How to Get Into the Worlds Best Consulting Firms eBook

7/30/2019 How to Get Into the Worlds Best Consulting Firms eBook

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InterviewBay Presents

How to GeBest Cons

Author:Co-Author: Website:Email:US and InternatioUK:

t Into the Worllting Firms

Aleksandra LangePooja Adarkar www.interviewbay.com [email protected]

nal: +1 203 541 0444+44 203 002 0322

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Table of Contents1.0 Consulting ................................................................................................................................... 3

1.1 Overview of the Industry .................................................. .................................................. .... 3

1.2 Major Consulting Firms ....................................................... .................................................... 4

1.3 Day in the life of a Strategy Consultant ................................................. ................................. 5

1.4 Application process ................................................... .................................................. ............ 6

1.5 Interview Process ...................................................... .................................................. ............ 6

1.5.1 Monitor Group interview process ......................................................... ................................. 6

1.5.2 LEK Consulting interview process .......................................................................................... 8

1.6 Resume Reviewing .................................................... .................................................. ............ 8

1.7 Levels and promotion paths .......................................................... ......................................... 9

1.8 Desirable qualities ..................................................... .................................................. ............ 9

2.0 Salary Statistics ....................................................................................................................... 11

2.1 Salaries for different job positions ................................................. ....................................... 11

2.2 Salaries for different genders ........................................................ ....................................... 11

3.0 Interview Dos and Donts .................................................................................................... 12

3.1 DOs ............................................ .................................................. .......................................... 12

3.2 DONTs .................................................. .................................................. ............................... 14

4.0 Interview Tips by Alumni .................................................................................................... 16

4.1 McKinsey & Company ............................................ .................................................. ............. 16

4.2 Boston Consulting Group ....................................... .................................................. ............. 17

4.3 Booz & Company ............................................ .................................................. ..................... 18

4.4 A.T. Kearney ................................................... .................................................. ..................... 20

4.5 LEK Consulting ................................................ .................................................. ..................... 21

4.6 Monitor Group ............................................... ................................................ ....................... 23

5.0 Feedback given by our interviewers ............................................................................... 25

5.1 Criteria.................................................................................... ............................................... 25

5.2 Feedback Example .................................................... .................................................. .......... 25

6.0 Interviewees Testimonials ................................................................................................ 29

6.1 Examples .............................................. .................................................. ............................... 29

7.0 What next? ................................................................................................................................ 30


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1.0 ConsultingShould a pharmaceutical firm acquire its biggest competitor? Would it be cost-efficient for an

airline company to implement an innovative technological training programme? This is onlya small sample of the mind-boggling questions that strategic consultants tackle on a daily

basis.

1.1 Overview of the IndustryStrategic Consulting aims at developing customised solutions for companies, who seek to

augment their strategic framework and capabilities in a complex business environment.

Strategy consultants are highly sought after by firms, governments, and non-profit

organisations for two principal reasons. Firstly, they analyse the functioning of a particular

company from an outsiders perspective. Hence, the advice they provide is external and non-

biased. They have a strong and clear understanding of the marketplace due to their experience

of working with different companies in varying industries. Secondly, the consulting industry

is characterised by an array of specialties, such as finance, healthcare, and the like, which

provide clients with a wide-ranging platform of specialist expertise.

Strategy consultants work with management teams of particular organisations, whose main

goal is to maintain and develop growth. Since strategy consulting focuses on the big picture,

consultants rarely collaborate on projects with department heads and employees, who are in

charge of specific functions within the business.

The type of strategy implemented by a consultant is wholly dependent on the nature of a

clients problem or need. Strategies may pertain to decisions concerning mergers and

acquisitions or the revamping of a current operating model due to changing consumer needs.

Firstly, a successful strategy must be embedded in a profound and detailed analysis of the

austere business environment. Secondly, it must be customised to the distinctive competitive

situation of the respective client.

Thirdly, the strategy has to penetrate through and be lived out by every division of the

company.


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Overall, the consulting industry has come out strong in face of the negative impacts the

economic recession bestowed on the global economy. The industry managed to remain stable

due to the long-term nature of its contracts and projects. Unsurprisingly, the branch of

consulting that has been rising in popularity and has consequently experienced higher profits

is crisis management consulting.

