Hi there,

Congrats on your offers! That's not a small thing, and they all sound great!

If you're 100% sure of aiming at MBB, go 3-2-1.

And still, if you can choose something you are really interested in, don't throw away this option just because it doesn't promise you MBB - nothing can really promise you a place at MBB.

Do you need any other help?

GB

Hello!

You need to touch base and network with the companies directly.

A priori, I believe that none of those sponsor -in MIT, for instance, the only sponsored people come form consulting, mostly MBB-.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hi A,

I am currently still in my MBA after my time at Bain. Here are some thoughts. I decided against INSEAD and a European MBA for specific reasons - I think a top-10 US MBA is the way to go - you can work then wherever you want globally and get the biggest bang for your buck in terms of reputation and network. Wont share them all here since this is a sensitive topic for some people, feel free to DM me.

INSEAD is short, painful, direct, offers good chances. However, since it is so short, you have no margin for error. If you need more time than the average person or if you simply lose time by prepping inefficiently etc this may be a huge problem. This is why INSEAD was not an option for me - simply too short. Most people forget that the CV gets you into the door, but you also need maturity and advanced professional and personal skills. This takes time. No shortcuts. INSEAD has techniques to mitigate that but just understand you are also competing against people who have had more time potentially to prep for this stuff and actually had time to push their CV and personal development in other directions too given the almost 3 times longer programs.

LBS is great obviously in Europe - no problems whatsoever with the reputation. Henning is right, their focus is likely more on London.Why? Not because they force you to apply to jobs in London but most importantly because their network allows you to probably attend recruiting events ON CAMPUS. Hence, you would need to network with and apply for other offices on the continent or overseas. However, the reputational effect might diminish given that every region has their preferred target schools and international mixing starts too (i.e. esp. ppl from US MBA programs being your competitors).

There are other great schools too you should check out. One would certainly be IESE in Barcelona. If LBS is an option for you, you could also consider an US MBA. Prime chances to get into MBB in the US and anywhere else on the globe.

Overall - do not worry about the opportunity costs. If money is an issue do not do a MBA. Even if you attend the most expensive 2 yr full-time programs in the US, the amount of money you can expect afterwards as well as the network you will be exposed to your whole life make any calculation highly NET POSITIVE in terms of RETURN ON EQUITY or RETURN ON CAPITAL. Dont forget that most top US schools offer VERY GENEROUS scholarships (I received one too and it even surpassed the support I would have received from Bain).

DM me if you d like to have a more private conversation.

Best,
Denis

Hi,

They are hiring, however they decided to provide offers to absolutely all interns this year. Thus the demand for Associates is very low and the chances of being invited for an interview are much lower than usual.

Best

Hi Anonymous,

Being in a target school alone does by far not guarantee you passing the CV screening and securing your interview slot.

Putting together a consulting resume is not a simple task - summarizing your lifetime of experience and achievements typically on a one-page document is actually much harder than it looks like. Especially since you need to write it in a way what the firm needs to see to give you a pass, and not what you want to say. So putting together a strong resume is definitely a difficult task and might be one component why you did not pass resume screening this time (and yes, resume reading from interviewer's side is more like an art than science - different interviewer's might come to different results..).

Nevertheless, application level seems to be at least the same as of previous years, but due to very limited visibility concerning the next year's consulting budgets and projects intake is definitely lower than previously.

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

Robert

Hi Laura!

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

Best,
André

Hi, I confirm Glassdoor is the most updated resources on the internet about it

Best

Antonello

You would be viewed as an experienced hire nonetheless. Given that you went to a target school, the best way forward for you would be to reach out to alums that are senior (ideally partners) at the firms you are targeting and try and obtain a referral that way.

You will join as an Associate (same level as post MBA) but you can be considered for quicker promotions if you are a strong performer.

