Alle Fragen zum Tag germany - Consulting Q&A - PrepLounge.com

Hi,

this might get a little longish, following your structure. Answers based on my experience as interviewer and Manager at Strategy&.

A: Interview

1. Generally: no. Cases usually are based on the experience and daily work of the consultants, who interview you. Some will be more quantitative, some more qualitative. Mostly no "extremes", such as the pure market estimations you mentioned. Brainteasers are frowned upon and will usually not occur.
2. Generally: no. Harsh, "bad cop"-style interviews are discouraged. Of course you will be challenged and you'll be asked tough questions, but the interviewer should remain friendly at all times. Yet, there may be exceptions and some interviewees may find certain interviewers less appealing than others.
3. Expect more senior interview partners (Senior Manager, Director level) early on in the process. Be prepared to explain your motivation very well. The overall process may be also more individual (than for graduate recruiting) based on your experience and the impressions your interviewers have of you.

B: Consulting Approach

1. "Strategy to execution" is an offering Strategy& offers jointly with PwC. Of course, not all projects will be set up this way, depending on client demand. But yes, if a project is set-up in the "strategy to execution" design, Strategy& focuses on the strategy/ design phase and gradually hands over to PwC for implementation. Classic projects of such would be large-scale transformation or Mergers and following Post-Merger Integrations.
2. How does any consultant company measure success? Let me answer with a hint of humor: if the client is happy, the project is a success.
3. USP is definitely the above mentioned "strategy to execution" approach and more generally the opportunity to bring in experts from the broad PwC network. With the global 250k+ employees, there is usually an expert for anything no matter how exotic the topic may be.

C: Organization

1. Open feedback culture. You should receive direct and actionable feedback on the job. There are of course formal processes to support this, e.g. at beginning/ mid/ end of project. Feedback is naturally also part of your review cycle.
2. Discussion is encouraged. You may openly discuss within your team and yes, the best idea will win. Of course, in times of high workload and tight deadlines, leadership styles tend to get more directive and discussion may be less. As the saying goes "in times of storm, there can be only one captain".
3. As I am lacking inside knowledge about other consultancy organizations, I'll refrain from answering this question.

Hope this answer helps you. If there should be any further questions, please feel free to reach out.

Best

Oliver

Hey there,

So here's my insights:

Compensation (DE)

I agree with what you found on glassdoor. Its a good ballpark. Compensation will be ~30-40% lower than MBB and at par or slightly above BIG4. Please remember there is a broad range at every level and this becomes broader the more senior you go (Manager & above). There is room to negotiate sign-on bonus and other perks. Overall, from my experience having worked at Accenture UK, its a good pay master with great benefits but NOT at MBB level.

Brand

Its not a tech consulting firm anymore. The breadth and scale of Accenture has made it one of the most sought after companies in the recent 5-10 years. It now plays in Strategy, Digital Transformation, Marketing etc. Just check out Gartner/Forrester rating and Accenture pretty much leads all qudrants even beating MBB in Digital Transformation expertise for example.

Check out these links:

• https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/consulting/forrester-digital-business-transformaion
• https://www.rankingthebrands.com/The-Brand-Rankings.aspx?rankingID=6
• https://www.crunchbase.com/search/acquisitions/field/organizations/num_acquisitions/accenture

Note that Accenture Strategy is not at the same level & reputation as MBB, so you need to play the wider Accenture brand in your story i.e Accenture offers exposure to all those areas where MBB dont play giving you more experience in e2e business problems. However, they are fighting hard and investing a lot to boost the Strategy practice. I am also aware of many ex-MBB partners who have joined the Strategy practice in DE in past few years.

Exit Opportunities

Overall, good in my view but not the same level of pull as MBB. Its a global and well known brand, but you have to work a bit harder on your story & exit. Get this right and you can make make big jumps. I did it and so have many others.

Good luck!

Hi,

Based on your post, I think you can have an interview and get an internship with MBB!

Networking can be highly beneficial to get a referral. Then you must craft a killer application and be prepared for the interviews (business cases and fit part).

I've supported hundreds of candidates getting an internship/job at MBB, also in Germany.

Feel free to drop me a message if you'd like to know more how we can work together with a comprehensive interview prep plan!

Best,

Antonello

I would suggest you to look into the industry focus, project types, and working approaches of these two companies.

Argh... I had typed out a really long answer and then clicked next to the window and it's gone...

I lived in all countries for several years, btw.

