To start MBB Preparation before interview date is confirmed or not?

Hi there,

I couldn't disagree more that it doesn't make sense to prepare beforehand….please don't forget the skills that you are learning here! To name a few:

• Structured/critical thinking
• Problem-solving
• Clear communication
• Business acumen
• Industry knowledge
• Client management
• Thinking on your feet
• Etc.

If you approach case prep as just for a single interview you're already approaching it wrong! I can't tell you how many of my candidates have told me once they started the job “wow, you actually prepared me immensely well for the job itself, not just the interview!”

Furthermore, by the time you get the interview date, there is a high chance you won't have enough time to ramp-up. Prep is counted in months, not days/weeks. Sure, you might be able to delay (depending on your recruiting channel) but it depends and you'd rather not pull that card.

Start now, there's no downside risk!

Hi there,

well it depends on the risk you are willing to take. this is a usual question from the coachee: “Should I pay for a few sessions, but what happens if I don't even get the interview..”

Let me answer it:
A good career coach significantly increases your chances to pass the 1st step where 95% of candidates fail (CV screening). This is something that actually most candidates dont realize, CV screening is the step with your slimmest chances and from my experience as recruiter and coach: 95% of the CV I have screened actually dont meet the criteria to pass despite that let's say 30-40% do have all skills, they just dont know how to let the world know.. 

If you pass the CV screening you will have approx. 2 weeks for your 1st round, it is usually very hard to prepare (approx. 80% are eliminated at these steps and I wonder… how many eventually could have passed but they were not trained enough well..). 

So having said that, it depends on your approach. Obviously, you should start preparing by yourself (math, reading, cases with peers), but the learning is unlikely the same as having a few hours with coach. 

So from my point of view (but sure I am also biased being a coach), I see coach as a great investment into your professional career with very positive ROI. Event the best athlete of the world need coaches to achieve the victories.. 

Cheers,
Lucie

Was this answer helpful?

Hi there,

I would start the preparation in advance for the following reasons:

1. If you prepare a strong CV + Cover + referral, you are likely to get at least an invitation
2. You need a certain number of hours to be ready. Most candidates need 100+ starting from zero. Although you may be able to postpone, you may not be able to postpone that much if you get invitations
3. Having more time to prepare should allow you to structure the preparation better

It is possible to get an MBB offer with a rushed 2-week preparation (I helped several candidates with that). However, if you have time, I would definitely recommend to plan in advance and start early on. It will allow to prepare better and not be in a rush.

If you need any help with CV, Cover or referrals please PM me, I do a session exactly on that.

Best,

Francesco

Hi,

The answer to this question depends on whether you believe you had a reasonable shot at being invited for an interview, and if you are recruiting from school vs as an experienced hire.

If you are currently at a target school and meet most of the criteria to be invited to interview then it makes sense to get started ahead of time as preparation can take many weeks and the additional time put in is likely to pay off. Especially as interview dates are fixed and cannot be easily moved.

If you are an experienced or lateral hire I would recommend waiting (although you can do some basic prep like reading up on case interviews etc) until you get a formal invite. This is because there is a lot more flexibility in scheduling an interview date as an experienced hire and you want to ideally maximize the ROI of preparing in this case.

Udayan

You have to start before, no doubt in there.

Here's the situation. If you start only after you have the confirmation, you will not have enough time to prepare and will likely fail. So that's a complete waste of time as well, isn't it?

If you start before the interview confirmation, you may waste your time (if the interview is not confirmed) but if it is confirmed, then you will greatly increase your chances of succeess.

So being very pragmatical about this, the option that minimizes your “wasted time” is to actually prepare even before you get the confirmation.

Hi there,

Beware of the potentially self-serving answers by coaches telling you to start preparing early (and with a coach, of course)!

It's true, the more you practice, the more you will improve.  But you have to practice "intentionally." By that I mean you need to identify weaknesses, work on them, and get better every day.  Will you commit to this before you even know you have an interview?  If not, there's really no point.

What you might want to do instead, is make sure you're familiar with the criteria and what good looks like.  That just requires some research and reading on your part.  Easy enough.

Finally, many times (not all) you can schedule your interview for a date that gives you plenty of time to prepare. 

Hope this helps!

Allen

Good question!

When MBB invite you for interviews, you can generally agree on a date in the future that allows for sufficient prep time. However, there’s a limit to that and anything beyond 3 months may be pushing it. 

If you‘re starting from 0 but dedicate yourself full-time to preparing, you can be ready within a few weeks (2-3 months let’s say).

If the MBB firm doesn’t give you a future date and/or you don’t have time to prepare within 3 months because you work full-time, you need to start preparing before applying.

Also, if you’re an experienced hire, you will be given more time. If you’re an MBA or business undergrad for example, you will be expected to be somewhat prepared already. Makes sense?

Hope this helps a bit!

Earlier the better! This way you can ease off some pressure and enjoy the process too.

All the best.

Hello!

100% prep in advance, since the interviews can be given with very little notice (1-2 weeks, which is not enough time to do a good prep, unless you are almost ready to go). 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara