Consulting Q&A - Ask questions around your career in our consulting forum

Hello!

It´s much better than the old test used to be.

It's a gamified test

Divided into 2 games, 1h to complete both of them:

1st one is a game about keeping an ecosystem balanced

2nd one is a defense game

It´s fun and there is not really a "way" to prep for it.

My advise would be to be fresh when you do it and pick a right enviroment -during my BCG test in their office there was construction in the patio and the screen was even shaking-.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

A referral is a helpful, but not necessary factor in being invited to interview.

You will be less dependant than most on a literal referral given BCG comes to your school. However, your networking will be just as important, as you need to stand out amongst all of your classmates in your MBA program.

Hi Anonymous,

I would recommend the following steps to organize your preparation:

1. Identify the companies interesting for you. Many people are interested mainly in MBB, you can start defining the exact list of companies interesting for you for the internship
2. Define a calendar for your preparation. Check if there is any deadline for the internship applications. Then identify how many hours you have before that and allocate a time slot for preparation in your calendar for each day, working on the points below. Many people need 100+ hours to be ready before the interview so you can keep that as a benchmark
3. Read Case In Point or Case Interview Secrets for a general understanding of what a consulting interview is. Don’t focus on the structures proposed in the books though, as they are not good enough nowadays.
4. Start reading good MBA Consulting Handbooks – you can find several for free online (Insead is a good one to start). Read the cases and try to apply your structure to solve them. Whenever you see there is something missing, upgrade your structure with the new insides. PrepLounge also has a Case Library that you can use. Try to read at least a new case per day – in this way you will absorb better the information with constant learning.
5. After the first 5-10 cases in books/handbooks and basic theory, start to practice live. PrepLounge can be helpful to connect with other candidates for that. There is a relevant part of the interview score that is based on your communication, which you cannot practice at all if you read cases only. Keep track of your mistakes and see if you repeat them. If so, try to identify the source of the mistake (feedback of experienced partners would be particularly useful for this). Be sure to focus on both the behavioural part and the case part. The case part should also cover market sizing, mental math and graph analysis.
6. Before your application, be sure to review your CV and Cover, so that they are in the required format for a consulting application
7. At least three weeks before the application deadline, start networking to find referrals for your target companies. You can find some tips on how to do that here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hey-everyonehope-all-is-well-3176
8. Once you feel you are not improving anymore, if you have a tight time constraint or if you want a realistic assessment of your level, consider using support from experts to strengthen your performance
9. Before the interview, be sure to prepare your questions for the interviewer –great way to show you prepared in advance and to connect with the interviewer for a good final impression.

Best,

Francesco

Hi,

I recommend the following approach- split the main sheet into 2 parts and then the left part into 2 quadrants:

• Upper left - initial information given at the beginning of the interview and while asking clarifying questions
• Lower left - Your objective. The objective should be measurable and should have a timeline
• Right part - Your structure and the whole caseflow

Also, a good practice is to put the key numbers near the corresponding buckets.

! Have a separate sheet for math calculations!

It's also important:

1. A good habit is to guide the interviewer through your structure by showing the structure on paper. So at least the structure should look clean and clear for the interviewer. Literally, move your pen to the different elements of your structure while presenting. And very often you need to do more than one structure while solving the case.
2. You need to have clarity with numbers to be successful at calculations.
3. While providing the final recommendation you need to find all the key numbers quickly, in order to use them in the arguments. Thus you need clarity

All in all - having clear and organized notes have many pros while unclear notes can easily lead to failure.

Best!

Dear A,

The simplest way is to check the Library with Cases here on Preplounge. You can choose them according to the different level, and also with detailed solution provided. You can train them with peers.

Also, by traning with expert coach you can get the latest cases with solutions and structured feedback.

If you need any further help or advice for efficient preparation, feel free to reach out.

Best,

André

Hi!

I think there are a few angles to consider here

1. Long term career goals: If your dream is to work in the industry where the in-house consultancy operates than that can be a good option because you start learning the industry from day one. If you want a broad exposure you will only get that in MBB.