1.2 Major Consulting Firms

The four main companies that specialise in strategy consulting are

McKinsey & Company

Booz & Company

Bain & Company

The Boston Consulting Group

A number of other consulting firms compete with the main four, such as

Accenture Management Consulting

A.T. Kearney

LEK Consulting

Monitor Group

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants

Strategic Consultants from these firms provide advice and guidance to numerous industries

on various issues.

Bain & Company provides consulting services to sectors ranging from Airlines and

Transportation to Private Equity and Financial Services. Furthermore, Accenture set up

Accenture Development Partnerships eight years ago, which aims at transforming theorganisations of NGO clients. For example, one of their projects consisted of restructuring

UNICEFs supply chain for HIV/AIDS drugs. Strategy consulting is characterised by the

diversity of projects that its employees work on.


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1.3 Day in the life of a Strategy Consultant

Typical days do not exist in the life of a strategic consultant. However, there are two

constants, namely high pressure and extensive travel. A consultant will find himself/herself

engaged in projects of varying lengths, ranging from a few weeks to several months to even

years. The projects may span all types of industries or may pertain to an industry or two

depending on the consultants discretion and preferences at work.

According to a Booz & Company alumnus, the life of a management consultant is

characterised by intellectual stimulation. Consultants are faced with very complex issues on a

daily basis, so they must be keen to stretch their minds. A future consultant must also be

prepared to sleep 4-5 hours per day on a regular basis and from time to time has to be ready

to pull an all-nighter. Moreover, travel is a central part of the work process. Management

consultants are frequently sent to new cities and new countries, where they have no friends;

therefore, indirectly, they are encouraged to work more. Finally, the day of a management

consultant is filled with pressure, especially if an important deadline is coming up.

Consequently, a consultant has to know how to handle pressure well in order to avoid

disappointing the client. However, on a brighter note, the alumnus does emphasise that thehard work consultants put into their job is greatly rewarded.

Greig Schneider, an associate at McKinsey, begins his working day at 6:15am and ends at

10:30pm (ConsultingCase101 website). He finds it difficult to pin down a typical day at the

office, because he claims that no day is like the other. However, he mentions that activities

such as meeting the clients team, checking voice mail on a regular basis, interviewing

industry experts, participating in conference calls, working through new data, attending team

meetings, and meeting for dinner with clients are all essential aspects of a consultants life atwork.


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1.4 Application process

Many consultancies conduct their application process according to the following steps:

1. Most firms set up online career portals where they manage the application process for

internships and permanent positions. You can find examples of such portals on the

McKinsey & Company and Boston Consulting Group websites. An interested

applicant would create an account on the online career portal. Most often, the first

section of the application form would concern information on the education

completed to date, achievements, personality, language skills, and IT knowledge. The

second section is usually more tricky and requires more time to complete on average

as it asks for reasons for applying to the chosen position. In the final part of the

application form, the applicant would need to add his/her CV and a covering letter to

fully complete the online process.

2. The second part of the application process is concerned with interviews , whose set up

varies between consulting firms. Most often a few interview rounds are conducted by

more or less senior consultants. In addition, the interview process may include case

studies and numerical tests on top of the standard competency measures. If you seek

more detailed information concerning interviews, do have a look at InterviewBays

interview tips page .

3. If a candidate successfully passes all of the interviews, he/she will be offered an

internship or permanent position at the company.

1.5 Interview Process

Following are a few examples explaining how the interview process proceeds in each of the

companies.

1.5.1 Monitor Group interview process


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1.5.2 LEK Consulting interview process

LEK Consulting organises a typical case-based set of interviews. These interviews are meant

to test a candidates analytical and strategic thinking. When interviewing undergraduates,

LEK focuses on a candidates analytical side, whereas when interviewing MBA applicants,

LEK emphasises both analytics and strategic thinking.

There are two to three rounds of interviews at LEK Consulting. The first round is composed

of two 45-minute case interviews. The second round consists of interviews evaluating a

candidates strategic thinking. The final round is comprised of one case interview

orchestrated by an engagement manager and two behavioural interviews with LEK partners.

For a more thorough overview of the interview process at LEK Consulting click here.