So now for the short version:

• Macroeconomy: Germany booming, US not bad as well, Spain not so much
• Opportunities: Mirror the macro-factors. There was rarely a better time to start in consulting in Germany than now.
• Work culture: Spain more hierarchical and elitist (all from the same private schools and universities) than Germany and the US
• Diversity: White boys club everywhere, but least in the US, then Germany, then Spain.
• Pay: Probably Germany has the best package in terms of purchasing power, especially if you decide not to live in Munich.
• Travel: All travel a lot. Spanish economy a lot more concentrated in Madrid and Barcelona than German and US economies. Germans get hired less internationally (broad generalisation) because they are too expensive in the internal service charging schemes for many countries.
• Work-life balance: German consultants are notorious for their lack thereof and the long hours, at least in Europe.

Hope this helps. First version was a lot prettier, but I am on a schedule. Sorry bout that.

Elias

Hi,

I heard about the cases when MBBs accepted the candidates without the knowledge of German, but it was in Digital teams. So if you have a relevant experience - you have some leverage.

If not - I believe it will be pretty hard to change the process.

Best

I had a similar issue when preparing for case interviews in Italian - while I am fluent, I had never used Italian in a business context, so my vocabulary in certain things was lacking.

To find cases in German, you could try contact German/Austrian Business Schools. Business Schools usually make their own case books so this is where you are most likely to find resources already in German.

For building vocabulary, suggest that as you go through cases in English, make a list of the words you typically use (e.g. revenue, profits, market share, etc.) and the German translation.

Preplounge has a strong German community, so I am sure that if you try, you can find someone willing to practice with you in German, and maybe even provide you with their own German case resources. Alternatively, Sidi, another expert on this site, is German and so he might be able to help you through scheduling a session with him.

Dear A,

It doesn't make sense to reapply immediately to any other office worldwide, after you have been disselected in Germany, because recruiting system is global and you need to wait for another 12-18 monthes in order to be eligible to reapply.

So the short answer is no, don't reapply immediately to Swiss offices. Also take into account that Switzerland and Germany together are considered as a so called DACH region where recruiting and staffing is centralized. Therefore, please consider for now other firms like Roland Berger, Startegy&, Kearney or Oliver Wyman.

Hope it helps.

If you need further insights how to get inside these firms in DACH region, get in touch with me.

Best,

André

P. S. In general, if that is possible for you, I would recommend you to apply to Swiss offices, because there are even more international sometimes, and the salary and work-life balance is better than in Germany.

Hi Anonymous,

in Germany you may get cases in both English and German, but the majority will be in German. To my knowledge, every office in Europe requires local language knowledge besides English, with the exception of the Netherlands and the Nordics where knowledge of English only would be fine.

Best,

Francesco

Hi I will write this list from the top of my head, some firms might be missing, especially smaller one where you might argue they are Tier 3.

Tier 2:

• Oliver Wyman
• Roland Berger
• Kearney
• Strategy&

Tier 3:

• ZEB
• Simon Kucher
• Horvath
• Porsche Consulting
• Accenture Strategy + Big 4 strategy arms (although they are getting more and more integrated)

Hi Akshay, it usually takes up to 2 months, but in this special period it can be longer.
Best,
Antonello

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your experience - it's important for others to see this and for you to learn from it!

I think this point of yours is the most interesting: "I found my case to be extremely odd and personally unpleasant for me"

If you want to succeed in not just recruiting, but also real-world consulting, you need to suck it up.

Sorry to be so blunt, but once you join MBB you WILL have some projects that are horrible. You WILL have some unbearable clients. You WILL have a manager/partner that is incredibly demanding, seemingly changes their mind, doesn't articulate clearly, etc.

(^not all projects/clients/managers, but enough)

In both consulting and interview preparation you need to be ready and prepared for any scenario.

This is why I teach "learning how to learn". Memorizing frameworks, planning for a specific, standardized process, etc. is not the way to approach interviews! I am very sorry that you learned this during your Mckinsey interview, but luckily you can move forward from here with your learnings.

Two final points:

1) McKinsey interviews are notorious for being particularly tough/demanding/"mean"

2) You definitely missed a key part of the structure, so unfortunately they were indeed waiting for a specific answer

The greatest accomplishments come from temporary defeat. Learn from this and move forward!

Hello,

I have done interviews for Strategy& in Italy and I can confirm that business case are quite standard. Case typology is more correlated to your interviewer, I would suggest to try to ask for your interviewer name in order to get some information on the practice he works for.

