Preparing for a new job + tips for starting well

Hi there,

Really great question!

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Know that no-one can perfectly prepare for the job and that's the point: You will mess up, you will learn, you will be trained and supported. That's OK!

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First: Read the 25 tips in my consulting handbook here: https://www.spencertom.com/2018/01/14/consulting-survival-guide/

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Second: Attend an academy

There are so many great training programs that prepare new graduates for the consulting world! I'm part of a few myself. Feel free to shoot me a message and I can point you in the right direction!

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Third: In terms of things you can learn/do to prepare beforehand:

1) Daily Reading

• The Economist, The Financial Times, BCG/Mskinsey Insights

2) Industry deep-dives

• Learn, in-depth, how the industries/companies your office advises, work. (PM me for an industry overview template)

3) Analytics tools

• Alteryx, Tableau, etc.

4) Excel

• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/free-online-resources-to-learn-excel-basics-6946
• Pivottables
• Working with data
• Key fuctions (vlookup, Index match, count and sum if/ifs, sumproduct, concat, etc.)
• Hotkeys (i.e. use keyboard more than your mouse)
• Financial modeling

5) Powerpoint

• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/powerpoint-skills-4072
• Wireframing
• Lead-in titles
• Best practices/standards
• Different layouts
• Quickly editing/updating slides
• Thinking in PowerPoint

6) Presentation skills / sharp communication

• There are some great online/virtual classes for this (including the academies meantioned above

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Fourth: In terms of doing well in your role when you're there:

1) Understand the context/prompt (what role are you in, what company, who's watching, etc.)

2) Understand the objective (what, specifically, is expected from you...both day to day, and in your overall career progression)

3) Quickly process information, and focus on what's important - Take a lot of information and the unknown, find the most logical path, and focus on that.

4) Be comfortable with the unknown, and learn to brainstorm - think/speak like an expert without being one

In summary, there will always be a flood of information, expectations, competition etc. and not enough time. Find out which ones matter when. (i.e. be visibile and focus efforts on the things that people care about)

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Fifth: Here are some great prior Q&As for you!

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/what-makes-a-good-consultant-how-to-get-a-good-review-6790

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-hard-is-it-to-excel-in-top-consulting-firms-6762

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-become-an-engagement-manager-and-partner-quickly-6722

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/need-to-learn-skills-in-the-ample-free-time-before-starting-at-an-mbb-what-should-i-do-6774

Hi there,

Congrats on your new job!

Additionally to what has already been said, I'd add:

The first couple of weeks are probably gonna be stressful for you. Here's what can help you prepare and go through them in a calmer way:

• finish all your pending tasks (doctor appointments, burocracy, any house chores, meetings etc.) so they don't draw your attention away from work
• take some good rest - do sports, go for walks, meet some friends (as long it is possible - COVID)
• Once you started, create and follow a strict daily routine
• at work, shoow yourself as curious, eager to learn from your colleagues and to make connections. Be open and friendly

In case you are looking for a coach/transition expert to be your guide, friend, sounding board, best practice advisor, feel free to get in touch with me. I have been a coach during the 'First 100 days in consulting role' for several candidates from PrepLounge who have made it to MBB. Happy to support you as well.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

GB

Hello!

Congrats of that offer!

I agree with you, since ff there is one thing I wish I had done before joining McKinsey, that would have been Excel. It can really be a game changer, so I would really focus on that (more than pptx, industry knowledge, etc., that are nice-to-have, but not deal breakers).

Excel skills are part of the core skill-set of consultants, and it´s great that you want to practice them. PFB a list of the most popular commands:

Basic operations: SUM, SUMPRODUCT

Text transformations: CONCATENATE, LEFT, RIGHT, & operator,

Connecting different datasets: VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, INDEX(MATCH(),MATCH())

Conditional-based operations: SUMIF, COUNTIF, SUMIFS, COUNTIFS, COUNTA

Learn how to analyze data using Pivot Tables

There are plenty of online materials:

Microsoft Support: https://support.office.com/en-us/excel

Kubicle: https://kubicle.com/personal (go for the 7 days free trial - Excel for Business Analytics)

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hi there,

Well done on the offer!

Looking back to when I started, I would say what would have served me in good stead would have been:

• Excel shortcuts
• Learning how to build a model
• PowerPoint shortcuts and Horizontal/Vertical Logic (nice to have)

Excel: To get really good at Excel as consultants use it, approach it in terms of:

1. Mechanics - use Excel quickly and efficiently
2. Tools - learn the tools you will need
3. Process - understand how to think about what you need it to do

1. Mechanics

• Use the keyboard, only!
• Learn the Alt Key shortcuts (type alt shows you all the shortcuts for accessing the toolbar)
• Memorise the key ones - Shift + Arrow (select cells), Ctrl + Space (select column), Shift + Space (select row), Ctrl + Shift + +/- (add or remove Columns or rows)
• Find more here: https://macabacus.com/excel/keyboard-shortcuts

2. Tools

• The other answers have covered most of these - Lookups, Sum Ifs, Count Ifs, Sum Products, Index Match, Pivot Tables
• This is good enough for 90% of what you will need to know

3. Processes

• This is more around how do you think about how to build a model and run analysis
• Instead of jumping straight into, consultants will spend time thinking about the structure of their model first
• Ask friends in banking or consulting or those who were in the year above you at university, for examples of these - DM me if you want some examples
• Also, running checks are super important - having checks throughout is commonplace in good models - if you show this when you join, you will be a step above most others in your class

Learning to Model: look at Macabacus.com or trainthestreet. Learn about creating business case models and basic cash flow ones

PowerPoint: learn the keyboard shortcuts for commonly used functions - check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuK8yR3Whjw&t=1079s

Best,

Raj