When is the best time to engage a coach?

Hi,

Great question but there really is no one answer to this. 

To me there are 3 factors to consider when you want to engage a coach

1. The objective of getting a coach
   • e.g. Starting from scratch (end-to-end preparation)
   • e.g. Fine-tuning (you already are pretty good but need help to bring you to the next level of performance)
   • e.g. Targeted work (getting help on specific aspects of the case you may be struggling with)
2. The value you place on coaching (or a specific coach)
   • To what extent do you believe coaching / a specific coach can actually help you on what you need?
   • Some aspects of the case can be prepped for perfectly well without a coach, for e.g. practicing your mental math
3. Your constraints (time / budget) 

For #1, any experienced coach can help on multiple aspects of the case preparation, so it really depends on what you want. 

In terms of an intro call, I would ask them to explain their

• approach and methodology specific to #1, so you can understand how they plan to help you
• ways of working and mindset they bring to the coaching sessions and what is also expected of you as a candidate

Ultimately, you need to feel comfortable spending your time and money on someone. 

Lastly, and most importantly, I would urge you to already start trying to think like a consultant and be critical. Coaching as an industry is in someways similar to what happens on the job when we are pitching a new project to a client. Every coach is going to say that they can help you, everyone is going to say that they have success stories and a 'proven methodology', and with the limitations of the review system and inflation (basically everyone has a 5 star average so effectively the point of the star system is not that useful here for you) -> you will have to reflect critically on what each coach is going to pitch to you and decide who is going to help you achieve your goals the best. 

All the best!

Further adding, to Benjamin’s already great and extensive answer with two more personal reflections. 

1. Personal fit

It is incredibly important that you have a good personal fit with your coach, so I always recommend students to have intro chats with a few before ultimately selecting one.

2. Do your homework

Hiring a coach is expensive. Unless you have a lot of resources to use for this, students that treat their coaches time as valuable, plan sufficient time between sessions to work on to dos, etc. end up progressing the most with the coach’s help.

Hi there,

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your questions:

• First of all, in case you want to work with a coach primarily to improve your case study performance, you may either engage one at the very beginning to understand how to structure any case study, or conduct about 5-7 case studies, preferably with friends, family, or peers, to perform a case study diagnostic.
• Moreover, an introductory call is mainly there to address all questions you personally have, so there really is no predefined list of questions to ask. Another purpose of an introductory call is to understand your current level of readiness and to discuss the content of the potential first coaching session and other logistical aspects.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare your application files, for your upcoming pre-interview assessments and/or interviews, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hello there,

I agree with Christian, although it may be useful for you to have done at least one mock session to get the sense of how the dynamic is and to have read some articles about case interviews, to make the most out of the time you will have with the coach.

To the point made by Benjamin about coaches performance, I believe most of the coaches have 5 stars grades because this is actually a very objective matter, and all of us have walked the path and learned how to do it - meaning it would be very difficult for a client to do a session and not extract a good value from it, hence being satisfied and rating it accordingly. It is way much different from practicing with a peer, one cannot compare both.

To chose the coach, I suggest you to read the feedbacks, the profile information and book an alignment session to check approach, overall fit and how you feel about the person.

Best,

Mari

Hey there :)

Best time to engage a coach is after 5–10 solo/mock cases, once you know the basics and need targeted feedback. In the intro call, it's key to mention your target firms, timeline, experience so far, where you struggle most (e.g. structure, math, communication), and your goal for coaching (e.g. confidence boost, specific feedback). That way you’ll see if the coach’s style fits.

I normally do one case session first - to see where you stand. Then you will get great feedback. I normally give feedback in a way that you can practice on your own after our session! 

Happy to chat anytime if you want input on where you stand.

Best,
Alessa :)

Personally, three use cases for a coach:

1) Accelerated learning - in this scenario I would engage a coach as early as possible and work with them long term (~5-10 sessions). A coach can set you up on the right foot, cut out all the noise out there about case interview prep.

2) When you're struggling with a specific issue - in this scenario, you likely would have done 20-30 cases, understand the components of casing and are looking for specific feedback e.g., in communication, or math

3) Sense check - here, you would have done 20+ cases and might just be looking to check in with a coach to make sure you're on the right track 

Hi there, 

If you've decided you want to get into consulting, then it makes sense to engage a coach as early in the process as possible. 

Why? 

Because you can use their materials and expertise to navigate the entire prep process in the most efficient and effective way. 

You will work only on the stuff that matters, using resources and techniques that you know work rather than going blindly through the process. 

And that doesn't mean more cost / doing more sessions. You can just space the sessions more apart from each other, in case that's your concern.

Best,
Cristian