All questions tagged offer - Consulting Q&A - PrepLounge.com

Hi Ibrahim,

First of all, congrats on the offers! Definitely a good problem to have in terms of deciding where to go.

As far as securing an offer goes, there's three things that I think you should account for during your internship.

1) Mistakes are inevitable throughout the summer. The main thing you'll be looking to do is avoid making big mistakes and avoid repeating the same mistakes. The expectations for your internship aren't for you to come in and save the company (if you do, then that's great) but rather for them to get to see you in a team and client environment in order to assess your performance and potential growth.

2) Building on my first point, consulting is a people-driven job and, because of this, a significant portion of your evaluation will come down to your fit with the firm. This doesn't mean networking non-stop; instead, you need demonstrate your ability to be a strong follower, leader, and client-facing intern who will not crack under pressure. At the same time, it helps if you are able to bond with your peers, client team, and overall office during your stay. In short, the team wants to determine if they can see you working with them for the long-haul.

3) Lastly, and many will probably say this to you, attention to detail is key. As mentioned in the first point, you need to minimize the impact of your mistakes as well as the frequency of mistakes you make. Treat each draft deck, slide, research paper, spreadsheet, etc. as a final version. By doing this, you'll provide a higher standard to your work which will speak volumes of you as a professional.

If something is unclear to you about any assignment, ask right away and never leave margin for error. Whenever you have time for more work, ask how you can help your team. If there isn't enough work or if you're interested in other initiatives / tasks, reach out to others within your network. It's things like these that make a difference.

Hopefully this helps and best of luck with your internship. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Best,

Carlos

Hi,

First of all congrats on the offer. Answering your questions:

1. I've only heard about similar cases with Bain. Well, it happens. I would not worry that much about the career slow down - McKinsey will bring you the fastest career you could have imagined. If you are concerned about the internship - I personally recommend applying to the other MBB companies since you have 6-9 months anyway. Chances are high you can get a better role there
2. As for the business acumen, here are some thoughts:

Business Acumen is actually about building proper industry and functional knowledge.

Focus on the most common industries in the following priority (sorted by probability of geting a case): 1-retail and CPG; 2-airlines; 3-Telecom; 4-banking; 5-natural resources; 6-tech

There are several sources of information that will help you develop the business sense:

1) Cases - you simply solve 50-70 cases and get a broad knowledge of different industries, common pitfalls and questions. The key here - find good partners who already had case interviews with MBB companies

2) Company reports, equity reports, IB roadshow docs - usually have a good overview of company and industries.

3) HBS cases - quite useful, but not sure if lot's of them available publically. Probably worth buying

4) Industry Books - one good book about airlines with numbers and industry analysis can give you all needed industry knowledge

5) News, Industry blogs

For each industry, you should understand:

• Revenue streams
• Cost structure
• Margins
• Key performance indicators
• Key revenue drivers
• Industry trends

I strongly recommend drawing the typical structures for each industry - profitability, value chain, etc

Then I will switch to getting functional knowledge:

• Marketing (Brand and trade marketing tools, etc)
• Supply chain (Ops metrics like cycle time and throughput time, distribution and delivery specifics, etc)
• Operations (Process optimization basics)
• Finance (Very basic Finance and Valuation)

Good Luck

Hi Anonymous,

No worries at all - act professionally and you will be able to run the recruiting process again. MBB are eager to attract exceptional candidates and as you mature your experience in other MBB firms your profile might become even more interesting for them in the outlook of a second application.

However, only remark I do - which I have seen candidates doing sometimes - do not ACCEPT an offer (maybe because you wanna buy you time e.g when you are are still waiting for other offers or to complete other firms recruiting processes) and then decline. This is seen as highly unprofessional. Rather negotiate to have more time to give an answer.

Best
Riccardo

Dear A,

My congratulations to your offer!

I would porpose you just to take your time for holidays, time with friends and family. Consulting it's not an easy race.

Best,
André

Hey anonymous,

No, it's definitely not normal for any location to take so long to communicate the final results (it may take 1-2 days; in some exceptional situations a bit longer, but definitely not 2+ weeks). And, yes, regardless of the outcome, they will always communicate it!

