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

Hey there,

Here are a few in no particular order:

• Long, unqualified blank timeframes
• Excessive grammatical / syntax errors or typos / no structure or care // non-polished document
• Lack of employment experience (even if it's just 1-3 good internships missing)
• Excessive time needed for a degree (e.g. 6 years instead of 3) unless it can be explained by some activity that was running in parallel (e.g. started a company)
• No degree at all / missing education section
• Completely out of line GPA (from top 30th percentile upward)
• Non-target university (only applicable for super competitive offices)
• Language skills don't match the office requirement
• Objectively identifiable lying

Cheers,

Florian

Hey there,

In that case, I'd put a bit more weight on the local referral because people might know each other, and that is a benefit. However, as Ken already said, there is no reason not to go for both at the same time.

The more

• referrals
• senior
• diverse

the better will be your chances to move to the interviews/ aptitude test stage of the application.

Good luck!

Cheers,

Florian

Sorry to hear you've been experiencing a hard time... It's hard to comment without knowing your full profile and so feel free to DM me but a few thoughts below based on your questions:

1. Starting with your home country is a no brainer. If that is India then there is a large contingency of Indian consultants based in Dubai. Slightly dependent on how competitive your profile is (e.g., MBA school) but I would probably avoid London unless you personally feel strongly about it. Singapore will be challenging assuming you require a visa

2. If you have a dialogue going with the recruitment team then it's worth raising that you are geographically mobile. At the same time, if you have a strong profile, recruiters will usually try to propose alternatives as MBBs don't easily let talent walk out of the front door!

3. If you have already been rejected by a specific office then you will not be able to apply for another 12-18 months to any BCG office

Hi there,

Welcome to the community!

First, I think you should apply to all of them. Then, once your options are narrowed down, you'll have an easier decision in front of you!

If you're looking to work in Europe, I'd tier your programs as follows

Tier 1

HEC Paris MIM

London Business School MIM

INSEAD MIM

Tier 2

IE Business School MIM with specialization in Strategic Management (almost tier 1)

Imperial College of London MSc in Management

ESSEC MIM

Tier 3

Melbourne Business School Master of Management

Duke Fuqua MMS: Foundations of Business

Hi,

if you have not heard back, definitely reach out. Detailed answers were also posted here:

https://www.preplounge.com/de/consulting-forum/rejection-from-a-partner-interview-without-feedback-9048

Best,
Denis

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about the rejection.

If the Manager shared his contacts, you can definitely reach out to him.

However, as mentioned by Jamie and Ian, you will likely receive a generic / non practical feedback. There are several legal constraints when rejecting a candidate on what you can say, and consulting companies tend to play safe.

If the Manager didn’t share his contacts, I would not followup and move on.

Best,
Francesco

Hi there,

Congratulations on the offer! If you want to prepare in advance before you start, I recommend to work on technical and communication skills and a proper mindset.

• On the technical side, Excel will be the most important technical thing to master at the beginning, in particular for VLOOKUPs and Pivot tables; you could also review PowerPoint if needed. You will likely receive training on this once you start anyway.
  • Tip for Excel: learn how to use as much as possible the keyword and relegate the touchpad to the minimum – this will skyrocket your productivity in the long term. Some computer programs such as KeyRocket provide tips to improve on this.
• For better communication, two great books are:
  • How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie (classical on how to manage relationships)
  • Never Split The Difference - Chris Voss (great negotiation book)
• For mindset, some great books are:
  • The Compound Effect - Darren Hardy (great book on long-term planning)
  • Tiny Habits – BJ Fogg (excellent, science-based book on habits formation)
  • The Mediations – Marcus Aurelius (written ~ 2000 years ago but incredibly actual – the personal diary of the most powerful man in the world at the time)
  • The 80–20 Principle - Richard Koch (very smart life tips from one of the founders of LEK)
  • Peaks and Valleys – Spencer Johnson (crisis management tale – from the same author of the famous “Who moved my Cheese”, I personally found this book a lot more interesting and applicable)

