and contact are not important to you. What does it signal
youre your e-mail message is long, rambly, and full of
misspellings? It says I dont value your time enough to send
you a clear, coherent, readable message.?? What does it signal
when the next time you send your resume to your contact, none of
the suggestions she made were included. It signals I dont
think highly enough of you to take your suggestions and I am
sloppy and dont bother to take advantage of advice when it is
given.?? The implication of all of these why should your contact
continue to help you?
2. What you promise you must perform. For example if you say
youll give your contact a call at 3 pm EST you better make the
call at 3 pm EST. If you promise a revised resume by Thursday,
you better send it Thursday. To do otherwise shows disrespect
for your contact which violates rule #1.
Corollary 2A. Dont promise what you cannot deliver.
Everything takes more time than you think it will. Unexpected
events occur which take your time and attention. For phone
calls or meetings, prearranging an exact time is the norm, but
for other items (like sending a revision of your resume) leaving
a more vague time period (like next week?? or soon??) may be
appropriate.
Corollary 2B. When you have promised what you cannot deliver,
you must communicate it and as soon as possible. It sucks when
you have promised what it turns out you cannot do, so try to
stick with Corollary 2A (dont promise what you cannot
deliver). However, if the case arises where you have promised
something and it just isnt going to be feasible to deliver it
you need to communicate it as possible. Send a short e-mail
saying Helen, An unexpected project arose and I wont be able
to send you my revised resume next week as promised. I want to
give your feedback on my resume adequate attention before I
resend it. Thanks for all your help and Ill send it on as soon
as Ive completed it.??
Be careful about giving too much information. For
example Helen, My dog died and my Physics prof. assigned an
extra exam since the entire class did horribly on the last one
and my apartment building was sold so I have to move at the end
of the month???? is way too much information. Helen doesnt care
that you have problems. Helen has problems, too. Her division
lost money last year and she has to decide which 3 long-time
employees of the company she will have to lay off. Every one of
her employees is someone whose family and kids she knows
personally. Her decision will create a substantial hardship for
those she lays off. Helen doesnt care that you physics prof
assigned an extra exam. Shed love to trade problems with you,
so dont whine about how tough your life is because compared to
Helen, your problems are creampuff.
3. Ask for what you need. If what you need is an introduction
to a consultant at X firm, ask for that. If what you need is to
have your resume reviewed, ask for it. Of course the way in
which you ask must conform to rule #1 be respectful. And you
must follow up appropriately (rule #2 what you promise you must
perform). By asking for an introduction or resume review you
are implicitly promising that you will follow through. If you
dont, it violates rule #1 (be respectful).
4. Express gratitude. After a contact has helped you, at the
very least, send a quick e-mail thank you note. If a contact
really helped you, a handwritten note is especially meaningful.
(You can buy inexpensive blank cards that require only a couple
of sentences to fill up??women, dont choose anything too frilly.
Guys, same thing.) A thank you note does two things: first it
reminds your contact of your name and second, it leaves your
contact with a positive feeling about you. Both of these, make
her more likely to be willing to help you in the future. A
handwritten note is even better, because your contact will
probably leave it sitting on her desk for several days. When a
colleague come by and asks, Whats the card for??? it she thinks
about you again with positive feelings.
5. Return the favor. People are willing to network with you for
several reasons including people like to talk about themselves,
people like to feel knowledgeable, and someday they might need a
favor, too. So understand that part of networking is being a
good contact for your contacts. If you are able to help your
contacts, you should. For example during the course of your
networking, you might have found out that a particular executive
assistant is going to be relocating and one of your other
contacts lives in the area shell be moving to, it makes sense
to introduce them, especially if they are in related lines of
work. Also, most of your contacts probably gave you some of
their time without realistic expectation of receiving anything
(other than a sense of well-being), so you should likewise
invest some of your time in others without expectation of gain.
An excellent application
Putting together an excellent application package takes time.
Give yourself sufficient time to network with consultants,
determine if the firm and office are the right choice for you,
put your application together, read it over carefully, trying to
think about it from the recruiters point of view and make
changes edits.
Most management consulting recruiters examining your application
are looking for evidence that you are an analytical,
quantitative high-achiever with strong leadership and
communication skills. You should carefully examine the website
of the firms you are interested in and use your networking
contacts to develop a specific list of qualities your target
firms prioritizes in an associate/business analyst. You need to
do this because consulting firms place different weights on what
skills and qualities they are looking for. Some firms for
example, wont consider you if your approach to problem solving
isnt sufficiently structured for their tastes while other firms
place less weight on structure and more on creativity of
solutions. Some firms love to hire sharp, analytical
individuals with little formal business training (they feel they
can teach you that) while other firms dont invest in basic
business training and thus hire only individuals that already
have that knowledge.