All the best,

Udayan

It's definitely hard! And it's hard in so many ways

I know someon who got interviews to everywhere they applied (every major consultancy...around 12 interviews) BUT failed their first 11 interviews!

I also know someone who sat by and watched as everyone received interview invitations, only to receive a single interview invite with one of the final notifiers (a top-ranked tier 2). They nailed the only interview they got!

Keep pushing, keep hustling, learn from your mistakes and take everything in stride. The greatest accomplishments come from temporary defeat :)

Hi,

It's hard to say without knowing your University. But in most of the cases MBA is different in the following:

• Learning method - Mostly case method with little to no lectures
• Electives - they are totally different from BBA
• Diversity - lots of internationals
• Networking - your classmates already have 3-5 years of work experience and can contribute the discussion
• Recruiting activities - totally different

Best

Hi Justin,

the truth is that it does not make any significant difference whether you go for McGill or HEC. MBB and other big players shall visit both schools for recruiting sessions with candidates during the academic year.

What is way more important - you overall profile, achievements, academic notes and your ability to crack the case during the interview. So practice, practice, practice!

Good luck,

André

Hi there,

to assess which MBA is the right choice in terms of your goals, I would recommend to first check the current alumni of the target MBAs you are considering on LinkedIn and see where they are working now. I would then select those MBAs with the highest number of people in your target firms. Finally, I would try to organize a call with some alumni to ask information on how they found the application process given the brand of the MBA.

Hope this helps,
Francesco

Hi Saba,

I would recommend the following steps to organize your preparation:

1. Identify the companies interesting for you. Many people are interested mainly in MBB, you can start defining the exact list of companies interesting for you
2. Define a calendar for your preparation. Check if there is any deadline for the applications. Then identify how many hours you have before that and allocate a time slot for preparation in your calendar for each day, working on the points below. Many people need 100+ hours to be ready before the interview so you can keep that as a benchmark
3. Read Case In Point or Case Interview Secrets for a general understanding of what a consulting interview is. Don’t focus on the structures proposed in the books though, as they are not good enough nowadays.
4. Start reading good MBA Consulting Handbooks – you can find several for free online (Insead is a good one to start). Read the cases and try to apply your structure to solve them. Whenever you see there is something missing, upgrade your structure with the new insides. PrepLounge also has a Case Library that you can use. Handbooks usually don’t have a good initial structure, but are useful to develop creativity. Try to read at least a new case per day – in this way you will absorb better the information with constant learning.
5. After the first 5-10 cases in books/handbooks and basic theory, start to practice live. PrepLounge can be helpful to connect with other candidates for that. There is a relevant part of the interview score that is based on your communication, which you cannot practice at all if you read cases only. Keep track of your mistakes and see if you repeat them. If so, try to identify the source of the mistake (feedback of experienced partners would be particularly useful for this). Be sure to focus on both the behavioural part and the case part. The case part should also cover market sizing, mental math and graph analysis.
6. Before your application, be sure to review your CV and Cover, so that they are in the required format for a consulting application
7. At least three weeks before the application deadline, start networking to find referrals for your target companies. You can find some tips on how to do that here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hey-everyonehope-all-is-well-3176
8. Once you feel you are not improving anymore, if you have a tight time constraint or if you want a realistic assessment of your level, consider using support from experts to strengthen your performance
9. Before the interview, be sure to prepare your questions for the interviewer –great way to show you prepared in advance and to connect with the interviewer for a good final impression.

In terms of the application: given what you mentioned you will probably have to apply for a post-MBA position (Associate at McK/ Consultant at BCG), unless you have experience that you can leverage for a specific practice.

Best,

Francesco

Typically, such rounds will have 2 aspects -

1. Behavioral / FIt questions
2. You asking them questions about the firm

You need to be prepared for both. I think you have #2 above covered, but i would suggest you cover #1 as well. I am sharing below a list of most common fit questions i have observed across multiple interviews candidates i have coached have had at tier 2 consulting firms. This is not comprehensive, but is a minimum list of must prepare questions. You should leverage the STAR framework (publicly available) to prepare relevant stories for these questions.

