Hi Vincent,

It depends on your current level. Many people need 100+ hours when they start from zero to prepare, so 4 weeks would be the safest option out of those you listed.

In terms of how to prepare, I recommend the following:

1. Define a calendar for your preparation. Identify how many hours you have before the interview 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. If you are very new to case interviews, you may want to postpone it since it is in one week.
2. 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, as they are not good enough nowadays.
3. 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. Try to read at least a new case per day – in this way you will absorb better the information with constant learning.
4. 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 and the case part. The latter should also cover math and graph analysis.
5. Before the interviews, 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.

If you want to spend few hours only instead of 100+ and cover everything mentioned above, I developed a program precisely for that. Plus, I can share with you 30+ real questions asked at BCG in Germany specifically during interviews.

You can click on the following link to learn more:

https://u.preplounge.com/63phuq

Please feel free to PM me if you need more information.

Best,

Francesco

Hi Vincent,

I strongly recommend you take the latest interview date possible.

1 month is about the minimum comfortable amount of time I recommend people give themselves to prepare. There is a lot to learn.

To maximize your odds, hire a coach immediatedly! You don't need to commit to a ton of sessions. Simply get that initial session to get you setup right (preparation plan, mindset foundations, casing intro, etc.)

Good luck and feel free to reach out for help!