1.6 Resume Reviewing

Before being called for the final interview, the applicants resume goes through an intense

reviewing process. For a strategy consulting job post, a team of analysts, associates and

managers are present for reviewing the resume. The review team will consist of at-least 3 to

5 people who will first go through the applicants resume individually and then again in

groups. It is important to note that most of this team might be graduates of the applicants

school itself (undergraduate, graduate or MBA). The final decision of whether to call for the

interview is taken by this review committee. The resume review process is mainly handled by

the juniors in the company but the interview process and offering the job is in the hands of

the seniors.

Each member of the team receives a bundle of resumes, which can vary from 30 to 300.

Many a times, covering letters could be excluded from this pack, thus it is important to focus

on energies and frame the resume in a way that it falls in the top-notch category. Remember

that consultants spend one whole minute reading your resume that is double the time of that

spent by bankers on a finance resume (30 seconds). Still one minute is really fast, placing

premium on attention-grabbing bullets; concise, results-oriented experiences; clean

formatting and styling. Once the individual reviewing process is done it is followed by


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reviewing each resume as a group, comparing notes and sharing insights. It is here that the

decision of Selected or Rejected is made.

If an applicants resume is successful in demonstrating good academic grades along with

significant work experience in the field and is highlighting strong leadership skills and hard-

working abilities through some of the tasks undertaken in the past, then the job could be in

the applicants favour. Overall, what the review team generally looks for is how good you can

fit into the management consulting job and whether you can prove to be successful in your

ventures. However there is no specific benchmark or cut-off as the selection process could

vary from company to company.

1.7 Levels and promotion paths

Once an applicant manages to secure a job offer from a target firm, his/her career path will

look very much alike across consulting firms. The titles may differ between companies;

however, the functions at equivalent levels are almost identical.

Entry levels for university graduates and MBA graduates are often differentiated. The former

would enter the consulting firm as an analyst , whereas the latter would commence his/her

career as an associate . The promotional path thereafter progresses as such: Manager ,Senior Manager and Director.

1.8 Desirable qualities

There are several qualities that give a candidate a good starting point for a successful career

in consulting. They are listed below:

1. Great communication skills it is necessary to know how to communicate ideas

and build strong rapport with clients.

2. Ability to accurately evaluate information a consultant must be able to detect

inefficiencies within a company in order to help his/her client.

3. Ability to formulate realistic predictions for the outcome of specific courses of

action.


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4. Creativity to demonstrate the capacity to see all the potential strategies that could

benefit the client.

5. Commendable educational background

6. Strong work experience

Once you become a management consultant, there is an IMC USA Management Consulting

Competency Framework that you should follow in order to become successful in the

consulting industry. According to the Framework, a successful consultant should have a

balance of the following behaviours, skills, and knowledge:

1. Market knowledge and capability

2. Consulting competencies

3. Consulting skills, behaviours, and ethics

If you would like some more information on the competencies listed above have a look at this

website: http://www.imcusa.org/?page=CONSULTINGCOMPETENCY


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2.0 Salary Statistics2.1 Salaries for different job positions

The numbers quoted below are to give a general idea as salaries vary with firms and with theregion of the country.

Position Level Salary

Research Associate(No Bachelors) $40,000-80,000

First Year Analyst(bachelors degree) $55,000-80,000 (plus bonus of$5,000-$10,000)

Second Year Analyst:(bachelors degree) $60,000-120,000 (plus bonus of$10,000-20,000)

Management Consultant(MBA) $80,000 - 170,000

Senior Consultant(MBA + 2-5 years) $280,000

Junior Partner(MBA/Ph.D + 5 years ormore) $450,000

Senior Partner(MBA/Ph.D + 5-20 years) $600,000(bonus: up to $3,000,000)

(Career-in-Business, 2011)

2.2 Salaries for different genders

Strategy consulting has more male employees than female. There are approximately 75%

males and 25% females in the consulting industry. In the junior levels, the salaries of women

generally range from $40,000 to $80,000 while that of men ranges from $50,000 to $90,000

annually.


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3.0 Interview Dos and Donts

3.1 DOs

1. Focus on the firm, avoid generic answers

Before going to the interview, make sure you conduct a thorough research of the

target company. It is inevitable that during the interview, the interviewer will ask

you why you chose this particular company. Make sure you know what makes the

company unique amongst its competitors. In addition, keep in mind that the office

you are applying to is most certainly different to the companys other offices

across the world. You should aim at providing a strong and textured answer

explaining why you have chosen this particular firm and this particular office.

For example, if you were applying to the Monitor Group, you might want to

mention that employees usually work on two cases at the same time. This is

different to other consultancies where working on one case is standard procedure.

In addition, employees at Monitor Group have no travel requirements; if they wish

they may travel as frequently as employees do in other consultancies; however, it

is not a prerequisite. Finally, you might want to talk about the fact that each office

at Monitor Group is part of a global profit pool. As a consequence, there is farmore intermingling amongst employees and more opportunity for them to get

staffed on international cases or to switch offices.

At an LEK Consulting interview, you might want to talk about the shorter nature

of cases (from 6 to 8 weeks per case). Consultants at LEK Consulting tend to have

more immediate responsibility when they begin their jobs and they tend to directly

manage several Associates or Associate Consultants from their first day. Similarly

to Monitor Group, LEK Consulting is a global partnership, which means that

every employee has a vested interest in how other offices perform.

2. Take part in networking events

Try to network with current employees of the target company before going to the

interview. If you manage to secure some contacts, be sure to mention their names


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while being interviewed. This will reveal the high extent of your effort in terms of

interest in the job.

3. Expose your strong analytical skills

The interviewers are looking for signs of depth of thought and insight during case

interviews. You should aim at rising above the run-of-the-mill responses in order

to prove to the interviewer that you can be a strong contributor in the team youd

ideally join. Saying that, you should employ an analytical framework while

solving complex problems; however, you shouldnt be too rigid. Try to

demonstrate flexibility in your idea generation and aim at coming up with

innovative answers. Moreover, you should try to manage your time well during

the execution of case studies. Do not get bogged down in the details. It is essential

to provide a full-rounded picture of the case study at hand. Finally, make sure you

answer the question correctly. If you are unsure of some aspects of the case study,

ask the interviewer for some guidance upfront.

4. Demonstrate desirable traits

During the interview, you should try to make the interviewer like you by being

engaging and positive. At the end of the interview, the interviewer must feel like

youd fit in well with the culture and team at the target firm. However, it is also

important to be confident, articulate, and succinct. The interviewer should be able

to recognise through your behaviour certain characteristics that are undeniably

necessary in the role of a consultant. An attitude you should display is an

entrepreneurial one in contrast to an employee one. An entrepreneurial attitude

consists of working your hardest until you get the job done. An employee attitude

is fulfilling the bare minimum and going home at the expected time. The

interviewer will want to see that you are a person with a hunger for work and the

desire to exceed expectations.

5. Practice behavioural interviewing

Often candidates focus on perfecting their analytical problem-solving skills that

are needed for case interviews and in doing so they neglect their behavioural


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interviewing skills. It is paramount to also practice the latter, because you must

show that you can fit in the firm. You should focus on presenting experiences that

prove that you are a team player, a natural leader, and a passionate individual.

6. Sleep a lot before the interview day.

7. Bring a pad of paper and a pen. You might need to use them while tackling complex

problems or working with numbers.

8. Prepare some genuinely interesting questions to ask the interviewer.

3.2 DONTs

1. Dont be unstructured

When tackling a problem during a case interview, dont start talking until youve

set a structure in your mind. The interviewer wants to see whether you think

logically or not and whether you have thought the problem through. Dont hesitate

to take some time to think over the problem; it is not necessary to start talking

immediately.

2. Dont give up during any questions

It is imperative not to give up during a case interview while answering any of the

questions. The interviewer will give you hints along the way, so try to use them to

help yourself find a solution to the problem.

3. Dont repeat stories

During behavioural interviews you should avoid repeating stories that you used todescribe your skills on your application form or in any other interview you might

have had with the company. It shows a lack of motivation and passion, which is

an undesirable feature for a consultant.

4. Dont be demeaning or condescending to other candidates


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4.0 Interview Tips by Alumni

At InterviewBay, we have a fantastic network of alumni, who conduct interviews with our

customers. Below are several interview tips articles by alumni, which will definitely come in

handy when applying to a consulting firm.

