Learning for Strategy Consulting- Tableau, Alteryx, Professional Communication etc and any other beneficial learning. Thank you

Question

I know on the job training is the best. However, could you please make suggestions for preparation that would help me and would just increase my knowledge. Any good courses, books, you tube channels, podcasts, publications or anything else to help me learn the following please:

Tableau

Alteryx

Professional Communication - Business & Story Telling

AI

Private Equity

Basic Financial Modeling & Corporate Finance

Mergers & Acquisitions

Data Analytics

Commercial Awareness

Thank you

Answer 1

Hi There,

Really love the enthusiasm to put your best foot forward! What I would say is that you probably don't need to get super heavy into learning different software or learning a number of different technical skills, assuming you are looking to go into a firm as a generalist. Skills that can be important would be modeling especially through excel. Having strong modeling skills make you more desirable for engagements. Good PowerPoint and communication skills, being comfortable making slides and communicating a story or a logical conclusion can be helpful.

There are other skills that can be helpful, but if you have strong business fundamentals, good excel modeling skills, and great communication/Storytelling with PowerPoint, that will give you a fairly sizable leg up on the job as these are core skills.

In terms of how to develop them, there are online courses that you can take for excel modeling (many of them paid) and you can practice PowerPoint story telling by going through news headlines and use PowerPoint to tell that story (Situation, Complication, Resolution).

What I will say is that if you don't have a strategy offer, I would focus more of your time on the interview and resume prep than actual skills.

Hope this helps!

-Ankit A

Answer 2

Hi there,

Great to see you're proactively building your toolkit for strategy consulting! Here are the top 5 high-impact learning resources across your listed areas to give you the strongest foundation:

1. Tableau & Alteryx

Tableau: UC Davis Tableau Course (Coursera) – hands-on and beginner-friendly.
Alteryx: Alteryx Interactive Lessons + Core Certification – perfect intro and free.

2. Business Communication & Storytelling

Book: The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto – the gold standard for structured communication in consulting.
Podcast: Think Fast, Talk Smart (Stanford GSB)

3. AI Awareness

Course: AI for Everyone – Andrew Ng (Coursera) – non-technical, strategic overview.

4. Private Equity & Finance

Course: Intro to Private Equity – Bocconi (Coursera)
Toolkit: CFI Financial Modeling Courses – covers valuation, M&A, and Excel skills.

5. Commercial Awareness & Strategy Thinking

Newsletter: The Daily Upside or Finimize – clear, strategic business news.
Podcast: Acquired – deep dives on business models and market dynamics.

Best,
Evelina

Answer 3

Hi there!

I’m assuming you already got an offer, right?

Good technical skills that may contribute to a smoother start are def excel (modeling and shortcuts), PPT and thinkcell and maybe Alteryx.

For soft skills, read about top down communication, influence and problem solving techniques. Make sure to actually USE it on the job by setting a weekly time for you to strategize your work as sometimes we trust our memory and end up acting as we always do.

Best,

Mari

Answer 4

Actually, all these hard skills aside, what will likely make the biggest difference are not the technical skills but the soft ones.

Doing well on the job is more about mindset than knowledge.

So do spend some time reading on emotional intelligence. Daniel Goleman's book 'Emotional Intelligence' is a good place to start.

Best,
Cristian