Thus, I would recommend you to send them a very polite follow up email asking if they have a date on when they will communicate it to you (do not ask directly why didn't they say anything yet or if you have got an offer or not).

PS: despite not being a normal situation... this happened to me too. I just got an interview 2 or 3 weeks after the final interview, and at the time the interviewer told me that he had completely forgotten to call to tell me that I passed. 10 years latter this gives a funny story to tell :D

Best

Bruno

Hi Anonymous,

as mentioned by others, the main thing you can negotiate is your entry level in the firm (eg Senior Associate with 12 months to Consultant vs 6 months to Consultant). It would be very difficult to negotiate a different standard salary for a fixed seniority level, as this would create inequality in the firm. On the other hand, if you can negotiate a higher initial entry level, this should bring a higher salary or faster promotion track without creating imbalance in the company, thus would be feasible.

You can definitely try to negotiate your entry level in the firm. The degree of negotiation depends obviously on how valuable you can be for the company (usually the more senior, the more valuable). In any case, you should be aware that with a higher level, expectations on your performance will also be higher.

Best,

Francesco

Hi!

Are you referring to MBB? If yes, then the answer is no - there is absolutely no difference. The interviews are identical. The offer letter will differ however, since a junior associate is a slightly more senior position then a BA (at McKinsey!).

Moreover, you have to understand that "knowledge" is not tested in MBB intervews! What they are testing is your intrinsic ability to think in a sharp and structured way, clearly articulate this thinking, execute the corresponding analyses, and derive recommendations for the client. All of this doew not require any "knowledge" per se, just a set of capabilities. And this is what MBB are testing for - capabilities!

Cheers, Sidi

Hi,

It's not completely unusual - it happens sometimes when:

• The firm is not sure about you
• Experienced hires for a specific roles (your case)

If you haven't received the offer yet, I think it still may be a final FIT interview with an industry Hub leader who will have to give his final word.

Thus prepare once again for FIT questions and Industry specific questions

Here are some general recommendations for video interviews:

1. First of all, check whether they are providing a conference room in a local office
2. If not - find a place with good internet speed and test it multiple times before the interview. Also, think of nice room / proper light for the video conference if you do it from home
3. You should be dressed the same as for the regular interview
4. Don't hesitate to ask clarifying questions if there are problems with connection or you were not able to hear something
5. Don't forget to look at the camera and smile - same as you do on a regular interview

Best

Congrats on the offer! Offer terms are standard and nothing to worry about. Room for negotiation is low and normally I suggest candidates not to bother because if you perform ahead of peers your comp and tenure will progress faster as well

Hello there,

There is nothing unprofessional about contacting a person who have put up their profile on a public domain such as LinkedIn. Reaching out through people from Linkedin is a completely acceptable way to expand your network and engage in professional matters as the platform is tailored to provide such functions.

What will determine whether the outreach is professional or not is the tone and delivery of your message. General best practices such as utilizing polite dictions and be respectful of their time / not being pushy works perfectly.

Another note, actively reaching out would actually showcase your strong interest towards the firm and let them know you are someone who will proactively pursue things, a desirable traits of a prospective candidate.

Hope it helps.

Kind regards,

Nathan

Hi Rami,

There is no easy way to do this, and it involves disappointing people that believed in you. I find that being honest is usually a safe bet. Be direct and to the point (like ripping a bandaid)

Something like -

I am terribly sorry to do this but I just accepted an offer from another company I was interviewing with. I find that I am a better fit with them given xx and yy and in the long run this would be a better option for me. I really appreciate all of the time spent with me on the process and I apologize about the last minute change of heart on my end but do hope you will understand.

All the best,

Udayan

Hi,

Definitely take a break! Also, I would concentrate on getting the right financial modeling skills and presenting your analysis in Power Point.

1) Financial modeling - the best course I know is Training The Street. Take Financial Modeling, Valuation, Maybe LBO. Also, learn pivot tables and the basic statistics tools

Excel and Financial modeling - the best course I know is Training The Street. Take Financial Modeling, Valuation, Maybe LBO. They have the amazing templates that you have to reproduce to be able to do that fast.