Whatever this list of qualities is for the firm you are
targeting, you need to make sure your resume and application
addresses every one of these qualities. Maybe you need to add a
communications class or two that will be evident on your
transcript or maybe you need include your high school speech and
debating awards in your other data section of your resume.
Somewhere in your application package all of the points need to
be addressed.
For your resume in particular, you might consider asking your
consulting contacts to review your resume during your networking
process. Be sure to think carefully about the feedback you
receive and try to use it if it is relevant. This is a good idea
since most career centers do a poor job at really pushing
students to make their resume the best it can be. Be sure to
include your test scores: ACT 30+ or SAT equivalent preferred
for junior associates and 700+ GMAT, GRE, MCAT, LSAT or etc. for
MBAs and advanced degree holders. Also include one or more of
your GPA (the closer to 4.0 the better),class rank (top 5-10%
preferred)/graduation honors / scholarships (full tuition, full
ride are best). You need to decide what presents you in the
best light for example among some engineering degrees, you may
be in the top 5% of engineering students but only have a GPA of
3.5--in that case, choose to list top 5% of engineering students
and leave GPA off.
Remember your resume and application are just a snapshot of who
you are??THEY WILL NOT and SHOULD NOT CONTAIN EVERY BIT OF
INFORMATION ABOUT YOU. You may have won 50 scholarships and
awards, some much more impressive than your debating award, but
if your unaddressed area is your communication skills, none of
the more impressive awards are as useful to you on your resume
as plugging your communications skills gap. As yourself-why am
I including this piece of information on my resume? If the
answer is Because it was a cool award or I really liked that
project, or anything else except it contributes X to the
snapshot I want my prospective employer to know about me then
you should take it out. Get over it. Your resume is not you-it
is a snapshot.
Finally, the networking and application process seems to take a
lot of effort? How do you find enough time to do this for 30
different firms? The answer is you dont. During your
networking phase, you figure out which firms might be good
places for you. It is OK to cross firms off your list when you
discover facts that wont work for you. For example, you find
out a particular firm almost exclusively hires students with
engineering degrees, but you are a history major-cross them off
your list. You find out a firm that looked like a really cool
place hires almost exclusively undergraduates and MBAs but you
are an advanced degree holder-cross them off your list. You
find out the firm hires advanced degree students, but the office
you have been looking at has very few advanced degree holders
and those that are there almost never advance-cross the firm of
your list or consider other offices within that firm that have a
better track record with advanced degree holders.
You only move forward in the application process with that small
number of firms (probably about 5). If you have done a good job
of figuring out which firms fit with your skills,
characteristics and goals and if you prepare properly for each
firms interviews, you have a very good shot at achieving offers
from each of them. It is much, much more effective than
randomly sending out your resume to 50 firms and then wondering
why none of them think you are right for them.
The interview process
Interviews are usually done in rounds. First rounds are often
conducted in person at core recruiting schools or via phone for
individuals at non-core recruiting schools or other
backgrounds. Most often first round interviews are case
interview format conducted by associates. First round
interviewers may or may not have had much training in conducting
and evaluating case interviews, therefore it is essential that
you know what you are doing and help your interviewer to
understand your abilities and skills even if the interviewer is
poor at interviewing.
Consulting companies assess your skills (problem solving,
analytical, quantitative, communication, quick thinking, etc.)
in case interview format. This is because they want to
determine for themselves how sharp your skills are. If an
interviewer asks candidates, Are you a good problem solver??? of
course, everyone will say yes. But if the interviewer presents
candidates with an actual problem to solve, some will succeed in
solving it as well as exhibiting the right other skills
(communication, quick thinking, etc.).
The good news is that case interviewing skills can be developed,
but it takes more time and effort than just reading a book of
interviewing tips and memorizing the right answers to standard
interview questions. To prepare effectively for case
interviewing, you must practice cases aloud and with a partner.
Effective preparation will take at the very least 20 hours and
probably more like 50, so you probably need to get started.
Succeeding at case interviewing
First of all, case interviews should be a pleasurable
conversation with you interviewer. If you dont like solving
open ended, potentially ambiguous questions, maybe you should
consider whether consulting is a line of work that fits for
you. Cases vary in length, depth and rigor of thought depending
on the consulting company and to some extent, the interviewer.
Bains cases are generally 12-20 minutes while BCGs are about
half an hour. McKinsey cases seem to be some of the longest at
about 40-45 minutes.
Despite the common qualities (problem solving, communication,
etc.) consulting companies are looking for, they each have their
own flavor as well. Bain likes to see its consultants drive
the case while McKinsey uses a more structured approach that
makes driving?? less important than clarity and structure of
thinking. Does that mean Bain doesnt value clarity and
structure and McKinsey doesnt care about driving?? the case?