2. Prestige: Having MBB on your CV will give you a lot of optionality going forward

3. Impact of COVID: You can talk to the recruiting team about how they are handling COVID if you are concerned about the safety. You can then consider if their approach is acceptable to you.

-A

Hi,

- It's exactly the same, but you'll have three interviews instead of one (usual procedure) and the interviewer would be an Associate Partner / Partner / Senior Partner instead of an Engagement Manager / Associate Partner. The difficulty is the same

- Calm down because even if the interviewer is more senior, it doesn't mean the interview is going to be harder. It could also happen that an interviewer plays the "bad guy" part, but, again, it's only a stress test

Finger crossed and good luck!

You can put expected GPA instead of actual

Hi!

You are completely misunderstanding and misinterpreting the situation! YOU are the person who asked for a call, so YOU should be the one who brings thoughtful questions to the call! YOU have to make up your mind, what you would like to know from the principal. He is just willing to answer your questions and wants to get a personam impression of you, to check whether you could be an intersting candidate.

So please start preparing this call and think through, what relevant topics you would like to discuss.

Cheers, Sidi

Hi,

Virtual interviews are not that rare. A Personal meeting is definitely better than online experience since you can definitely connect better with the interviewer when it is a live meeting. However, the process is exactly the same. The thing is - if you can communicate your structure clearly - you don't need to show it. What you are writing on paper is not important as well if you can communicate it properly.

If you have a virtual interview, here are some general recommendations:

1. First of all, check whether they are providing a conference room in a local office
2. If not - find a place with good internet speed and test it multiple times before the interview. Also, think of nice room / proper light for the video conference if you do it from home
3. You should be dressed the same as for the regular interview
4. Don't hesitate to ask clarifying questions if there are problems with connection or you were not able to hear something
5. Don't forget to look at the camera and smile - same as you do on a regular interview

Best

Dear Anonymous,

Surprinsingly, a lot of the consulting firms in the Middle East have never been as busy as they were in the past weeks & months, since they had to navigate their clients through a period of doubt and uncertainty. Most of those companies were able to sell new projects to their clients, but not at the same price point. They had to review their pricing strategy and offer discounts to their clients.

Having said that, the region is still going through a massive transformation, and a lot of companies & governments would still need the support of consulting firms. So I believe that the volume of business would remain stable (and potentially grow in 2-3 years), but the type of engagement would differ (more strategic & digital transformations, due diligences, PMIs, etc.)

Mehdi

Hi,

I recommend the following approach- split the main sheet into 2 parts and then the left part into 2 quadrants:

• Upper left - initial information given at the beginning of the interview and while asking clarifying questions
• Lower left - Your objective. The objective should be measurable and should have a timeline
• Right part - Your structure and the whole caseflow

Also, a good practice is to put the key numbers near the corresponding buckets.

! Have a separate sheet for math calculations!

It's also important:

1. A good habit is to guide the interviewer through your structure by showing the structure on paper. So at least the structure should look clean and clear for the interviewer. Literally, move your pen to the different elements of your structure while presenting. And very often you need to do more than one structure while solving the case.
2. You need to have clarity with numbersto be successful at calculations.
3. While providing the final recommendation you need to find all the key numbers quickly, in order to use them in the arguments. Thus you need clarity

All in all - having clear and organized notes have many pros while unclear notes can easily lead to failure.

Best!

A referral is best when it comes from soneone with whom you have a relationship or something in common that lets them refer you easily.. If you don't have this, you need to invest time and energy building it. What this means is as follows:

1. During the call aside from other topics, express your interest in working at the firm and ask him/her what are things you can do to be a good candidate. Write these things down somewhere

2. Email them every 3 weeks to update on progress on those areas they pointed out, and also set up a follow up call in 2 months or so.

3. After 2-3 months of updating them and asking for their advice - assuming you have made actual progress you should ask him if he is comfortable referring you given the progress you have made or if there is something else he would like you to work on

Continue working on yourself and building this relationship until you feel you have earned their trust for a referral. It is long but it works well as people want to feel invested in your success

There are exceptions to this rule where people are willing to refer you sooner. You will have to pay attention to the conversation and how it is going to pick up on whether they would do that for you. Sometimes they suggest it themselves which makes it easier.