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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Important soft skills as MBB consultant
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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:
- Firm presentations: Both before and after firm presentations, there will be consultants and recruiters commingling with candidates.
- Interviews: There will be a few minutes before the interview begins where your soft skills can set the tone of the interview.
- 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
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:
- 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)
- Theater/ voice training
- Specific training classes on communication
Best,
Francesco
Hi,
Completely agree with Francesco.
If you have time I suggest to hire a coach in:
- 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
- Sales - there are lots of personal selling training. I recommend finding the most reputable in your city. It's definitely worth it
- Voice (if it is not loud / articulate). Basically, a good singing coach can improve the voice
Good luck!
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