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How to stand out to MBB firms as an experienced hire?

Bain Bain & Company BCG Big 4 big four Boston Consulting Group McKinsey McKinsey & Company
Neue Antwort am 25. Okt. 2022
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Anonym A fragte am 24. Okt. 2022

Hi everyone,

Looking to transition from 1 year at a big 4 firm to a MBB firm. As I begin my prep and recruiting strategy, what are the best ways to stand out and differentiate myself to MBB firms as a experienced hire?

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Francesco
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 24. Okt. 2022
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ interviewoffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi there,

Q: As I begin my prep and recruiting strategy, what are the best ways to stand out and differentiate myself to MBB firms as an experienced hire?

I guess you are referring to the application phase. To get an MBB invitation for interviews, you will need to work on 3 things: a great CV, a great Cover and a referral.

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1) CV

The key elements they will look for and that you should structure correctly are:

  • Work experience
  • Education (university brand, major, GPA, experience abroad)
  • Extracurriculars and volunteer experience

Common red flags include:

  • Low GPA
  • Bad formatting / typos
  • 3-4 pages length
  • Lack of clear action --> results structure for the bullets of the experiences
  • Long paragraphs (3-4 lines) for the bullets of the experiences with irrelevant details
  • Long time gaps without explanation

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2) COVER LETTER

You can structure a cover with 4 parts:

  1. Introduction, mentioning the position you are interested in and a specific element you find attractive for that company
  2. Why you are qualified for the job, where you can report 3 skills/stories from your CV
  3. Why you are interested in that particular firm, with additional 1-2 specific reasons
  4. Final remarks, mentioning again your interest and contacts

In part 2 you can write about experiences that show skills useful in consulting such as drive, problem-solving, leadership, teamwork and convincing others.

It is important that in part 3 you make your cover specific to a particular firm – the rule of thumb is, can you send the exact same cover to another consulting company if you change the name? If that’s the case, your cover is too generic.

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3) REFERRALS

This is probably the most important point. In your case, would be great to connect with current consultants with experience in the industries you worked in.

To find a referral, you should follow three main steps:

  1. Identify the people that can help you (most of the time, the best bet is Alumni of your university)
  2. Write to them a customized email
  3. Have a call and indirectly ask for a referral

As general tips:

  • Don’t use LinkedIn for your communication – emails work better. You should target 30% conversion for your messages; if you are not achieving that, there is space for improvement
  • When sending emails, your goal should be to organize a call, not to ask questions – you can then use the call for the questions
  • You need to close the call with an indirect request for a referral – don’t leave that to chances. There are specific ways to phrase it

You should prepare three main things before the call:

  • Your own pitch. 3-4 lines should be enough
  • 3-4 questions on the personal experiences of the person. Avoid to ask questions about the company
  • A closing question for the referral. It should be an indirect request to avoid being too pushy

You can find more information on networking and referrals here:

▶ How to Get an MBB Invitation 

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BONUS: CASE INTERVIEW PREP

In terms of the interview itself, you can find some tips below:

▶ How to Prepare for a Consulting Interview

If you need more help please feel free to PM me.

Good luck!

Francesco

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Lucie
Experte
Content Creator
bearbeitete eine Antwort am 2. Nov. 2022
10+yrs recruiting & BCG Project leader

Hi there!

With 1 yr in big 4 firm is not really experienced hire yet :-) but you have the advantage of having consulting experience. 

Overall I would recommend:

You may start by selecting what consulting firm, what role, where… once you know I would recommend you:

1. Understand well the recruiting process of each firm, https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles

2. prepare a true winner CV (the lowest chances to pass step is the CV, 95% CV are really bad)

3. familiar yourself with the type of cases you can get https://www.preplounge.com/en/bootcamp.php and check cases published on PrepLounge

4. Practice math!

5. Dont learn any framework by hard, understand rather how to structure a problem and form a hypothesis to prove/disprove with an analysis

6. Practice with peers and take a few sessions with a coach, eventually do one diagnostic session to tell you where you stand and what your next steps should be

Feel free to reach out if you need a coach to support you, I am rewarded as a top BCG trainer, training new hires all the consulting skills (including how we create frameworks), as well as experienced coach. 

Good luck!

Lucie

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Dennis
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 25. Okt. 2022
Ex-Roland Berger|Project Manager and Recruiter|7+ years of consulting experience in USA and Europe

All of your written application documents need to be as strong as if you were applying right out of school. You “only” have 1 year of experience so your GPA and your school still matter a lot. You will also most likely only be considered for an entry level position since 1 year at a non-MBB firm is not enough to elevate you in any meaningful way. Referrals definitely help.

Now in contrast to other applicants straight out of school, there might be somewhat of an expectation that you will perform better during the actual interviews since you are an “experienced consulting hire”. This doesn't mean that your interviews will be harder or fundamentally different than for other candidates, but it will be important that you can back up your positioning as an experienced consultant with a solid case performance. You want to showcase that you have a good understanding of how this business works and what the key success factors are. So make sure you allow yourself enough time to prepare for your applications where needed.

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Anonym antwortete am 24. Okt. 2022

Hi,

I would look for:

  1. Excellence (ideally a series of fast-track promotions)
  2. Personal impact (e.g., launching new initiative, heading teams)
  3. Relevant experience (i.e., industry experience that matches local MBB focus, strategy-focused projects)

Best regards,
Jorn
 

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Emily
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 25. Okt. 2022
Ex McKinsey EM & interviewer (5 yrs) USA & UK| Coached / interviewed 300 +|Free 15 min intro| Stanford MBA|Non-trad

So you need to have the same qualities as everyone else applying to consulting. You need to demonstrate:

  • That you've excelled for people who are a similar age / been in similar circumstance to those that you have been
  • That you have been able to lead teams - whether formally or informally
  • That you've gone above and beyond what has been expected of you in your roles
  • That you are analytically strong

Then for experienced hires I recommend that you try to network and meet people in the organisations that you hope to join. That way you can understand the expertise that they're looking for and whether you can meet them. 

Good luck!

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Maikol
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 24. Okt. 2022
BCG Project Leader | Former Bain, AlixPartner, and PE | INSEAD MBA | GMAT 780

There are three areas where you can find a way to stand out:

  1. CV
  2. Case interviews
  3. Fit

On CV, rigor in your education, tier-1 schools, and work experience at consulting firms or innovative firms are always a plus. Volunteering and other extracurricular activities (sports or music, in particular, if at a professional level) are other great pluses.

on case interviews, there are many great answers on how to ace a case from Florian, Ian, Francesco, me, and some other coaches. My two cents here is that you have to prove that you are exceptional at

  • Structured communication
  • Showing business acumen
  • Top-down communication

On fit, it varies from one firm to the other and you can find great answers from other coaches (e.g., Clara, Florian). 
My two cents here are that, regardless of the firm, it is key to show that you have an entrepreneurial mindset, you are able to collaborate with others, you have energy, and you really enjoy the idea of being part of that specific firm.

Enjoy your prep.

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Ian
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 24. Okt. 2022
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate
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Francesco

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