The key thing - throw away your mouse and put some tape on your touchpad. Do everything with your keyboard!

2) Power Point

• First, read "Say it with charts" and "Pyramid Principle".
• As a next step Google for MBB presentations on SlideShare and try to replicate them in PPT.
• Finally, take MBA some cases (HBS or any other) and try to derive the conclusions and put them on slides using MBB styles.

And finally - take a long vacation before starting your job;)

While in consulting focus on the following:

• Having a good DGL / career counselor, etc. (Each company has different names). This is a person who guides your development in the company, collects the feedbacks on you, and presents your case to a promotion committee. Make sure to have a person who is organized enough to collect the feedbacks in time, who is a nice person in general and who has enough authority in the company (i.e. Senior partner - the more power he has - the better)
• Choosing the project you work on smartly (i.e. collect the feedbacks on each and everyone prior to accepting the project)
• Perfect technical skills (Excel, PPT, Problem Solving)
• Good feedbacks on you from the client. Thus try to make friends with your clients (Both senior and non-senior role. Even a bad feedback from a blue collar can ruin your career)
• Ability to manage your own standalone workstream with minimum supervision. TOP performers bring the end products that impress others
• Being proactive - helping the team with daily routine, scheduling, etc. Participating in the office initiatives
• Establishing relationships with your managers and partners. Ideally, you should have multiple senior partners to be excited about you and to support you)
• Being lucky!

Good Luck!

Hi Anonymous,

pushing back by a week will be very difficult, because, indeed, you will have induction sessions, basic training etc. scheduled together with your peers in most offices. What you could do though is to push back your start date until the next cohort starts. Depending on the office, this could be as soon as one month after your start date (in Germany for example, there are starting cohorts almost every month at McKinsey and BCG).

As always - just reach out to HR and ask!

Cheers, Sidi

Hi,

The answers for most of the questions would vary from office to office, practice to practice and by level of responsibiities. e.g. I know that the implementation and transformation practices are expectedly very busy and hiring new talent as well whereas S&M (sales and marketing), Strategy practices have slowed down. Managers and upwards, people are busy preparing proposals, manaing remote team-remore client situations which are difficult to handle.

Given the level at which you are entering, let me put my 2 cents basis a few conversations I have had with Associates and Analysts, some from North America offices and some from Europe offices.

- A lot of people have 'accepted' the fact that now a lot of projects will have to be executed without physically being at the site. Clients have also accepted that. Most of the consulting skills requirements will remain same or become tougher e.g. now Communication needs to be much clearer, crisper. Team work/team effectiveness needs to be taken to another height.

- Feedback metrics, appraisal metrics have not been changed yet, not sure if they would in near future

- For those who have been on client projects, the working hours have remained same or have increased, mostly due to communication inefficiencies - more time to agree intenally, client calendar issues, client busy handling firefights etc.

There was one article that spoke about how Mckinsey is handling this situation. It was published in April, a few things would have changed for better but it can give you few more pointers.

https://www.consultingpoint.com/news/2020/4/2/the-art-of-being-a-mckinsey-amp-co-consultant-during-lockdown

Hope this answer helps. Feel free to ping me in case of any clarification. I do take a session on 'how to be successful at MBB internships and convert them into the offer'. Happy to tell you more, in case you are interested.

Cheers,

GB

Hey there,

It doesn't matter whether the the offer is signed digitally or physically. Once you sign (regardless of format), you accept the offer.

If you really want to cancel it, here is what you should do:

• Wait for the 2nd offer to officially come in, so you have a real option
• Tell the 1st company politely and seek their understanding in pulling back
• Once you reach agreement with 1st company, then you cancel the 1st offer and after that you sign your 2nd offer

Before you do all these, do think carefully - is the difference between the 2 firms / offers big enough to worth such effort?

Best,

Emily

Hi,

The most important thing you need to understand is that consulting is a client business and client is always first. Here is my subjective view of what's needed to succeed on different levels of hierarchy. Pls take into account that it's the ideal state and getting these skills is a journey.

