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Apart from excel which tools/softwares do consultants use?? Like SQL or tableau or anything else??

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Top answer
Florian
Coach
on May 30, 2024
1400 5-star reviews across platforms | 600+ offers | Highest-rated case book on Amazon | Uni lecturer in US, Asia, EU

Hi Guneet,

If you are in strategy consulting it's mostly

  • Excel
  • PowerPoint

and rarely Alteryx and Tableau.

For every more advanced task, you are usually outsourcing the analytical work to internal analysts/support staff.

Cheers,

Florian 

Agrim
Coach
on May 30, 2024
Top Awarded Coach | BCG Dubai Project Leader | Master Casing in only 3 Hours | 10y in Consulting | Free Intro Call

Hi Guneet, the basics are always Excel and PowerPoint.

In PowerPoint - consultants also use ThinkCell and Efficient Elements.

Tools like Tableau / PowerBI / Alteryx / SPSS - are used - but seldom.

For project management - tools like Slack and Trello are used - depending on the organisation.

Other tools can include some proprietary systems - such as BCG Key.

Oliver
Coach
on May 30, 2024
Former BCG interviewer (75+ interviews for associates, consultants and MBA hires) | I will make your practice perfect

Hi,

Consultants frequently use:

  • Excel
  • Powerpoint

Less frequently (and heavily case dependent):

  • Tableau
  • PowerBI
  • Alteryx

Best,

Oliver

on Jun 05, 2024
Ex-BCG Principal | 8+ years consulting experience in SEA | BCG top interviewer & top performer

Hi,

Everyone has made the point that excel and powerpoint are the basics. 

Beyond that on the job - you may end up using specific tools or software depending on 

  1. The needs of the project
  2. The availability of internal expertise
  3. Project budget (i.e. maybe you end up learning a tool because doesn't make sense to pay someone else to do it)

Nowadays more collaborative tools are being used - like Miro for whiteboarding etc. 

on May 31, 2024
#1 Rated McKinsey Coach | Top MBB Coach | Verifiable success rates

Excel and Powerpoint are really the bread and butter. 

Slack is super popular as a teams communication tool. 

Tableau and Alteryx once you get into data science AA projects.

But that's about it. 

Most of the work is cognitively fancy, not technically fancy.

Best,
Cristian

Alberto
Coach
on May 31, 2024
Ex-McKinsey AP | Professional MBB Coach | +13yrs experience | +2,000 real interviews | +150 offers

Don't forget pen a paper :)

Pedro
Coach
on Jun 01, 2024
Bain | EY-Parthenon | Former Principal | 1.5h session | 30% discount 1st session

SQL not really.

Tableau and Alteryx, it can happen. But you may spend 2 years in consulting and never touch any of these.

What you need is Excel and Powerpoint. And for the other, if necessary, you'll get training (by the way, they are fairly simple).

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