• Tell me about yourself/ Walk me through your resume
• Why tier-2 consulting firm over MBBs
• Tell me about a time you led a team (without authority)
• Tell me about a time you led a team through adversity
• Tell me about a time you handled conflict at work
• Tell me about a time when there was a difficult personality on a team you led
• Tell me about a time you had to convince someone senior in the organization.
• Share your previous experience of working in an unstructured environment and how did you manage to work?
• What achievement are you most proud of
• What would your friends and colleagues say about your strengths and weaknesses?
• Tell me about a time you failed

Was this helpful?

Hi there,

Could you clarify if you're asking about the experienced hire path for obtain an interview OR during the interviews?

To obtain an interview, you can improve your odds by making sure you have a top-tier resume and have networked (ideally getting a referral)

In regards to networking tips:

a) Reach out to people in your network

b) Reach out to people once removed from your network

c) Reach out to people with a similar backgorund to you (i.e. same alma mater, same historically underrepresented demographic i.e. gender, orientation, ethnicity, etc., same career switch, etc.)

d) Tailor a message to them specifically both showing interest in them and their journey and demonstrating that you have done your research and could be a valuable hire

e) Play "tag" across calls you get so that you can work your way towards the company/office/role you want

f) Never directly ask for a referral, but "hint" at needing one (this is nuanced and important...happy to talk through wording)

In terms of experienced hire interviews

Take a look at the following prior Q&As:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/regarding-experienced-hire-final-interviews-7681

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/industry-knowledge-required-in-interview-experienced-hire-6096

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/mckinsey-round-1-experienced-hire-8012

Hello!

No, it does not mean you are rejected. After interviews, they always come back with an answer.

Usually is advisable to wait arround a week before reaching to HR. However, there were holidays last week, so I would wait a bit longer in your case

Hope it helps!

Best,

Clara

Hi there,

I agree that’s not usual and signals bad management of the recruiting pipeline. On the other hand (i) in this particular period many consulting companies are struggling to match demand and supply and (ii) at least they have been honest – which is not a bad thing at all.

My recommendation is: assume this offer will never materialize. Continue the preparation for the other firms and do your best there. Then if you land an offer or anyway after a few months you can drop a message and check if things are going better from their side. But would not put hopes in this particular firm given their feedback.

Best,

Francesco

Hello!

As someone with an MBA, I would never advise you to do one straight after Uni. It does not make any sense, and you will see that all top programs (IVY league, European tops as INSEAD, etc.) demand at least two years of working experience.

Furthermore, it´s fundamental to make the most out of it at a personal level.

Finally, regarding your question, MBB won´t take you as an associate after an MBA in Stern. I am 100% sure about that.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hi,

Based on your post, I think it is absolutely possible for you to break into consulting.

As someone said in the forum, check whether there are some legal (e.g. visa) factors that might prevent you from getting interviews with the consultancies.

Apart from this you should try to network properly, find more about the companies that interest you, possibly leveraging the network of professionals of your MBA school. In the meantime, you should keep preparing for business cases, fit interview, etc.

Don't hesitate to reach out to me to explore how to network effectively and how to become a top performer in consulting interviews.

Best,

Antonello

Hello!

Based on what I know of two industry companies and one consulting firm, payback is usually per time. For instance, if you study for two years, you're expected to stay in the company for two years after to pay back all your dues.

Should you choose to leave before that, then companies/firms would most likely do one of three things:

• Ask you to pay back what's left of the amount immediately (they'll take as much as needed from your severance, paid leaves, etc. before your resignation).
• Set up a payback plan (i.e. installments).
• Mix between first and second points above.

In very big companies, however, entities responsible of academic development financial lags will turn a blind eye due to the tedious and convoluted legal procedure taking place on their end, though that is a rarity.