Analyst / associate level

• Having a good DGL / career counselor, etc. (Each company has different names). This is a person who guides your development in the company, collects the feedbacks on you, and presents your case to a promotion committee. Make sure to have a person who is organized enough to collect the feedbacks in time, who is a nice person in general and who has enough authority in the company (i.e. Senior partner - the more power he has - the better)
• Choosing the project you work on smartly (i.e. collect the feedbacks on each and everyone prior to accepting the project)
• Perfect technical skills (Excel, PPT, Problem Solving)
• Good feedbacks on you from the client. Thus try to make friends with your clients (Both senior and non-senior role. Even a bad feedback from a blue collar can ruin your career)
• Ability to manage your own standalone workstream with minimum supervision. TOP performers bring the end products that impress others
• Being proactive - helping the team with daily routine, scheduling, etc. Participating in the office initiatives
• Establishing relationships with your managers and partners. Ideally, you should have multiple senior partners to be excited about you and to support you)
• Being lucky!

Manager level

A lot of the above, plus:

• Having your client happy - this is the most important! If the client is happy - everything else will work
• Managing multiple partners who have different opinions. Since partners have a busy schedule it becomes very tricky to synchronize them and to align the viewpoints
• Good feedbacks from your team - having a happy team is important. Unfortunately, sometimes it's a trade-off between having your client and partner happy
• Telling about your success on projects to others - I'm personally not a fan of this kind of selling, but I know many people who made a career using this skill

Principal level

A lot from the above, plus:

• Having multiple clients happy
• Having a long list of partners supporting you (More than 10)
• Contributions to the development of the company (Knowledge, office ops, etc)
• Selling the projects. If you manage to sell to existing clients or even bring the new clients - you are the champion.

Partner level

A lot of the above, plus:

• Sales, sales, sales

Best,

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations...you have an enviable choice in front of you (not many people get even this far)!

Second, I recommend the following:

1. Ask OW if you could delay signing by a month - confirm that if they can't you're happy to sign (make sure 100% they won't pull the offer from you)
2. #1 has a low chance of success, so if it fails, sign the offer
3. Interview with BCG + McK
4. If you get an offer, then re-evaluate and make a decision as to whether you'd like to leave (you may realize you love OW and don't want to go, who knows!)

Hi,

There is no need to worry, it’s a typical situation in current circumstances. Just wait and invest your time in self development, etc. The majority of consulting firms have postponed many offers.

Best,

Anton

Hi,

The most important thing you need to understand is that consulting is a client business and client is always first. Here is my subjective view of what's needed to succeed at the start levels. Pls take into account that it's the ideal state and getting these skills is a journey.

Analyst / associate level

• Having a good DGL / career counselor, etc. (Each company has different names). This is a person who guides your development in the company, collects the feedbacks on you, and presents your case to a promotion committee. Make sure to have a person who is organized enough to collect the feedbacks in time, who is a nice person in general and who has enough authority in the company (i.e. Senior partner - the more power he has - the better)
• Choosing the project you work on smartly (i.e. collect the feedbacks on each and everyone prior to accepting the project)
• Technical skills (Excel, PPT) should be mastered before starting the job
• Good feedbacks on you from the client. Thus try to make friends with your clients (Both senior and non-senior role. Even a bad feedback from a blue collar can ruin your career)
• Being proactive - helping the team with daily routine, scheduling, etc. Participating in the office initiatives
• Establishing relationships with your managers and partners. Ideally, you should have multiple senior partners to be excited about you and to support you)

Best

Dear A ,

My congratulation to your other offer and to successful passing McKinsey interviews. I'm pretty sure, they will get back to you soon. Otherwise, I would recommend you to follow-up with them next week.

Regarding the next steps. McKinsey might take so long, because with digital assessment they have multiple candidates in the pipeline, and they always want to be sure that they have selected the best candidates. So, they still might have time to interview your other peers to figure out, whether you are the best in your peer group, and whether they should take you.

Hopefully you are, and they will get back to you soon.

Good luck,
André