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

Hi there,

First, this is a great outcome! You should be happy they'll willing to talk to your further!

Now, this likely happened as you're dealing with the Nordics (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands)...they're generally fairly integrated and well connected.

Moreover, speaking Dutch is generally not required in Netherlands offices, while speaking Norweigan is generally required in the Norway offices. So, again, this could explain some things.

Now, all this conjecture aside, just ask them! First, express interest in the role as well as a flexible/adaptable mindset, but lightly inquire as to what they're thinking role-wise.

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.

Hi Anonymous,

the kind of preparation would depend on how much time you have before your interview and your current Spanish level. I will assume you have a couple of weeks before that and a B2 level; in this case, in addition to the points mentioned by Christian I would suggest to do the following:

1. Calculate the time available before the interview for Spanish preparation only; then prepare a plan where you allocate the activities below in your calendar
2. Perform the following in the defined slots, identifying which are the most challenging areas:
   • Read cases in Spanish – this should give you an idea of the most common words and help you to highlight what you should learn
   • Perform live cases in Spanish on PrepLounge or with peers
   • Listen to Spanish business-related podcast in dead time to absorb the language
3. After a couple of days, perform a review process of the words/expression more difficult for you to absorb and allocate a specific time to review them in your daily schedule.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi Anonymous,

For permanently working in Moscow office, the prerequisite was (and I believe still is) perfect command of Russian language in a business and also non-business setting.

This makes sense especially considering that many business leaders (maybe surprisingly, to some extent) don't speak English well - was travelling to Russia around 70 times in last 10 years and again and again I face difficulties in English communication.

Since this is a not-so-simple requirement to fulfill, it's rather uncommon to permanently work in Moscow office.

Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind and give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

Hi Anonymous,

I know many examples of consultants who have worked in Scandinavia without speaking the local language. So English should be sufficient in a significant share of the projects.

However, most of these people that I know have transferred to a nordic office within the firm - you will need to find out what the formal recruiting requirements in terms of language are for each firm. But this should be quite easy - just reach out to HR/recruiting and discuss the matter! This is what these colleagues are there for.

Cheers, Sidi

Hello there!

Some toughts:

• Language: in Europe the local language is required, unless you are an expert in a field. However, hace you considered London? English will be enaugh.
• MBA: for sure an MBA from a target school would position your profile better. However, if the target is Europe, you will have the same language issue -unless you also use the MBA to learn a new language, which seems not very likely-.
• O&G: if this is the industry that passionates you, why not applying directly instead of consulting?

Hope it helps.

Cheers,

Clara

Hi Anonymous,

having lived in Switzerland for 5 years, part of that time working for the Oliver Wyman Zurich office, normally the requirements are:

(1) Graduate hires: C1 German skills as a lot of clients require teams to speak / work in German, create slides in German and so forth (as a matter of fact, many Swiss clients even prefer Swiss German speaking consultants over German speaking consultants (and yes, Swiss German is an entirely different language). The only exception I encountered was McK as they have an office in Geneva, do a lot of business there and accept French-speaking candidates. However, if you are not fluent in either of the two languages, you should consider investing some time in your German skills - they will test this during your interviews, so it doesn't help simply to state it in your CV.

(2) Experienced hires: No German skills required if you are hired for your expert skills or network and they can afford sending you only to english speaking clients. I have met Italian- / English-speaking, French- / English-speaking and English only-speaking principals / partners working for Swiss offices.

Hope this helps!

Best
Dorothea

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

Hello!

I was +2years in the Madrid office.

To be hired in it, good Spanish -so fluent- is a total must, with one exception, that you are really specialized in a topic they lack.

Most engagements that take place locally are with clients who don´t speak English, this is why.

Hence, t least 50% of the interview will be conducted in Spanish.

Hope it helps.

Cheers,

Clara

Hi Anonym,

I worked at BCG until recently.

If you like, we can have a call on it? Feel free to write me.

Best regards

Marco-Alexander

Hi,

Having worked in BCG's Italian system, I can tell you that in special circumstances, a few employees were hired who did not have strong local language capabilities. If in doubt, you can write to local HR and ask for the requirements.

Best,

Deniz

I think it depends on the office.

Some offices might be functionally English even in non-English-speaking regions: think Southeast Asia, some German offices, the pan-African offices, et cetera.

Others might be firmly lingoucentric (a word I just made up): think Paris, Istanbul, Sãa Paulo.

In the case of the former, expect the majority of your interviews to be in English. In south-east Asia, for example, 100% of my interviews where in English.

In the case of the latter, I would expect at least 50% of the interviews to be in the office's local language with at least one interview in English. I haven't got further specifics to back this up.

Of course, if you're interviewing in the Anglophones (Australia/US/London offices), expect to do everything in English unless you're applying for a unique, non-client facing role where fluency in another specific language has been specified.

Good luck!

Hi Anonymous,

this is definitely something you should proactively bring up and discuss prior to your interview! It is in the best interest of yourself, and also of the firm you are applying to. If you discuss it with them and they agree to do the case part in English, there is no issue you need to worry about. If, however, they refuse to do it in English, then there might be good reasons for that and in this case you should wonder whether this firm is a good fit for you in the first place (at this point in time).

Cheers, Sidi