Below you can also find a list of things that could be useful to practice during your first weeks:

1. Take notes when your manager tells you something – this will help you to remember details and will show you care about them to the team.
2. Always double-check. The first impression is very important in consulting: if you show you are reliable from the beginning, you create a reputation of a reliable person. Double checks should be done on expectations for your job, your Excel analysis, your slides – basically everything.
3. Define priorities before starting any set of tasks. The majority of the results usually come from a subset of activities – this is true also for your tasks in consulting. You have to identify which they are and prioritize them – the application of the so-called 80-20 rule or Pareto Principle. Alignment on priorities and expectations is particularly important with your manager at the beginning of the project.
4. Socialize with your colleagues and start to build a network. Consulting is a people business and you should build a good network both within and outside the company. A good start is key to develop good relationships long-term
5. Organize your private life activities. You want to organize your calendar to leave some space for personal activities (sport/ friends/ family). This is not easy but can be managed if you organize well, and long-term will be critical to keep a balance between work and private life. Also, it is better to align with your manager/teammates from the beginning on your core needs, so that there are no surprises later­ on.
6. Ask for feedback every two-three weeks – this will show you are proactive and willing to learn.
7. Ask for help when you don't know what to do – better to let know you are in trouble with meeting a deadline then missing the deadline.
8. Be social and respectful with the support staff – these people are great and influential as well in the company.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hey there,

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out.

I'd definitely send a friendly email to the partner asking for the key reason(s) why you didn't pass (so you can improve in the future). Going via HR in your instance is a waste of time

• They may not know / can't say
• You have nothing to lose
• It could be beneficial to stay in touch with the partner

Cheers,

Florian

Hi there,

You mean you have applied, the deadline has passed and now you can get a referral? No harm in trying, but they may have already made a decision on your CV – in that case, it won’t be effective.

Best,
Francesco

Hi there,

They are definitely important as well for undergrads. I only applied via referral while at university and got 6 invitations out of 6 applications – I don’t think that would have been possible without referrals.

For a step-by-step process on how to get referrals, you can check the following link:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hey-everyonehope-all-is-well-3176

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

Congratulations on your offer!

These are the tips I usually recommend for MBB prep:

• On the technical side, Excel will be the most important technical thing to master at the beginning, in particular for VLOOKUPs and Pivot tables; you could also review PowerPoint if needed. You will likely receive training on this once you start anyway.
  • Tip for Excel: learn how to use the keyword as much as possible and relegate the touchpad to the minimum – this will skyrocket your productivity in the long term. Some computer programs such as KeyRocket provide tips to improve on this.
• For better communication, two great books are:
  • How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie (classical on how to manage relationships)
  • Never Split The Difference - Chris Voss (great negotiation book)
• For mindset, some great books are:
  • The Compound Effect - Darren Hardy (great book on long-term planning)
  • Tiny Habits – BJ Fogg (excellent, science-based book on habits formation)
  • The Mediations – Marcus Aurelius (written ~ 2000 years ago but incredibly actual – the personal diary of the most powerful man in the world at the time)
  • The 80–20 Principle - Richard Koch (very smart life tips from one of the founders of LEK)
  • Peaks and Valleys – Spencer Johnson (crisis management tale – from the same author of the famous “Who moved my Cheese”, I personally found this book a lot more interesting and applicable)

Below you can also find a list of things that could be useful to practice during your first weeks:

