PrepLounge Success Stories: Real Candidates Share Their Experiences

At PrepLounge, your success is our success. Our mission is to help you get your dream job in consulting, and we celebrate each offer our members receive. So far, we have helped thousands of candidates on their journey into consulting by offering everything needed for the case practice. With our help, you can get connected, practice cases, and sharpen your consulting skills with the best candidates and largest community worldwide. Our experience and the experiences of our members have shown that practice does make perfect and leads to success!

We believe in our community spirit, the support and motivation that comes with it - and our members do, too. We hope that this selection of success stories will help and encourage you that you can achieve your goals, as well, with your own determination and the support of our community. Thank you to everyone who is part of PrepLounge!

Cristian's Success Story – From Candidate to Top 25% in The Firm

You are about to read an impressive success story, and we are proud to say that Cristian has once been a candidate on PrepLounge. From hating the job when he joined the firm, he was consistently in the top quartile of Firm performers in the region after changing his mindset about it. As a case coach on PrepLounge, he now helps candidates on the platform land their dream job in management consulting.

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Cristian

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MPhil in International Development at the University of Oxford

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Berlin

Where have you applied and what was the outcome of your interview?

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Applied for: McKinsey

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Got an offer from: McKinsey

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Took the offer from: McKinsey

How did you prepare for your case interview?

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This is how I used PrepLounge: PrepLounge was great in terms of practicing more cases and learning from my peers. I was struggling quite a bit finding other case partners, and didn't have much success when reaching out individually to people via LinkedIn. PrepLounge gave me access to an entire database of candidates who were as eager as me to get better.

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My tip for others when preparing for the case interview: First, grasp the basics of the interview: how the case works, what is expected from the personal fit part, and how to create an application strategy and timeline. There are plenty of helpful materials available on PrepLounge. Second, aim to practice with as many other candidates as possible. Here, also, PrepLounge is an excellent tool because it gives you access to a large pool of candidates, at different skill levels, all seeking to improve. And last, reach out to the experts for mentorship, interview readiness assessment, and a final polish of your skills.

Can you share the experience you made during the case interview?

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Things that did not go as planned during my case interview: Half of my interview rounds contained non-traditional cases that the interviewer created on the spot. That only stands to show that learning frameworks are not a reliable preparation strategy. I was fortunate to have prepared multiple types of cases and to have practiced enough to be able to structure the problem on my own.

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Things that went successful during my case interview: I was surprised to see how supportive everybody was during the application process - from HR to the senior consultants that interviewed me and the Partners in the final round. Everybody gave me the feeling that they wanted me to succeed and join them. I only had to show them I had the skills and enthusiasm to be one of them.

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My tip for other PrepLounge Members and their case interview: Take all the time that you need to prepare. Don't rush the process. All the consulting firms that you want to apply to are still going to be there in a few months from now. Rather than applying early, without sufficient preparation, and failing, take your time, practice, and get the resources you need to improve.

Ebru's Success Story – From Candidate to Coaching

Ebru is one of many case coaches on PrepLounge who has prepared on PrepLounge herself and came back from her time at McKinsey to now support YOU in your case interview preparation. Read through her success story and her tips for your interview!

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Ebru

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Business and Economics at London School of Economics (LSE)

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Berlin

Where have you applied and what was the outcome of your interview?

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Applied for: McKinsey

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Got an offer from: McKinsey

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Took the offer from: McKinsey

How did you prepare for your case interview?

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This is how I used PrepLounge: PrepLounge was crucial for my success in landing an offer with McKinsey. I practiced with case partners and took some coaching sessions.

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My tip for others when preparing for the case interview: Start preparing for the interviews with other candidates and coaches rather sooner than later. I started seeing success in my practice when I received direct feedback. This way, you don't need to solve tons of cases. Don't neglect the personal experience and fit interviews, as they are equally important.

 

Can you share the experience you made during the case interview?

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Things that did not go as planned during my case interview: I made an error in one of the calculations. It wasn't a dealbreaker, as I could fix it with a hint from the interviewer.

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Things that went successful during my case interview: I was impressed by how professional and kind the interviewers have been. I at times forgot that it was an interview, as the cases were so interesting to solve.

