Consulting Q&A - Ask questions around your career in our consulting forum

Hi there,

Getting into an MBB would definitely enable you acquire some valuable business skills. It will also expose you to numerous clients and industries. I feel like you will need to make a choice between the following:

1. Staying in your comfort zone, being recognized as expert in the field, getting into Senior positions, managing teams and working regular hours, etc.
2. Starting a new career, acquiring new skills & competing with colleagues who are much younger than you, working long hours, etc.

I think it all depends on your mid & long-term career plans (5-10 years). Staying in Amazon would help you get a niche expertise in Supply Chain, and going for MBB would expose you to how business is done in the top management and would prepare you for leadership roles in the future.

This is not an easy decision to make, but ultimately you will have to take many elements into consideration (intensity of work, seniority of the position, expertise, etc.)

Happy to discuss this further if needed.

All the best,

Mehdi

Hi Anonymous,

As you can imagine, partners are extremely busy and honestly speaking potential non-senior hires are rarely on the top of my to-do list.

Especially emails are easy to ignore or move into a to-do-sometime-later-if-I-get-bored-Sunday-afternoon folder.

I'd suggest still waiting for 2 weeks after your last inquiry and afterwards just grab the phone and call the guy (that really means calling, not sending another email).

Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

Hi,
it's a gamified test for which different environments are been developed. It's pretty easy and no preparation is needed: only pay attention to time and instructions. It's usually divided into 2 games and you have 1h to complete both of them (you can decide when passing to the next game).
- In the first one you are going to create a balanced ecosystem based on the rules of the environment you choose (e.g. in a mountain scenario you fix a point with certain values of elevation, humidity, wind, ... and then you have to choose animals and plants that can survive each other and in the environment).
- In the second game, you have to defend an object (usually a plant) from the enemies (usually rodents) with the help of slowers (barriers) or killers (predators). I developed some good strategies to handle it, feel free to text me.

Hope it helps,
Antonello

Dear A,

Usually ban period lasts 12-18 months, but you can check your specific situation with HR.

For the next time I would strongly recommend you to apply with referral and significantly improved CV.

If you need any further help or advice, feel free to reach out.

Best,

André

Hi there,

Some BCG offices started sending interview invitations, I am coaching a few individuals who are having a first round on the first week of October. This concerns some European, Middle Eastern and African offices.

I hope this helps!

Mehdi

Hi I will write this list from the top of my head, some firms might be missing, especially smaller one where you might argue they are Tier 3.

Tier 2:

• Oliver Wyman
• Roland Berger
• Kearney
• Strategy&

Tier 3:

• ZEB
• Simon Kucher
• Horvath
• Porsche Consulting
• Accenture Strategy + Big 4 strategy arms (although they are getting more and more integrated)

This is one of the most classic questions: Make sure you have this answer prepared!

During your answer make sure you:

1) Start with a quick summary of the context/challenge and what ended up happening

2) Highlight not just the challenge, but what the anticipacted consequence would have been

3) Make sure you took action AND articulate why you did it (i.e. the logic)

4) Finish with a positive end, with tangible results (i.e. we delivered on-time and with glowing reviews)

Hi,

I suggest that you should reach out to local recruiters via LinkedIn and ask them directly. That’s the best way!

I have seen people being invited for the interviews in Asia.

Good luck,

Anton

It could, if your profile makes sense for that. E.g. focusing on these sectors as a consultant, getting to the right tenure within consulting (associate partner or partner), building your network to PE funds that focus on this. Then you could end up in a executive position in e.g. a portfolio company or small/mid-size company.

Hi A,

No, all the companies are still hiring, but their intake is very much reduced.

Best,
André

Hi Anonymous,

Yes, it's still affected and based on current developments there is still very limited visibility concerning consulting budgets and projects for next year (as a main driver for demand/new hires).

Still less people are hired nowadays and the bar to secure an offer is even higher than ever before I'd say - in-depth prep is therefore a must if you take this seriously.

Waiting for a couple of months is like poaching with a stick in the dark - I'd say it's mostly speculation if situation will significantly change in a couple of months timeframe.

Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

Dear Mehrasa,

Almost every consultant have a referral program, but they are vey careful with that and wouldn't recommend any person. Your documents needs to be polished and presentable for consulting.

First I would recommend you to build your own network, commucate with people, who potentially may help you and make nice communications with them.

If you need any further help or advice with networking, feel free to reach me out.

Best,
André

Hi Laura!

Actually, it's impossible to combine. For that you have to take off for 1-2 years.

Best,
André

Hi Matthias!

This happens quite often. And the simple, but admittedly somewhat frustrating answer is: don't use a framework at all! Using pre-conceived buckets/topic lists/focus areas will always expose you to an immense risk of missing out crucial elements.

The key to become independent of this framework-mentality is to REVERSE YOUR THINKING. Instead of trying to outline all possible areas that could be relevant (an endeavor which is by the way impossible to achieve!), start your thinking from the precise question at hand! Then define, what needs to be true to answer this question in one way or another? And then work out, how you can test as clearly as possible, whether it is true or not. The areas to look into are then just a corollary of this logic. There are a couple of principles that you need to understand and internalize in order to build the skill to create such logic-based structures, but at the end of the day, this is how senior leaders at top consultancies think! (surprise surprise: they don't think in bucket frameworks ;)).

It will take some time to leave behind the mantra of the usual case preparation books - but it forms the base to make you a far stronger candidate than >95% of all candidates who rely on these usual books.

Cheers & all the best,

Sidi

Hi Chris!

No, it is not easier. And if your relative is in a very Senior position, it might become even impossible for you to join! -->oOne of my mentees from last year is the son of a Senior Partner at McKinsey, and therefore he could not apply at the Firm (at least not in the same geography). So we worked together to bring him into BCG, where he has started working earlier this year.

Cheers, Sidi

Hi Charlotte,

Mostly there are 2 reasons behind that question:

1. Administrative: How does your timeline of interviews go along with that specific interview you are just having? Is there a strong mismatch and risk you won't be available anymore on the job market once the current interview process is finished?
2. Evaluation-wise: If a candidate tells me he only applies for this one specific firm and is not interested in any other competing consulting firm at all, it's almost a red flag. Either the candidate is laying straight into my face, or not having structured his application process well and puts all eggs in one basket. Both option aren't very clever, honestly.

Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

Hi there,

The norm is 1-2 business days later, but it can go up to 1 week. If you do not hear from them by then, grab your phone and get in touch with HR.

All the best,

Mehdi

Hi there,

Yes they are recruiting in the region and more precisely in small offices (Doha, Riyadh and Kuwait)!

Let me know if you have any other question!

All the best,

Mehdi