Best,
Luca

Work culture at MBB in Germany is tough - definitely among the hardest in the industry. 70+ hour weeks are regular - although at least at Bain, weekends seem to be pretty respected. Part of what makes the job so difficult is demanding and generally very detail-oriented clients.

However, your alternative, Korea, is perhaps one of the few countries in the world with even worse hours and culture than Germany. Hours are even longer, with 80-90 hour weeks more the norm than the exception (admittedly based on a relatively small sample size of colleagues I encountered at training sessions). Compared to Germany, culture also appears to be much more hierarchical.

In the end, between your two options, I would probably choose Germany. It is the least intense of the two, and is also a much more mature market with less hierarchy. You are also based in Europe, so will potentially have a chance to work in other European countries where work-life balance may be better (e.g. the UK).

Hi Anonymous,

I am German, have worked in consulting in Germany and have seen my share of CVs, so I hope I can help.

So first of all: None of the three examples are total no-gos.

I would consider No 2 best / safest. It looks clean and modern, is well structured and you can find everything you're looking for.

No 1 looks good, but you really need to nail the "About me" section and the Skill-Thing with the stars is somewhat superfluous, and also kind of ridiculous to rank your skills on a 10-increments scale.

There's nothing wrong with #3, it's just a bit bloodless and less clean than #2.

Just one hint: The photos for 2 and 3 are no-go though. Suit and dress shirt (and probably tie) for a guy, similar standard for a girl.

Hope this helps.

Elias

Hi! Here is what I can say about Germany:

• BCG and McKinsey are both conducting interviews remotely via video conferencing. I had several mentees in the last two weeks interviewing for the German offices of McKinsey and BCG, and all have received offers with at least one of the firms (both internship and full time).
• Bain seem to be a bit hesitant with interview invitations - takes them quite long to reply to my mentees' applications. So will have to wait and see what happens.
• Roland Berger have started doing interviews via video conferencing, but have stopped, saying that they prefer meeting candidates in person. So interviews have been pushed forward to an indefinite later date
• Oliver Wyman have also pushed interviews further into the future

Cheers, Sidi

Hi A,


I was in your shoes back in 2011-12, when I also came from Ukraine to start i Germany, and search for consulting jobs. I started to learn German from the scratch. So I can really understand your challenges.

In fact, there is no so many firms offering English consulting in Germany, so I would strongly recommend you to focus on improving you German, also on practicing cases in German. It would be very tough n the beginning, but I also did it and I practiced 100+ cases in English and in German, and that is what help me to get all the offer, including MBB and then finally choosing Roland Berger.

If you have any questions or advice, feel free to reach out.

Best,
André

Do not overthink this. It is important to have a solid answer, but your interviewer won't be looking to call you out - as long as you are sincere, you will be fine.

From every interviewer I have ever spoken to (including in my capacity as a junior interviewer at Bain), everyone agrees that the people element is generally the most powerful. Therefore, your example of friends that work at BCG and enjoy it is perfect. If possible, I would add some slightly more concrete examples of why he/she enjoys it, and why that resonates with you.

If you have had the chance to meet BCG people at recruiting events at your University, I would also mention this, and the impact it had on your perception of the firm.

Finally, if there's a particular sector you are interested in that you know the BCG office you are applying to is particularly strong in, this is something worth mentioning.

What I wouldn't mention or place particular emphasis on is the generalist model, or that you don't have expertise in other areas. Most global consulting firms use a generalist model, so this doesn't convince me as to "why BCG". Further, the way you frame it makes it seem like a weakness that you do not have expertise in other areas, which is generally not desirable.

Honestly, do not over worry about this. The "why office/company" question is critical only when you are applying to an office where you do not have a clear link to (e.g. an American applying to Dubai office), or if you are making a major career switch and need to justify why (e.g. switching between consulting firms).

Hi A,


I was in your shoes back in 2011-12, when I also came from Ukraine to start i Germany, and search for consulting jobs. So I can really understand your challenges. Regarding slow down in August, it could really happen, because most HR people plan for vacations for August. Therefore, in general it is a slow season. So I would rather recommend you to apply in June-July or later, in September.

As for the second question, I recommend you to practice cases in German. It would be very tough n the beginning, but I also did it and I practiced 100+ cases in English and in German, and that is what help me to get all the offer, including MBB and then finally choosing Roland Berger.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

Best,
André

Hi, it depends on the interviewer and on the Geography, but on Glassdoor, you can find some useful experience of past candidates with questions and insights.

Hope it hepls,
Antonello