I completely DISAGREE that intelligence is the only success factor in consulting. Even more so, I would say that diligence, motivation, and communication skills are much MORE important to progressing up the consulting career ladder than IQ. 

I am sorry to hear that you are not getting the offers, and my sincere advice would be to try to apply to alternative (i.e. less competitive) offices of these firms, e.g. Europe rather than US or China/India. In my honest opinion, that makes a lot of difference.

Hi there,

There are 3 possibilities and three possibilities only:

1. You do not have what it takes (your ceiling is lower than what's required)
2. You did not prepare adequately - yes, you worked hard but you didn't study right
3. You have been unlucky - you are a good candidate, but the coin flipped on the wrong side (every interview is a roll of the dice)

If you truly want an answer, have a coaching session. There's no way for you to be able to self-assess this. A coach can tell you what your exact limitations are and how/if you can fix them. They can tell you where your approach is wrong and what you need to change.

I can't tell you how many candidates I work with that have just been grossly misguided by online material and have prepared incorrectly. They don't stand a chance because they're listening to the wrong people/material!

Take a look at the following article…if you weren't aware of these mindsets then you were probably preparing incorrectly!

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case

(edited)

Hi there, 

Sorry to hear about your unsuccessful intentions. It is true, that MBB do hire excellent candidates but many things influence if you crack in or not. Even not good students can get it, as well the other way round. Successful candidates are smart, result-oriented, communicate well, are structured, are natural leaders and much more. It is a combo. It is hard to judge why you didn't get in without knowing you or the context or how did you prepared for the process, but I would recommend hiring a coach to do a "diagnostic" and give you honest feedback.  I would be happy to do so, please feel free to reach out directly. 

Lucie

Was this answer helpful?

Consulting is not just about smartness and IQ. It is about how you solve the cases that come with the right practice and techniques. There are 2 factors in everything: nature (which you said smartness) and nurture (practicing and training). It might be you are not practicing in the right way (e.g., don't know how to structure the problem, how to communicate, how to make a conclusion). My suggestion to you is to practice with experienced people, get a coach and find a playbook. The fact that you got an interviewee shows that you are smart enough for consulting, your technique is not right, learn the technique!!

Sorry to hear you weren't successful but please don't read too much into it! 

Getting into MBB is an incredibly competitive enterprise and A LOT of VERY SMART people don't even make it to the 1st interview round. Is it fair? Absolutely not, but that's just how the world works.

In your case, you actually made it to the final round in one MBB, which puts you in a very high percentile of “smart people” (for lack of a better term). Not sure whether they told you what the reasons for the rejection were but it could have just been a Partner having a bad day. Again, it wouldn't be fair, but it may well be.

Considering how far you got in the process, you likely have what it takes to thrive in similar jobs and have a high end career outside MBB, which is absolutely possible.

Don't beat yourself up about it! Pick yourself up and pursue the next goal! Best of luck!

These top consulting firms have plenty of very good candidates to choose from, so they have to be picky just like everything else in life where demand/supply forces are not in balance. 

Having said this, there is always a war for talent going on between Consulting firms, as people have options these days and will not suffer beyond a certain point. But overall, still competition is fierce.

This is not specific to you so dont take it personally. Yes, of course you need to have good grades, CV, cover letter and other aspects, but there needs to be a mutual FIT with Consulting and Consulting firms otherwise your efforts will be futile. A lot of these skills & experience can be learnt over time to get into Consulting, so not necessarily everyone is born with these skills. People also get into Consulting from diverse backgrounds- doctors, army veterans, etc. So, you need to savvy about this. Consulting is not for everyone and is not the only career out there. 

Please have a look at this article for more guidance on this- preplounge.com/en/articles/how-do-i-know-which-career-is-right-for-me 

Dear candidate,

most important is that you find something that you are happy with as a career and if you believe strongly that consulting is for you, then do not feel discouraged, stick to it. Simply learn from the experience and broaden your search, so apply to many more firms so you also have the statistics working for you. The interviews are so competitive, not all great candidates can pass. Having made it to the final round already means that you have done well in many interviews so see it actualls as having come far. Maybe you need to interview with 10 firms before you land an offer, but stick to it. You will find your way. I just recommend always investing a bit in prep to grow between interviews, so check what you can improve and then reapply to other firms. Best of luck