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My tip for other PrepLounge Members and their case interviews: Relax and show how much you enjoy solving problems during your interviews. Your enthusiasm and energy are as important as your skills.

Paolo's Success Story – Bain Consultant and Case Coach on PrepLounge

Paolo is an MBB strategy consultant with previous experience in the startup world as both co-founder and capital advisor, and currently doing his MBA at Columbia Business School. Make sure to check out his coaching profile!

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Paolo

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Engineering at Bocconi University / MBA at Columbia Business School

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Milan

Where have you applied, and what was the outcome of your interview?

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Applied for: BCG, Bain, AT Kearney, Strategy&, L.E.K, AlixPartners

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Got an offer from: BCG, Bain, AT Kearney, Strategy&, L.E.K, AlixPartners

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Took the offer from: Bain

How did you prepare for your case interview?

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This is how I used PrepLounge: I used it extensively during my MBA time to practice with peers and bought 5 plus coaching sessions with coaches. The most helpful part of it was to get the different "nuances" of my performance from very sophisticated and trained interviewers that were already in consulting. This quite raised the bar and allowed me to perfect my craft.

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My tip for others when preparing for the case interview: 
0) Start by reading a book on case interviews - it will save you a lot of time and orientate quickly your preparation
1) Devote at least 30% of your overall preparation time to fit interview and practice your stories/answers with coaches and not just peers - your stories should be original, unique, well-thought - this shows the interviewer you made a decent deal of self-reflection before jumping into wanting a consulting career
2) Book at least 3–5 sessions with professional interviewers at the beginning middle and especially the end of the preparation period since this will give you control on how to approach the overall preparation and an "initial baseline" which is way more accurate than the one painted by peers at a different stage of preparation
3) Read a lot of cases including solutions in-between your cases to elevate your business sense of different industries - Also create and maintain a 101 summary and understanding of different industries (e.g. Energy, Materials, FMCG) to boost your confidence in taking cases relating to different industries (SP tear sheets are very helpful)
4) Keep track of your feedbacks in an "almost obsessive" manner and deliberately focus to improve each one of them with a clear strategy (that can be more easily determined via interaction with professional coaches vs. peers)
5) Spend time on LinkedIn contacting / correctly networking with future peers in the office you decided to apply to obtain relevant/unique info to then apply in fit interviews

Can you share the experience you made during the case interview?

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Things that did not go as planned during my case interview: My ramp-up time in being able to craft a unique, to-the-point, relevant framework for almost every possible type of cases

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Things that went successful during my case interview: I truly enjoyed working through cases, which at the beginning I was not sure about. Now, after 5 years in BCG I take this mindset / feeling as being a very good predictor of whether the consulting career is a good choice for you

Arie's Success Story – From PrepLounge Candidate to McKinsey Consultant to Case Coach

Read through Arie's success story! Before joining McKinsey in 2019 he prepared for his case interview on PrepLounge. At McKinsey, he even interviewed candidates within their first-round interviews. He joined PrepLounge to share the knowledge he gained at PrepLounge and help you land your dream job in management consulting. 

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Arie

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MBA at IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland

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Chile

Where have you applied and what was the outcome of your interview?

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Applied for: BCG, McKinsey

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Got an offer from: BCG, McKinsey

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Took the offer from: McKinsey

How did you prepare for your case interview?

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This is how I used PrepLounge: I used the published case studies and practiced with peers

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My tip for others when preparing for the case interview: Practice makes perfect, there is no such thing as being over prepared.

Can you share the experience you made during the case interview?

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Things that did not go as planned during my case interview: Round 2 can be quite unpredictable in terms of structure. One of the partners gave me a case in less than 10 minutes and used the rest of the time on fit questions

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Things that went successful during my case interview: Most of the time your interviewers actually want you to succeed, use this to your advantage!

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My tip for other PrepLounge Members and their case interviews: The interview process can actually be a fun and enjoyable experience if you enjoy working through case studies. Focus on enjoying the process rather than thinking about the outcome, and you’ll see yourself making great progress as you prepare.

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Eve

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Master’s in International and Sustainable Finance, KU Leuven, Belgium

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Taipei, Taiwan

Where have you applied and what was the outcome of your interview?

