First of well, congratulations on the interview especially in this current climate doubly so!

My advice would try not to lose sight of the forest for the trees. Whilst there are plenty of resources out there for both the hard and soft parts of an interview, fundamentally, practice trumps all else.

Practicing with friends, family, case partners on here or even coaches will be far more valuable than consuming other content. Even try practising fit answers in front of a mirror and recording yourself (as awkward as it may be). This practice will deliver non-linear results over and above any other reading or websites.

That said, if you are looking for specific tactical resources then there are a handful that are non-conventional below:

• Case interviews - listen to the HBR Cold Case podcast (this is a 40min podcast with an interviewer and interviewee discussing an HBS case). This might give you an insight into how to guide the discussion in the real interview
• Quant - use the Brilliant app which has mental math and puzzle games
• Other - the Consulting Subreddit on reddit.com has some valuable resources on interview prep too

(edited)

Hi,

I recommend the following approach:

1) Start with "Case in point" book - you can download this book for free everywhere. It's not the best guide on how you should approach the cases, however, it will give you the basic understanding.

2) Start practicing cases with partners here or find them locally. !!! Find experienced partners or coaches who can provide a good feedback!!!

3) Purchase and read Viktor Cheng Book (Amazon Kindle store) and listen to LOMS (his website). I recommend to reread the book and listen to LOMS every 15 cases. Every time, having more experience, you’ll be finding something new.

4) Practice fast math

• Learn how to multiply double digit numbers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ndkkPZYJHo)
• Learn the division table up to 1/11 (i.e. 5/6 = 83.3)
• Learn how to work with zeros (Hint: 4000000 = 4*10ˆ6)
• Use math tools (Mimir math for iOS), Math tool on Viktor Cheng website to practice

5) Below you can find a list of the most common case types and some high-level recommendations on structuring:

• Market sizing - structuring from the supply or demand side. Structuring using a formula or using an issue tree
• Profitability - basic profitability framework. Remember about different revenue streams and product mix
• Market context cases (Market Entry, New product, Acquisition, etc). Always start with the big picture "market". Finish with something specific to the case (e.g. How to enter?"). Structure it as if you are defining the work streams for the real project.
• Operational math problem (e.g. Should we increase the speed of an elevator or just buy a second one? How should we reduce the queues? Etc.) - Structuring as a process / value chain, with inflows, operations, and outflows
• Cost cutting - I provided the recommendations on structuring it here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/operations-cases-mck-1105#a2134
• Valuation - Purely financial structure with cash flows, growth rate, WACC / hurdle rate, etc.
• Synergies - revenue synergies (price, qty, mix) and cost synergies (value chain).
• Social / economics cases (e.g. How to improve the quality of life in the city? How to increase the revenues of the museum?) - huge variability. Practice 3-5 social cases before the interview

6) Also, I would try to focus on the most common industries in the following priority(sorted by probability of getting a case): 1-retail and CPG; 2-airlines; 3-Telecom; 4-banking; 5-natural resources; 6-tech

7) ! Important: don't forget about the FIT interview part. Crafting you stories and backups stories will require a couple of weeks!

PS

Here is a good list of articles regarding the different parts of the case:

1) Starting with clarifying questions:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/clarifying-questions-1786#a3956

2) Communicating while structuring. Here is a long post by me on how to communicate the structure during the case study:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-communicate-its-structure-for-the-case-study-1313#a2806

3) Using hypotheses. I made a post about hypothesis here:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-state-a-hypothesis-and-match-to-the-structure-1156#a2268

4) Communicating while making calculations:

• Always tell the interviewer your approach
• Check with the interviewer that your approach is correct
• Come to the interviewer with some preliminary answers
• Check your assumptions with the interviewer

5) Communicating during the analysis of graphs / tables

• Take a minute to look at the graph. Read the graph title. Look at the graph type and define the type (pie chart, line chart, etc). Look at the legend (ask for clarifying questions if necessary). Identify whats going on on the graph. Look for: Trends, % structures. Look for unusual things - correlations, outliers,
• Make 3-4 conclusions from the graph. Think out loud on potential hypothesis on what could be the root cause / what are the consequences
• Prioritize the most important for your current analysis and move forward with the case

