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Important soft skills as MBB consultant

Hi guys! In order to gain more confidence, I would like to focus besides case training also on soft skill trainings. Can anybody recommend me what I could do? Join toastmasters or which other activities can develop my soft skills, such as presentation and communication skills and confidence in general? Any advice is appreciated!

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Coach
on Oct 03, 2017
Only ex-Partner (McKinsey and Oliver Wyman) on PrepLounge

You are asking an important question as soft skills can make a difference. While they don’t count as much as much the actual interview, soft skills come into play on two, sometimes three different occasions:

  1. Firm presentations: Both before and after firm presentations, there will be consultants and recruiters commingling with candidates.
  2. Interviews: There will be a few minutes before the interview begins where your soft skills can set the tone of the interview.
  3. Team exercises (optional for some firms): Some firms have 4-6 candidates work on a group case exercise and soft skills play a big part where elements like empathy, listening, presence, teamwork and influencing are assessed. 

You can improve your soft skills just about anywhere you interact with others, whether it’s one-on-one ore in a large group. Here are few to get you started:

  • School team / group meetings
  • School organizations
  • School orientation / admission events
  • Recruiting events / firm presentations
  • Case interview practice partners
  • Networking events (e.g., Network After Work, Alumni events)
  • Toastmaster’s International Meetings
  • Meetup groups (https://www.meetup.com/)
  • Volunteer work (especially with younger groups)
  • Political / religious organizations (if you are so inclined)
  • Mentor sessions
on Oct 04, 2017
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success: ➡ interviewoffers.com | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi Anonymous,

based on my experience, the single most effective way to improve soft skills is an internship/job experience in sales, ideally related to SME and/or a startup (which involves lot of interactions and pretty direct sales process). Additional elements I personally found useful are:

  1. Present whenever possible in front of a group of people (depending on what you do now, that may range from a university class to work related presentations)
  2. Theater/ voice training
  3. Specific training classes on communication

Best,
Francesco

Vlad
Coach
on Oct 08, 2017
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

Completely agree with Francesco.

If you have time I suggest to hire a coach in:

  1. Communication - check the universities around. Many of them have "Art of communication" course. Ther you'll get all the theory and practice various types of speeches
  2. Sales - there are lots of personal selling training. I recommend finding the most reputable in your city. It's definitely worth it
  3. Voice (if it is not loud / articulate). Basically, a good singing coach can improve the voice

Good luck!

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