Of course not. The companies mostly just prioritize skills a
bit differently. It is essential that you figure what set of
skills the interviewer will be looking for before the interview
so you can make sure that you demonstrate them during the
interview. How do you determine what qualitites a firm is going
to be looking for? You read their website and you network with
consultants at the firm.
The number one skill you must demonstrate in the case interview
regardless of consulting company is your ability to THINK. You
have to think like a doctor diagnosing a disease from the
patients symptoms and then providing options to treat the
disease. For example the question you are asked about could
be profits are down??what should the company do??? Think of the
company like a patient and profits are down is a symptom like
a cough or a fever. To a doctor, a cough could be a symptom of
a cold or pneumonia or something else. You think what could the
disease be that is causing the decreased profits decreased
revenues, increased costs or a combination of both? How does a
doctor determine which disease it is? The doctor asks questions
and runs tests. Does the patient have a fever? You ask
questions about revenue and costs history. You might need to do
a check of the revenues and costs on a per unit basis. Once you
have narrowed it down to one of the diseases you need to figure
out what is causing the disease. For example the cold is
usually caused by a virus while pneumonia might be either viral
or bacterial. If revenues are down is it because number of
units sold are is down or have the price charged per unit
decreased? What is the reason for this change? The deeper into
the details you get, the more you cant follow a set scripted
set of recommendations, since each situation is different, just
like each patient a doctor sees is an individual. A doctor
might usually recommend treatment of bacterial pneumonia with
penicillin but after asking a patient more questions, she might
find out that the patient is allergic to penicillin. Given
that, penicillin as a recommendation for that particular patient
would be a bad choice. In the same way, recommendations at the
end of a case are very particular to the case. Usually raising
the unit price might be the answer, but given the nuances in a
particular situation, it may be the wrong choice.
A common mistake students make is memorizing a bunch of random
frameworks and assuming if they can select the right framework
then theyll be able to solve the case. If what consulting
companies wanted was people who could regurgitate the 7 Ps or
3 Cs or Porters 5 forces,?? they would use a written exam that
quizzed candidates on those (Advanced degrees: dont worry about
these terms??your training has taught you to think. You just
need apply that skill to business type problems). The number
one thing you must do during a case interview is THINK and apply
knowledge and common sense.
How I recommend Preparing for Case Interviewing
1. Read Crack the Case Chapters 1-9 (can be purchased from
http://www.consultingcase.com/index.htm). Caution: especially
for Advanced degree students, be very, very careful about case
preparation books that advocate memorizing a bunch of
frameworks. It is far more likely that those sort of frameworks
will get you into trouble rather than help you. Students often
try to apply a framework that doesnt fit the case or is
limited, causing a major issue to be overlooked. For example
using the 3Cs in a market launch case can make it easy to forget
about regulatory/governmental influences that are crucial to
launching a pharmaceutical product or medical device.
2. Practice on line cases offered by McKinsey, BCG, Bain or
other consulting companies (for list of consulting companies,
you can visit vault.com). Jot down notes about what you learn
from each case. For example: remember to clarify the question,
remember to ask if specific targets or criteria for success are
available, etc. Review your notes before you practice
additional cases.
3. Have a friend/roommate/spouse/colleague read over one of
the crack the case cases (start with the easier ones). Have the
friend play the interviewer in a real situation. (i.e. you
leave the room. Then come in. Your friend greets you with a
handshake and pretends to be the interviewer meeting you for the
first time. The interviewer should start with some chit-chat
(how was your flight? Is this your first time in X city?). The
interviewer should transition to the case. The case should be a
conversation. Follow the case structures discussed in crack the
case chapters 1-9. After the case has ended the interviewer
should ask if you have any other questions. You should be
prepared to ask a good question or two questions should
demonstrate specific knowledge about the firm and position you
are interviewing for. Questions should not be information you
can and should have already read on the website. (Note that
your practice interviewer will not have the answer, but you
should practice asking the questions anyway). Then you should
say thank you. Shake hands with the interviewer again. Ask for
a business card if you havent already received one. Leave the
room. Come back into the room and receive feedback from the
interviewer (you should take notes).
4. Over the next day or two, read over the case you just
practiced. What pieces of information did not come out because
you didnt ask for them. Where did you get stuck? What
concepts were you unfamiliar with? Read over your feedback
notes. Make a list of what you are going to work on in your
next case practice. If structuring your answers and
communicating clearly were areas you need to improve, practicing
aloud structuring the beginning and ending of the case now that
you know how it should be done.
5. Repeat #3 with more cases. Use a variety of different
interviewers if possible since different interviewers will have
different styles. Strive to incorporate the lessons you learned
from your previous cases and review your feedback notes before
each case practice.