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Applied for: McKinsey

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Got an offer from: McKinsey

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Took the offer from: McKinsey

How did you prepare for your case interview?

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This is how I used PrepLounge: I subscribed to the premium version and essentially used all the services: Bootcamp articles, mental math practice tools, casing with online partners, video tutorials, and Q&A forums. The most valuable part of PrepLounge for me was the variety of casing partners; they were all from different backgrounds and levels, but equally dedicated. This gave a realistic simulation of the interviewers that you might face in the real thing.

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My tip for others when preparing for the case interview: Don’t underestimate the workload! Start early, and try talking to your partners after each casing session. I can’t emphasize enough how much I learned from the people I met on PrepLounge; many generously shared prep techniques, case books, or pro-tips that I never would’ve thought of myself.

Can you share the experience you made during the case interview?

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Things that did not go as planned during my case interview: Unlike a standard mock casing session, during my interviews, a case seldom finishes before time is up. My advice is a strong start with a solid framework is much more important than rushing to the end; slow and steady wins the race.

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Things that went successful during my case interview: I got the impression that interviewers understood how hard we had tried to get that interview, so they usually helped a bit when I got stuck. Their patience was greatly appreciated and often what I needed to solve a question.

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My tip for other PrepLounge Members and their case interview: Never break character! The interviewers are trained to not let slip what they think of your performance during the process, so if you’re stressing out because you think they didn’t like something you said, it’s probably unfounded fear. Just relax and try to make a connection.

More Success Stories

Some of our members prefer to keep it anonymous, and their stories are equally motivating and encouraging! We are grateful to all members who share their experience and their case interview journey on PrepLounge. It helps other candidates to get a first feeling for the application process while making PrepLounge an even better platform. Every success story is unique and an important contribution to our PrepLounge community!  

"The most precious thing is that there is a huge community on this website"

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Got an offer from: McKinsey, BCG, Bain & Company

PrepLounge is a perfect website to organize your preparation for the consulting process you have. You will get a lot of information from some blog posts and access to a lot of cases with graphs and indications.
The most precious thing is that there is a huge community on this website, and the unique value you have is to organize training sessions with this community. The format is an audio call divided into two slots of 45 min where you can give a case to the other, and then you exchange the role. What is really great is that the people on this platform are experienced and are giving great feedback to help you improve. The community is very large, so you have the opportunity to arrange calls in a lot of different languages (for me practicing cases in French was really helpful).
Finally, I would recommend the premium subscription of 6 weeks, which I took for the huge content you unlock from it in terms of cases and of course the number of interviews you can plan. I've trained with amazing people on PrepLounge who now got an offer in the MBB.

"I can't see a better tool to use than Preplounge"

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Got an offer from: Bain & Company, BCG

I would say that the candidate does not need to understand a lot of business concepts in depth to succeed, but understanding these concepts will enrich your speech and make you more confident about what you are saying, so I would recommend doing this, at least for the most frequent concepts in business cases. Nevertheless, since it won't give you an offer, in my opinion, the candidate needs to put the most effort into the next step, the practical business cases sessions, and at this point, I can't see a better tool to use than Preplounge. It will definitely provide you with the inner skills that the candidate needs to succeed in case interviews.

"Awesome resource and community"

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Got an offer from: Deloitte Consulting

My consulting process took a little longer than ideal (4 years), but they stuck with me throughout. The coaches are very helpful and over the years I went through around 200 practice cases with people from a huge range of backgrounds, based out of 5 continents. Definitely recommend it to anyone starting the process of pursuing consulting.

"Had success in my dream firm thanks to PrepLounge"

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Got an offer from: Strategy&

Thanks to PrepLounge I received a full-time offer at the consulting firm of my dreams! The platform provided me not only with the relevant materials, but also with a wide range of competent case partners to practice with. To give my preparation further polish, I joined a coaching program. All the coaches were really supportive and helpful. While it's not impossible to receive an offer without the coaches, they can really fine-tune your performance and save you i) time and ii) failures. Considering the opportunity cost, I found the program worth every penny and would book it again with no doubt. Thanks, PrepLounge!

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