Hello,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience, that must feel pretty frustrating. There could be a number of things going on here, what it is specifically is probably easiest to determine by working with a coach. But here are my general pieces of advice:

1) Tailor your resume and/or cover letter: I have no doubt that you are a very impressive candidate, but oftentimes what I see with candidates coming from academic fields is they focus too much on qualities that academia cares about and too little on professional qualities. Do some due diligence on what the firm is looking for, and make sure to pinpoint those qualities in your resume. Make sure you are speaking to your leadership, teamwork, initiative, and quantitative skills; make sure to quantify your achievements as much as possible.

2) Network: definitely keep talking to people in the field. Reach out to partners to set up calls, attend events if possible, try to establish a positive rapport with people. Developing a network at a firm can be very helpful in securing a referral and ultimately an interview.

3) Get a referral: while it is no guarantee, statistically candidates who apply through a referral are more likely to get an interview, because the referral signals your fit. So, once you've established a positive relationship with someone, ask for a referral.

Best of luck, and I'd be happy to help with polishing your resume if you'd like to work with a coach!

(editiert)

Could be tough luck, could be something missing from your side. Difficult to tell unless we have a look at your CV, your cover letters etc.

Usually there are 3-4 things that you can mend in order to get out of such situations:

• Sharpen your CV: I think I have lost count of the number of coachees in my life who said they had a solid CV - only to have me fill it with red marks and give them 18 pages of feedback on it, front and back. Do share your CV with me and we can have a look at it.
• Sharpen your profile: How you position your profile to others is hugely important. Sometimes we focus on things we feel matter, but the other person is looking for something else. Once again - if you provide me more details on your profile - we can come up with a sharpened way to position you.
• Sharpen your skills: You mention that at the time of your McKinsey interview - you did not know what a case is. That sounds like perhaps one of the most basic and biggest blunders you could have made in your prep. The competition is very tough and you must be 110% prepared - which is why forums like PrepLounge exist. You should apply/re-apply only when you have reached a fairly good level of prep.
• Sharpen your grit: Networking and referrals take time. Maybe its just a tough patch you are going through. Keep going at it. But make sure the next time you do - you have ticked off all the above points.

It sounds like you‘re already doing the right things and you need to keep at it - unfortunately it takes time. You seem to have a good profile but even based on how you describe it, the impact of your achievements is lacking. A good GPA and academic achievement are table stakes. For someone with 6 years of professional experience, the impact and achievement (not just an award) is crucial where don’t forget that working at a large corporation means that you also are one of tens or hundreds of thousands - what makes you different? Amongst your peers, why would an MBB want to hire you?

In addition to the networking which I encourage you to continue. I would spend time being more “forward-looking” on how you want to be developing your profile over the next 6-18 months. Sure you can always polish your CV further but the approach I feel you need is building your CV with more different types of experiences and achievements which shouldn’t be limited to professional work experience.

Good luck!

Hi there,

I see two possible improvements given what you mentioned:

1. Improve your CV (I know you mentioned you attended events etc, but I can tell you that I worked with candidates from top MBA schools that did the same and there were a lot of possible improvements in the CV)
2. Get a referral – you can find more details here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hey-everyonehope-all-is-well-3176

If you need support on that please feel free to PM me, I coached many candidates with a background similar to yours and I would be happy to help.

Best,

Francesco

Hi Anonymous,

I work at BCG - happy to speak and see what I can do.

Best,