Experienced Hire - Strategy switch - Case & Business fundamentals prep

Hi there!

Interesting situation. Let me take your questions one by one:

1 - Timing - I'm thinking of taking 6-8 weeks of hard preparation here - any comments?

This is a decent timeline if you have a decent base already (which you do since you've already worked in corporate environments) and if you can dedicate 1-3 hours of focused practice per day.

2 - Case Prep - First there are a lot of (a LOT) of resources out there. I'm trying to narrow down my focus. I've begun with Victor Cheng's and I'm thinking of following it with another online prep. Which ones in your experience have been the most well rounded to prep?

Indeed, that's what most candidates struggle with. It's too much stuff out there, instead of too little. Obviously, I might be biased, but to me the best way to cut through this complexity is to get a coach. This way you'll understand what are exactly the things that you should be focusing on to advance at your best pace.

Once you skim through Victor Cheng, I'd stay away from it. You can pick up some bad habits from there, such as always having a hypothesis. I know it because that's what I used as a candidate.

3 - Business fundamentals - What is the best way to prep on business fundamentals - reality is that more will be expected of me and I was wondering how I can prep here? Should I stick to M&A and just deep dive on that or add a few fundamental courses to my preparation. 

From my point of view, organically, through cases. 

Here's also a guide where I put together all the most common business terms that show up in cases:

• Expert Guide: The Must-Know Consulting Terms for Interviews

Feel free to also reach out DMs if you have questions. 

Best of luck!
Cristian

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Practicing for interviews? Check out my latest case based on a first-round MBB interview >>> SoyTechnologies  

Hi Aishwarya,

Transitioning from niche consulting to a broader strategy role is a great career move and you can be proud of yourself to pursue this! Here are some thoughts on your questions:

Timing: 6-8 weeks of focused preparation is a reasonable timeframe, especially given your existing consulting experience. My experienced hires usually bring even only 3-4 weeks of prep and succeeded so far. 

Case Prep: Victor Cheng's materials are a good starting point. Additionally, you might consider resources like Case in Point by Marc P. Cosentino and practicing cases with a partner or a coach. Honestly, these two are enough, I'd prioritize training with partners or coaches over excessively studying books. RocketBlocks is also a nice digital resource for drills I can highly recommend. 

Business Fundamentals: Given your background in M&A, you likely have a strong foundation in certain areas. However, it's essential to broaden your knowledge to tackle strategy cases effectively. Reading articles on your target consulting websites (e.g., McK Quarterly etc.) should be sufficient. 

Best of luck with your transition, and I'm here to answer any further questions you may have.

Warm regards, Frederic

Hi Aishwarya,

You’re planning a career move that makes a lot of sense. I did a similar transition several years ago from tier-2 management consulting to McKinsey and had 5 fantastic and successful years there. To your questions:

1 - Timing - I'm thinking of taking 6-8 weeks of hard preparation here - any comments?

This really depends on the consulting firms you want to apply. In general, considering your previous experience, 3-4 weeks should be enough. Don’t forget to prepare the fit interview apart from the cases if the companies you will apply request this as part of their recruiting process.

2 - Case Prep - First there are a lot of (a LOT) of resources out there. I'm trying to narrow down my focus. I've begun with Victor Cheng's and I'm thinking of following it with another online prep. Which ones in your experience have been the most well rounded to prep?

Considering that you already have extensive experience in niche consulting, for the sake of efficiency I suggest you move away from books and do some active case preparation with a coach. A few sessions with a coach to understand case fundamentals plus some other mockup interviews with peers (you can also find them here at PrepLounge) should get you in good shape to tackle the case interview.

3 - Business fundamentals - What is the best way to prep on business fundamentals - reality is that more will be expected of me and I was wondering how I can prep here? Should I stick to M&A and just deep dive on that or add a few fundamental courses to my preparation. 

Your previous experience in M&A should have given you a lot of business basics to crack cases. If you want to deep dive, Clara has prepared a fantastic guide on business fundamentals (https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/prep-guide/economic_and_financial_concepts_for_mbb_interviews). Contact me a discount code.

Happy to talk also if you need help to prepare the interview and the transition.

Best,

Alberto

Hi Aishwarya,

First, here's some reading to help:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/pitfalls-case-interview-preparation

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case

1 - Timing - I'm thinking of taking 6-8 weeks of hard preparation here - any comments?

this is about right. Just as important is how you prep. But, I generally recommend 2-3 months.

2 - Case Prep - First there are a lot of (a LOT) of resources out there. I'm trying to narrow down my focus. I've begun with Victor Cheng's and I'm thinking of following it with another online prep. Which ones in your experience have been the most well rounded to prep?

This is SUCH a problem. There is just too much out there.

Unfortunately, a lot it wrong/conflicting :/

Honestly, Victor Cheng is “ok”. It's a bit old/surface level. Good to start, but once you're at intermediate, it's less useful. 

Very openly (and, perhaps, biasedly), I recommend my coaching. I honestly get so many candidates who have just plainly prepped wrong and memorized so many wrong things.

Personally, I like customcasecoach for the hollistic journey, craftingcases for frameworking, and rocketblocks for charts/exhibits/math.

3 - Business fundamentals - What is the best way to prep on business fundamentals - reality is that more will be expected of me and I was wondering how I can prep here? Should I stick to M&A and just deep dive on that or add a few fundamental courses to my preparation. 

Rocketblocks is good here. So is daily reading. So is creating your own industry deep times. I also agree with your option of a few fundamental/crash courses!

Hi Aishwarya,

1 - Your timing is good, just make sure you use it wisely.

2 - Reading books is passive learning which is the least efficient method to learn anything. To progress quickly, I suggest you take an active learning approach (in the following order):

A. Getting coaching when you are a complete beginner to learn the basics;

B. After you've learned the basics, practice cases with peers to polish your case solving process and acquire understanding of a wide range of industries and problem types;

C. Before the interview, ask a few acting consultants to give you cases in a mock-interview format to assess your readiness.

3 - In order to improve your business fundamentals it's important to acquire an overview of all the main industries and problem types. For that, you can focus on who things:

A. When practicing solving cases with other candidates, specifically ask for cases on certain industries and problem types you are unfamiliar or have difficulties with rather than solving a random case which is irrelevant to your progress. Communicate it to your potential case partners before scheduling a meeting that you want to cover industry X or an Y problem type. If the candidate doesn't have such a case in the library, move to another candidate.

Draw a table where the columns are main industries (e.g. Metals&Mining, Oil&Gas, Telecom, FMCG&Retail, HORECA, Banking, Aviation, Pharma, Media&Communications)and the lines are the main problem types (e.g. Investment, New Product, Market Entry, M&A, Market Share, Profitability, Customer Experience, Operations) and try to solve a case on each main problem type for every main industry listed in your table.

B. Network with people who work in the industries you want to learn about and ask them to tell you about this industry. In exchange, you can give them a case / tell about your industry / provide a networking opportunity / buy a coffee etc.

Good luck!
Nick