6) Communicating while having questions on creativity

• Ask an interview for a minute to think
• Think of several buckets of ideas (e.g. organic growth / non-organic growth / differentiation). Remember to think as big as possible
• Narrow down to each bucket and generate as many ideas as possible
• Present the structure (buckets) and then your ideas

7) Communicating your conclusion. You can find a good example I've posted here:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-much-answer-first-should-the-conclusion-be-1231#a2493

8) Communicating your FIT stories

Use the top-down approach while communicating your stories. "The Pyramid Principle" is the must-read by ex McKinsey on this topic.

I recommend using the STAR framework:

• In Situation, you should briefly provide the context, usually in 1 or 2 sentences
• Task usually includes 2 or 3 sentences describing the problem and your objective.
• Then you provide a list of specific actions you took to achieve the goal. It should take 1 or 2 sentences per action (Usually 3-4 actions). Note that the interviewer can stop you any minute and ask for more details.
• The results part should have 1 or 2 sentences describing the outcomes. This part is finalizing your story - make sure it can impress the interviewer and stay in the memory.

Best!

Hello Marianne,

The best way to improve and boost your performance is to practice with other people. Be sure that you are using a good casebook and the right candidates to practice with. If you want to vary a little bit, have a look at LOMS program that my candidates find always really useful.
Regarding your specific point on graphical data and tables, have a look at the integrated reasoning section of the GMAT that is really useful to improve this skills.
Feel free to text me if you need some material, I am also a GMAT coach.

Best,
Luca

Hi Marianne,

Besides what have already been mentioned by other experts, if you still have some spare time, you can take a look into the articles that MBB publish regularly. These are easily avaiable on their websites and on LinkedIn as well. It could be a good way to see how these companies approach business problems. You can practice graph/data reading as well. E.g. read the exhibits in those articles while covering up the page title, and see whether you can draw similar insights from those exhibits.

But again, this is good-to-have but not top prioroty, so do it only if you have spare time.

Good luck with your preparation! And feel free to PM if you have quesion.

Best,

Emily

(edited)

Hello Marianne!

Precisely for improving your performance in fields such as analyzing graphs and tables, GMAT is a great resource.

I would strongly recomment you practice it, since normally it´s very different from the things you have seen before -particularly the data sufficency part-. I struggled myself too when I was preparing and this would have been really useful -only found it after, when I was preparing for GMAT-.

There are free exams in the internet that you can use for practice (the one of LBS MBA page, Verits prep, as well as some free trials for courses such as the one of The Economist (https://gmat.economist.com/)

This should be more than enaugh

PM me if you want more material, since I have it from back in the day!

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hi Marianne,
there are 4 aspects of the application process you have to focus on:

• CV and cover letter: prepare impactful documents that highlight your achievements, skills, and motivation.
• Test: you should understand if your office assesses candidates with PST, SHL or Imbellus, since every McK office can use one of these 3 standards.
• Personal Experience Interview: fit and CV questions to assess your personal impact, leadership skills, and entrepreneurial spirit. You should prepare impactful stories about your experiences that cover these 3 main pillars.
• Case Interview: typical business case to evaluate your structure in approaching problems, problem-solving skills, and business sense. This is the most time-demanding aspect to work on. I recommend reading Cosentino's Case in point to fix the theory. Then, what will be really important is practicing mock cases with other candidates here on Preplounge.

Hope it helps,
Antonello

Hi!

• Analyzing tables and graphs: Crafting Cases drills
• Math (logic): Preplounge math quizzes, Rocket Block menthal math drills
• Math (mental math): Mental Math practice app, Brain Booster Games app (long divisions are missing there, so you need to practice it alone)

Best,
Daniel

Hi Marianne,

There are lot of courses and materials, for example Case Books from business schools like London Business School, Higher Business School as well as Casing Point by Cosentino and, of course, LOMS by Victor Cheng.

If you need any help or some of these materials, feel free to reach out.

Best,

André