Hi Hass,

I wouldn't say practicing case studies is bad. It just has to be done right.

It's like saying “I'm not going to go to the gym and do squats because I don't want bad form”.

Well, get good form and go to the gym!

I recommend getting a coach to help you get a tailored prep plan.

Remember that the specifics are different for everyong, but, in general you should have a cadence of:

1. Casing (with others! Not just reading)
2. Fast math
3. Charts/exhibits
4. Industry/businessknowledge
5. Math formulas
6. Daily reading

Hi Hass,

Great question - adding on a few points to what Francesco and Ian said.. 

• Focus on foundations in early days - It's quite early, but if you have some time at hand you can gradually get started with foundation work - readings, structuring fundamentals, mental maths, exhibits, sizings and general biz & industry readings - all of these are no regrets moves and have transferable benefit. 
• Practice peer casing (on slow burn) - Besides, the most painful part of the case prep are the initial 1-2 weeks, so you can get that off the plat before your hectic MBA schedule takes over. Get started with some peer-casing to “break in” your casing skills - it will pay great dividends, once your prep ramps up properly
• Get early support - in terms of picking up “bad habits” - yes, this is a fair concern. Yet, the same can happen if you start during your MBA and then you will have less time to iron them out. What usually works well is to involve a coach early in the process for a bit to help you set the foundations - this can minimize the risk and set the right direction from the start 

Feel free to reach out via DM, if you'd like to have a quick chat about the most suitable prep approach in your situation.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Andi

Hi there, 

This is an amazing question and it's great that you're thinking about this in advance. 

You should basically focus on two things:

1. Developing an application strategy early on. In short, that means identifying the target firms, the timeline when you should apply, in what order, developing an amazing CV and cover letter, as well as securing referrals. You can leverage the following articles for more detailed instructions on how to do this:

• Maximising your chances of getting a consulting job during an economic downturn
• Your Guide to Consulting Coffee Chats

2. Work on building the skills that consulting firms are looking for. Your MBA program should provide lots of opportunities for this, either through live cases or workshops. What you should have in mind always is not the preparation for the interviews, but the preparation for the job (and then the interview will take care of itself because you will already have the skills they're testing for). Sharing with you a couple more articles to give you a view into the consulting life, the skills that are needed and what it takes to perform well. 

• What Do Management Consultants Do? 
• How to Survive Your First Year as a Management Consultant
• The Truth About Consulting Work Hours: What You Need to Know

Best,
Cristian

If you really want to prepare for consulting interviews, 6-months before your MBA then the following items can be your best bet:

• Read business/finance news every day for 30-60 minutes. Even read the opinion articles and the analysis sections since they will give you an insight on the various ways in which business/finance people look at a business from high-above.
• Develop your basic interview skills - explaining in a top-down pyramid approach, working on your facial expressions & body language, etc.
• Do the groundwork for an effective CV. Write down essays for each work experience and project you have done. These essays will be instrumental in giving you the best bullet points for a CV. Recalling your experience at the last moment will not lead to the best possible points coming out
• Do the groundwork for your own personality and how you present it in your FIT/PEI section. This will help you develop a clear “personal strategy” as you head into recruiting season.

Note that all the above points are perfectly valid no matter you target consulting or any other career.

Alternatively, you could use the next few months in doing something different and adding extra credentials to your profile, and adding new stories to your life.

Hello,

It's great that you have started thinking about this so early! Given that you have quite a bit of time before your MBA (and more time yet until you begin applying), I would use this time to get a good lay of the land of what consulting recruiting looks like:

• Research the companies and offices you are interested in. What practices do they have? What industries are they known to work for? Etc.
• Network! If your school is not a target school, getting a referral via networking will be the best thing you can do to maximize your chances of getting an interview. Even if your school is a target school, networking is helpful for demonstrating your interest and getting to know people who can help guide you through the recruiting process and potentially through your early career. Reach out to people, set up coffee chats, go to events, and so on
• Get a sense of what case interviews look like. I usually recommend starting by doing some reading on case interviews to get a sense of how they work, what some standard frameworks are, etc. You could take a look at some of the guides here on PrepLounge, skim through classic books like Case Interview Secrets or Case In Point, or look at consulting firm websites, which usually have some guides or video examples of case interviews.
• Polish your resume and cover letter to save yourself time later. You could book a resume review to get an expert's perspective on it too.

And then, yes, you can go into live case practice if you wish. I personally think that practicing cases for 6+ months bears little additional return (most candidates who dedicate a substantial amount of time for case prep get there in 2-3 months), but if you practice well there's no harm in doing so either - just opportunity cost of time.

MBA is very intense. 

MBA + Recruiting + Preparing Case interviews… increadibly hard.

Will you pick bad habits? Well, not from preparing early. Maybe from preparing the wrong way. From preparing early… not at all.

Usually it is the opposite: candidates that don't have much time to prepare so they take “shortcuts” such as memorizing frameworks. They fail.

Preparing early is definitely the way to go. If I went back, that's definitely what I would have done.

__________________________________________________________

What you miss from doing it before is that MBAs usually provide relevant training, access to peers that are preparing cases, learning materials, etc.

My advice here is to just take a few weeks to do an overview of what cases are about, try to do a few by yourself, and then book a coaching session early on (make sure you reach out to the coach first: you want to make sure it is a coaching session and not a “case interview simulation”, as that is not what you need at this point).

By doing this, you will use the coach to replace all the materials you'd get at the MBA. To be very frank with you, some coaches here can provide you with better value for your preparation that what you can get there anyway, so it is always the smart thing to do.

(editiert)