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What sources of information do consultants use on the job to get insights on a certain sector/topic?

consulting on the job
New answer on May 11, 2021
8 Answers
1.1 k Views
Anonymous A asked on May 10, 2021

Hi there, currently in the middle of my interviewing process for consulting entry position. I was just wondering, which sources of information do consultants in MBB and tier-2 (or any other) firm use on the job to gain insights on industry trends and to really become an expert on a certain topic in a short amount of time? Do they have large internal databases or what are consultants' go-to databases/homepages?

Thanks in advance! :)

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Francesco
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replied on May 10, 2021
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.000+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ InterviewOffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi there,

This is what I personally used while at BCG:

  1. Internal research document. You will have access to a lot of information created by the knowledge team.
  2. Internal experts. You will be able to talk with members of the research team or consultants that are experts in that particular field.
  3. External experts. You will be able to talk with experts from expert network companies such as GLG.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

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Adi
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updated an answer on May 10, 2021
Accenture, Deloitte | Precision Case Prep | Experienced Interviewer & Career Coach | 15 years professional experience

Generally big firms or consulting firms who invest well in tranining & infrastructure offer following resources:

  • Internal knowledge database of project work, deliverables, papers, thought leadership etc
  • Dedicated research teams
  • Access to HBR, Factiva, Bloomberg, Gartner and other sources- obviously access to one or more of these resources will depend on the firm
  • Internal training, webinars, knowledge sharing sessions, brown bags etc
  • External/Industry events, conferences, webinars etc
  • Access to experts in the firm to learn from, informally

(edited)

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Anonymous B on May 11, 2021

tks! could you comment on the quality of ACN's internal knowledge documents?

Florian
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replied on May 10, 2021
Highest-rated McKinsey coach (ratings, offers, sessions) | 500+ offers | Author of The 1% & Consulting Career Secrets

Hey there,

McK has a network of

  • dedicated experts to support you on the job
  • consultants you can call based on their project experience
  • whole research and analytics departments
  • an internal database of knowledge documents
  • internal statistics and other databases
  • access to many external databases

If nothing can be found internally, there are 3rd party companies such as GLG or AlphaSights that you can reach out to organize interviews with external experts (usually former C-levels within the industry of your project).

Cheers,

Florian

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Raj
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replied on May 11, 2021
FREE 15MIN CONSULTATION | #1 Strategy& / OW coach | >70 5* reviews |90% offers ⇨ prep-success.super.site | MENA, DE, UK

There is no perfect answer for this. In reality, as a consultant I would use some combination of:

  • External market research reports
  • Internal company investor relations presentations
  • Primary customer surveys
  • Expert network interviews
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Antonello
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replied on May 11, 2021
McKinsey | NASA | top 10 FT MBA professor for consulting interviews | 6+ years of coaching

Hi, they are going to use internal sources (knowledge center, experts from other offices, senior leader in the team), and external (client database, public data, external experts)

Best,
Antonello

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Clara
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replied on May 11, 2021
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

Good question!

I would say the main sources are:

  • Internal:
    • Knowledge sharing platforms
    • Internal experts
    • Internal R&I deparment (at least in McK)
  • External
    • Reseach companies (& expert interviews)
    • Public sources (reports, investors analysis, etc.)

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

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Ian
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replied on May 10, 2021
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

Francesco said it best.

I.e. you have written material and experts. And those are both internal and external.

Personally, I found internal written material and internal+external experts to be the most useful.

The only problem is, external expert conversations are normally short and few between. They're normally used to kick off a project. That said, each 1 hour external expert convo was incredible. In an hour I was able to learn so much about the LNG industry and how it works. In a seperate conversation I was able to learn about the levels of train automation and security and how it's all regulated differently worldwide.

In sum: Get ready to learn!

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Henning
Expert
replied on May 10, 2021
Bain | passed >15 MBB interviews as a candidate

I'd structure it into Primary and Secondary sources, some examples

  • Primary
    • External experts (through expert networks)
    • Customer or consumer surveys
    • Internal experts (partners or expert partners that know the sector)
    • Client data of or sorts
  • Secondary
    • Industry studies (usually solf dfor a couple k USD)
    • Publicly available data
    • Internal benchmark data bases

I'm sure there are dozens more, but those are the most important ones I can think of. Hope this helps.

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