6. After you have practiced many cases and feel fairly
confident that you can do well, speak with your networking
contacts at consulting companies and see if they can practice a
case with you via phone (or possibly in person if they are in
town). Some companies have decommissioned cases that they can
use with you for this purpose. Remember the rules of networking
especially #1 (be respectful). If your contact doesnt have
time, ask if there might be someone else who would have time
(when consultants are not staffed on a project called on the
Beach and generally have more unscheduled time). Take notes on
the feedback you receive and try to incorporate it in subsequent
practices. Remember that every contact you have with a
consultant could end up in your file?? at that firm. Even if you
are practicing with a relatively junior consultant, it is
possible that their opinion of you and your abilities may be
something jotted down and send on to the recruiter who
consolidates it all in your file. Before actual interviews your
file is reviewed and used to guide your interviewers questions.
So if it seems that you are weak in an area, that may be the
area your interviewer probes you the most on. Also since firms
are made up of people, opinions about whether or not a candidate
would fit in a particular office are sometimes solicited from
associates who have been speaking with that candidate.
7. Apply first to the firms that are lower on your list.
This will allow you to practice real interviews in a real
situation. Make sure you do your best. After the interview,
follow up your interview with a thank you note to the
interviewer. (E-mail is a good choice, especially since most
consultants have blackberries. Depending on when you send you
thank you note, your interviewer might not yet have reviewed and
solidified her recommendation of whether or not to pass you on
to the next round/extend you an offer.) After you hear one way
or the other about whether you will advance to the next round of
interviews, contact your interviewer and ask specifically for
feedback on your interview. What did you do well? What could
you do better? Take notes. Use the feedback you receive to
improve your performance in future interviews. One exception to
this is after receiving an offer. If you ask for feedback after
you have received an offer, the consultants may think you want
to improve you performance before your interviews with other
companies. This does not reflect well on you.
8. Finally apply to your top choice firms. Review the
notes youve made about case interviewing. Look at the list of
skills the firm you are interviewing with wants to see in its
candidates. Think about what you can do during a case interview
to demonstrate these skills. Demonstrate those skills in your
interviews and ace your cases!
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Uppers
Working with talented people who challenge me to learn and grow
Every day is different (no canned just keep doing the same thing over and over)
Travel perks (frequent flier miles and hotel points)
Not having a direct boss (team structure with rotating "bosses")
Planning and executing my portion of the project (i.e. not generally being told
how to plan and execute)
High pay and bonuses
Great benefits (Health, Dental, 401 K, pre-tax Flex spending accounts for
medical, child care, public transportation, parking which allows approximately
~30% discount on such expenses)
Generous vacation/personal time (3 weeks starting)& 2 weeks (11 days) of paid
holidays
"Beach time" (basically time at work with no work to do--get paid to send
e-mail, catch up with people, surf the web, etc.)
The food (some amazing meals at world famouns restaurants)
Culture of feedback--performance reviews and feedback given in the spirit of
wanting you to achieve your best
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Downers
The travel--4 days with 3 nights in a hotel every week gets old.
The late nights--right before a big presentation, it can be a
lot of work
The food--take out pizza and hotel room service gets old
High expectations--most firms have up or out policies so you are
expected to perform at high levels from day one and get better.
It can be a rude awakening to those who are not fully prepared
Culture of feedback--you are expected to improve on your
weaknesses which can be difficult.
Can be difficult balancing work and family
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Lifestyle
4 days, three nights a week typically are spent away from home. Fridays are
spent in the home office.
Travel includes air travel and rental cars.
You are expected to think, speak, make powerpoint slides & excel worksheets
quickly. Everything moves very fast.
Hours are typically 50-60 per week with spikes before major presentations, etc.
Weekend work varies depending on firm and office.
Dress code at the office varies depending on firm and office--a few firms are
quite formal, most are business casual some are casual (allowing jeans at the
office).
Dress code at client sites are determined by the client (Generally the
consultants dress at or above the level of the client. Major presentations
almost always require formal business attire)
Company social events are typically organized by office--social events include
catered Friday lunches at the firm, monthly social events (some for the whole
family, others just for adults), major formal christmas party, major summer
picnic.
Diversity--most consulting companies remain largely white male. Most firms want
to hire more women and minorities and have support groups for women, minorities,
GLBT, etc. The lack of diveristy generally doesn't seem to arise from
discrimination but more from the difficulty diverse populations have in learn the
"hidden curricula" such as discussed in the vault guide for women and minorities.
Showing interest in a firm and office can help in securing an offer
Networking with consultants in the office prior to interviewing is quite
important
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Compensation
Junior associates (Bachelors degree and some masters programs
right out of undergrad)~50-70,000 annually
Beginning associates (3-5 years work experience + MBA, or other
advanced degree such as PhD, JD, MD, DSc)80-130,000 annually
with up to 40,000 bonus
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Advice to Jobseekers
The outlook for consulting is good. The economy has picked up
and companies continue to face difficult and complicated
challenges from competition, globalization, new technologies,
etc. which consultants help them with.
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