Mock Interviews and Coaching

Your instinct is right, mock interviews with other candidates are not always that helpful - they often do not know what feedback to give. It can be helpful for reps but is not a good way to build casing fundamentals.

At risk of sounding too upsell-y I would suggest engaging a coach early (preferable someone who was a more senior consultant). 

That way you can get a targeted preparation plan, with actionable feedback. How many sessions you do with coaches is totally up to you.

Let me know if helpful to discuss.

You’re partially right — and this is actually a great question that many overlook.

I’d recommend a hybrid strategy:

• Use peer mocks (with solid partners or structured friends) to build volume, fluency, and pressure tolerance.
• Then sprinkle in targeted coaching sessions to calibrate against the benchmark and fix the things your peers may not catch — like structuring gaps, nuance in communication, or “consulting polish.”

That way, you’re not over-relying on coaching (which can get expensive), but you’re also not flying blind. A good coach helps you refine your instincts and raise your ceiling.

In terms of timing, don’t wait too long. If you’re still early, even one or two early coaching sessions can give you the right framework to practice efficiently with peers — saving time and bad habits.

How many sessions?

It really depends. Some people only need 2–3 to calibrate and adjust. Others go for 6–8 if they’re aiming for top firms or need more hands-on support. It’s also fine to do one before your real interviews just to simulate the experience.

Happy to help you at any stage — just let me know where you are right now and what your biggest pain point is.

Hi there,

You're absolutely right to question the efficiency of mock interviews, especially when you're investing 45 minutes to coach someone else who may not be equipped to give you meaningful feedback. What really accelerates your progress is targeted, high-quality feedback — and that’s exactly what a coach provides.

A good coach doesn’t just spot your mistakes — they help you understand the why behind them and how to fix them fast. That level of insight is hard to get from friends, especially if they’re not familiar with the consulting interview format.

Concretely, spend 1–2 weeks practising solo to build up core skills (structuring, mental math, communication, creativity), and then bring in a coach to elevate your performance.

Happy to help you prep – feel free to reach out, also got a book suggestion for your solo practise.
 

Best, 

Evelina

Hi there,

Prepping with a peer can actually be effective under certain conditions. The fact that you're spending 45 minutes giving them the case and analysing their performance is useful because it enables you to reflect and put yourself in the 'teacher's' shoes, which then makes you realise some things about your own performance. 

It's critical though that you find peers who are reliable, who come prepared and who actually give feedback. 

When to engage a coach? As early as possible. Why? Well, you don't have to do more sessions if you get them early. You can always phase out the same number of sessions over a longer period of time. But if you have the guidance from a coach you can be more targeted with your prep and you can also use their prep resources. 

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach directly. 

Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

You're right to be skeptical about mock interviews — especially when you’re coaching someone who can’t give you actionable feedback. Practicing with friends can work, but only if you give them clear guidance and already know what “good” looks like.

One approach I recommend is using checkpoint coaching

• Start with an early session to teach you the basics quickly and form correct habits from the start.
• Then spend most of your prep solo or with peers, applying that feedback (If you're in a time crunch, more coaching can be necessary)
• Check in again with a coach mid-prep to see if you've successfully built good habits, or to address bad habits or identified weakpoints, then keep training with peers
• Finally, a coaching session can be helpful just before your real interviews to simulate pressure, fine-tune your performance, and refine the fit part.

This method avoids over-reliance on coaching while making sure you don’t build bad habits. A few well-timed sessions can save you many hours of inefficient practice.

Happy to chat if you want to map out your prep or have any other questions!

All the best,
Kevin

Hi There,

Completely understand being a bit skeptical about the time investment of a mock interview with peers as sometimes you may not get what you want with it. I would say that there still can be a benefit from it, especially from people who are in the consulting industry as they can probably quickly tell you how to fix some of the more technical aspects of the case. However, some of this does depend on where you are in your prep and how confident you feel. Overall, if you are really working on just getting comfortable and learn about best practices, mock interviews will have significantly higher value.

For coaching, depends on how much time and cost you are willing to invest, but generally the earlier the better. Reasoning is that you can get more customizable help on casing and other parts of the process. The amount of interviews you need is really dependent on when you reach out and how your performance is.

Hope this helps and happy to chat!

-Ankit A

Obviously, I agree with all the points made above so won’t repeat them again.

In addition to what was raised, I also highly advice complementing coaching prep with filming yourself going through a case. This allows you to get great insights into how you are responding to this feedback and can be an incredibly tool to help ‘making things stick’.

Hello there,

Adding to what other coaches have said:

Another way for you to train is to watch YouTube videos of former consultants solving cases. Play, stop them, do the drills and then compare your answer with theirs.

A coach can be useful in different stages, but I would recommend you to have at least a grasp of what case interviews test so you can make the most out of the session.

The number of sessions varies depending on your time, budget and performance. The best way to evaluate it is by doing a first assessment.

Good luck,

Mari

Hi there, 

I saw there are a lot of responses already, only thing I want to highlight is mock interview is absolutely not a waste of time per my own experience. 

I spent ~ 6 hours on preplounge (1.5 for each round, total of four rounds) each day when I was preparing for McKinsey interview years ago. I came across some of the best candidates out there and observing how they approach a case made me learn a lot of what I can improve. Similarly, when giving feedback to partners I also had a chance to reflect things that I should stop doing. Additionally, different partners have different styles, by exposing to all kinds of casing style, I became more and more adaptable to the interviewer's curve balls (because I've seen them all during those mock interviews!) 

As for case coaching, I personally think it is most helpful either during the very beginning of your prep, or very end of it. For beginners, a coach can walk you through all the basics and give you a jump start. And for folks who already spent tons of time preparing, a coach can help calibrate where you are and how to conquer the bottleneck phase. A lot of times, I will have frequent sessions in the beginning with my coachees, and only do monthly/bi-weekly session when they are already comfortable with casing. 

Hope this helps, good luck!

Han