I joined Bain as a Summer Associate and I'm now organizing our Summer Associate program. From that experience, I can tell that there's one critical thing for you to do during your internship:

Make sure you have regular feedback chats wtih the people that make the final offer decision. Depending on your staffing, this will be the associate your working with, your direct manager and the partner overlooking the case. Schedule 30 min every two weeks with each of them to ask about feedback on your work and be very specific in asking them whether you are on track to getting an offer and what you'll need to do in addition or change to close the gap.

This will feel awkward at the beginning, but it will ultimately help you get transparency on your status and course-correct if needed.

Hope this helps!

Hello!

Congrats of that offer!

I guess the short answer is easy: do well the job you are given!

In order to prep for that, and if there is one thing I wish I had done before joining McKinsey, that would have been Excel. It can really be a game changer, so I would really focus on that (more than pptx, industry knowledge, etc., that are nice-to-have, but not deal breakers).

Excel skills are part of the core skill-set of consultants, and it´s great that you want to practice them. PFB a list of the most popular commands:

• Basic operations: SUM, SUMPRODUCT
• Text transformations: CONCATENATE, LEFT, RIGHT, & operator,
• Connecting different datasets: VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, INDEX(MATCH(),MATCH())
• Conditional-based operations: SUMIF, COUNTIF, SUMIFS, COUNTIFS, COUNTA
• Learn how to analyze data using Pivot Tables

There are plenty of online materials:

• Microsoft Support: https://support.office.com/en-us/excel
• Kubicle: https://kubicle.com/personal (go for the 7 days free trial - Excel for Business Analytics)

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

First: Read the 25 tips in my consulting handbook here: https://www.spencertom.com/2018/01/14/consulting-survival-guide/

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Second: In terms of things you can learn/do to prepare beforehand:

1) Daily Reading

• The Economist, The Financial Times, BCG/Mskinsey Insights

2) Industry deep-dives

• Learn, in-depth, how the industries/companies your office advises, work. (PM me for an industry overview template)

3) Analytics tools

• Alteryx, Tableau, etc.

4) Excel

5) Powerpoint

• Best practices/standards
• Different layouts
• Quickly editing/updating slides
• Thinking in PowerPoint

6) Presentation skills / sharp communication

• There are some online/virtual classes for this

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Third: In terms of doing well in your role when you're there:

1) Understand the context/prompt (what role are you in, what company, who's watching, etc.)

2) Understand the objective (what, specifically, is expected from you...both day to day, and in your overall career progression)

3) Quickly process information, and focus on what's important - Take a lot of information and the unknown, find the most logical path, and focus on that.

4) Be comfortable with the unknown, and learn to brainstorm - think/speak like an expert without being one

In summary, there will always be a flood of information, expectations, competition etc. and not enough time. Find out which ones matter when. (i.e. be visibile and focus efforts on the things that people care about)

Earn Respect: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/as-a-new-joiner-how-to-earn-seniors-respect-instead-of-being-too-obedient-7006

Navigate Effectively through politics: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-navigate-through-office-politics-as-a-new-joiner-7016

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Fourth: Here are some great prior Q&As for you!

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/what-makes-a-good-consultant-how-to-get-a-good-review-6790

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-hard-is-it-to-excel-in-top-consulting-firms-6762

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-become-an-engagement-manager-and-partner-quickly-6722

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/need-to-learn-skills-in-the-ample-free-time-before-starting-at-an-mbb-what-should-i-do-6774

Hi there,

This is what I would recommend paying attention to:

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 than missing the deadline.
8. Be social and respectful with the support staff – these people are great and influential as well in the company.

Best,

Francesco

Having been a summer intern at McKinsey, it all comes down feedback. It's extremely rare but those who are not able to take feedback onboard will not come out with an offer.

(edited)

Hello,

Internship is the best and shortest way to get full-time offer.

Waht you can do - is to network nicely to ask for referral and actually show up yourself. These are the basic points.

I'm happy to share with you the whole set of recommendations which might be applicable to your specific situation. For that, feel free to drop me a line.

GB

What are the main reasons for not receiving full-time offers after doing internships at MBB?