All questions tagged recruiting event - Consulting Q&A - PrepLounge.com

Hi Anonymous,

in terms of how consulting firms decide to invite for events, people invited have the potential to be invited for interviews and for general info sessions are usually screened in a similar way. However, there is not necessary 1 to 1 correlation between invitations for events and invitations for interviews.

In terms of how to best approach the event, assuming your goal is to receive an interview invitation, these events are a good opportunity to create a strong connection with current consultants for further support in the application process. To do so, you should prepare good questions, transform the dialogues in conversations and at the end of the event ask the consultants whether you could reach out later for further questions. If they say yes you can then send a thank-you note and, so far you made a good impression, chances are you could later transform the connection into a referral at the right moment

The key things I would recommend to prepare in advance are the following:

• Read about the firm and the consulting industry. Try to understand recent development – this will ensure you can ask credible questions and stand out
• Learn as much as possible about the consultants who will participate in the event, if available. In this way, you will be able to connect more easily.
• Be prepared on company-related fit questions. You won’t be formally interviewed during these events, but you want to leave a positive impression in an informal conversation with consultants. At the bare minimum, you should
  • have a clear idea of why you want to become a consultant
  • why you want to join that MBB
  • what you can bring to that company and
  • have a clear, 5-lines pitch of who you are as introduction.
• Prepare your own questions to ask. Relevant questions are a great way to show your interest in the company and get additional points. In the first reply at the following post you can find some information on the ideal type of questions to ask:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/open-house-at-bcg-311

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi,

Based on my experience with recruiting at McKinsey, events are a great place to network with the consultants at the firm. We were asked to write down the names of candidates that we found promising or sometimes even to pitch the firm to candidates that were already considered strong. I would encourage you to make a strong effort talking to people and also try to speak to some of the more senior people at the event, their recommendations matter a lot.

It is likely that if you connect with the consultants there that they will inform HR and any recruiting leads about you, which gives you a better shot at being invited back. You would still have to meet all of the other criteria such as being from a top school, having a strong GPA etc.

Hope that helps,

Udayan

If the on-campus event is invitation-only and is limited to 60-80 people, I agree with other suggestion: you have been flagged as high potential and you shouldn’t be worried about impressing them.

If instead this is an event open to anyone with a first-come first-served basis in terms of registration or registration open only to consulting club member, then I would instead suggest to try to have have an intelligent conversation with a few (2-3) McKinsey folks so that they remember (positively) your name.

Hope it helps,

Andrea

In US at recruiting events consulting staff is asked to write impressions about candidates they interacted with during the event itself. Main categories feedback is collected around are:

• Executive presence
• Verbal communication skills
• Interest in consulting
• Interest in firm (cross offers, cross processes, etc)
• Fit with company
• Fit with office
• Preparedness

All personal data is collected through the application/registration/resume you send/give the company.

Treat recruiting events as real pre-screens that can help you get an interview or can lower your probabilities to get one.

Hope it helps,

Andrea