1. Take notes when your manager tells you something – this will help you to remember details and will show you care about them to the team.
2. Always double-check. The first impression is very important in consulting (and in any industry in general): if you show you are reliable from the beginning, you create a reputation of a reliable person. Double checks should be done on expectations for your job, your Excel analysis, your slides – basically everything.
3. Define priorities before starting any set of tasks. The majority of the results usually come from a subset of activities – this is true also for your tasks in consulting. You have to identify which they are and prioritize them – the application of the so-called 80-20 rule or Pareto Principle. Alignment on priorities and expectations is particularly important with your manager at the beginning of the project.
4. Socialize with your colleagues and start to build a network. Consulting (most likely also your new industry) is a people business and you should build a good network both within and outside the company. A good start is key to develop good relationships long-term
5. Organize your private life activities. You want to organize your calendar to leave some space for personal activities (sport/ friends/ family). This is not easy but can be managed if you organize well, and long-term will be critical to keep a balance between work and private life. Also, it is better to align with your manager/teammates from the beginning on your core needs, so that there are no surprises later­ on.
6. Ask for feedback every two-three weeks – this will show you are proactive and willing to learn.
7. Ask for help when you don't know what to do – better to let know you are in trouble with meeting a deadline than missing the deadline.
8. Be social and respectful with the support staff – these people are great and influential as well in the company.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi there,

It depends on the position you are targeting.

1. If you are targeting the equivalent of a post-MBA position (eg Associate McK, Consultant BCG), you will need an MBA
2. If you are targeting an analyst/senior analyst position (eg Analyst McK, Associate BCG), you can definitely apply now. You should be able to negotiate some seniority if you do so. In this case, the #1 thing that may help is a referral. You can find more on referrals at the following link: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hey-everyonehope-all-is-well-3176

Best,
Francesco

If you're interviewing with a company that is using some kind of case interview, and you haven't started preparing yet, I would conisder asking them for a delay. 4 days is just not enough to prepare when you're starting from 0.

To prepare for case interviews, you should aim at practicing 15-20 cases, if you do it strategically. My recommendation is as follows:

• Read up on the typical approaches and standard frameworks to get the concept.
• Then, do 5-6 cases to get a practical feeling for what a case is like. Start with easier ones - e.g. market size mini cases, simple profit tree cases, etc. This will help you develop a rudimentary sense for how cases work
• The next 5-6 cases should cover cases from all major types and help you gain the experience and comfort with standard frameworks and the thinking required for solving the cases.
• Lastly, you will want to do 6-7 cases to hone your skills. Practice with people who understand what they are doing - experienced interviewers, coaches, etc. that can give you 1-2 main items of feedback after each case that you can then practice to apply and improve on in the next case. During this time, you should also practice to move away from off-the-shelf frameworks and tailor, or - even better - develop your frameworks specifically during the case.

The further you move towards the final interview, the more important it is to practice with experienced interviewers. While you can easily ask any friend or practice with peers for the first few cases, you should aim for qualified, professional feedback as you approach the finishing line.

However, keep in mind, that this requires a strong plan and strategic approach to the preparation. I regularly see people doing 30-40 or even more cases. While this can also lead to success, in my eyes, it is a bit of a waste of time, especially for experienced hires that often also have a regular job to do while preparing for the consulting interviews.

Let me know if this helps. I'm also happy to elaborate any of the above in more detail. DM me if you like.

Hello!

As a general rule of thumb -not only Switzerland, but all offices-, grade do matter, but are not a deal breaker.

What do I mean with this?

• The higher your grades are, overall, the better. And it does count, particularly when you are joining straigh out of uni, since there are not that many further data points you can share.
• If you have strong extra-curricular performance on top of uni (e.g., clubs, sports, entrepreneurial activity, etc.), this also compensates for the grades

Overall, recruiters value the application as a whole.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hey,

Here's some pointers to help you think about areas for examples fo genuine weaknesses:

1. Communication style: are you assertive (clear, concise) or passive; does your style change when you are with senior/high power people
2. Managing difficult situations & people: how do you do this today & how can you improve
3. Something goes wrong or doesnt happen the way you wanted: how do you deal with it? What areas can you improve at

Regarding your example of Negotiation, my advice is to not use it. Negotiation is a difficult subject, hard to explain and most of us are shit at it. You will get better at over time. For now, think about above pointers I have given.

Basic rule is to dig a bit deeper into your life, school, internships, work experience and analyse what can you improve. Come up with genuine examples (avoid I work super hard, I am perfectionist etc etc) and practice storytelling techniques for impactful delivery in interviews.