4.1 McKinsey & Company

An interview with Cara Eisenberg, an alumnus of McKinsey & Company:

Cara Eisenberg received her BA Summa Cum Laude from Princeton University. On

graduation, she joined the strategy consulting division of Deloitte as an analyst. She was

promoted to Senior Associate before leaving for Harvard Business School, (HBS). After

graduating HBS with distinctions, she joined McKinsey & Company. She left to pursue a

passion in solar power and helped found the Solar Neighbours Program. After having

children, she switched tracks and is now writing children's books. Her website is

www.CaraAboutYou.com

InterviewBay: Why did you choose to go into management consulting?

There were three things that drew me to management consulting.

I liked the idea of working in a team with brilliant people.

Lateral thinking puzzles were a hobby of mine; the intellectual challenge of strategy

consulting appealed to me.

I still hadn't picked a specialty. Therefore, I felt I would benefit from the insider view

that consulting offers into many different businesses.

InterviewBay: Any suggestions for the McKinsey resume?

When you list your experience, try to show the results you achieved. Prove that you didn't

just hold a position. You excelled at it. One mistake people often make is trying to add too

many things to their resume. This can clutter and obscure their truly impressive

accomplishments.

Rather than trying to include everything you have ever done, pick the entries which most

clearly show the qualities McKinsey is looking for: "problem solving, achieving, personal


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impact and leadership". This should fit on two pages at the most. Do include a small section

on personal interests. This is not because you'll have time to actually do these activities once

you are a McKinsey consultant, but because McKinsey is looking to hire diverse, interesting

people.

Access the rest of the article at.

http://www.interviewbay.com/interview_tips/McKinsey-and-Company-Interview-tips.php

4.2 Boston Consulting Group

An interview with an ex consultant from BCG.

InterviewBay: A brief background about yourself.

I grew up in Asia with a rather homogeneous, structured and sheltered life. I went to the US

for college and upon attaining my BS; I became a product scientist for a global consumer

goods company. I thoroughly enjoyed my work but realized in order to progress my career, I

would likely need to pursue a PhD, which is not something I am interested in doing. Instead,

I decided to pursue an MBA. Business school really widened my horizonsI never heard of

McKinsey or Goldman Sachs until then! I was truly intrigued by the profession of a

management consultantwith my scientific mind, I thought the business school is the

classroom learning and management consulting is like lab where you apply what you learn.

I received 5 consulting summer internships after my first year of MBA and decided to join

BCG for I enjoyed the BCG people I met the most and joined BCG full time when I

completed my MBA studies. In my 4 years at BCG, I worked in 7 countries, 6 industries and

5 functional areas. I left BCG probably during the height of my careerI got to pick the

projects I want, I received fantastic performance reviews, I was appointed to head up

recruiting in addition to my consulting work. However, I was truly burned out. When I

looked at the projects I was leading and my recruiting role in isolation, I love them, impactful

work, engaging and responsive clients (which at times can be rare!) and a dream

BCG consultant team (this is not always the case!), but I was just having a miserable time so

I know it was time to leave. The best part of BCG is the calibre of the people, many remain

my close friends. BCG also gave me an incredibly solid set of foundational skills that I

leverage for the many roles and companies I joined since. Since BCG, I held leadership roles

in strategy, business development and finance in multiple leading Fortune 500 companies.


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InterviewBay: Why did you choose management consulting?

I was intrigued by the idea of applying all the concepts and theories I learned at business

school in diverse real world situations. I was also attracted by the robust and disciplined

approach that management consulting firms take in professional development for their

consultants. BCG enabled me to have a very solid foundation of strategic, analytical,

conceptual and presentation skills that have been pivotal in my continued progression in my

career. Lastly, I was impressed by the management consultants that I met while at business

schoolthey just seemed to be very polished, refined, and amiable compared to the

investment bankers and recruiters/executives from other companies.

InterviewBay: Would you suggest any special attention/keywords for a consulting resume(CV)?

I do not believe there is actually a consulting resume. Your resume should be:

Concise: Simple and succinct - no superfluous words, no spelling and grammatical

errors

Impactful: present what you accomplished (quantifiable achievements are preferred)

vs what you did

Crisp: adequate white space, smart formatting to guide the readers.


http://www.interviewbay.com/interview_tips/Boston-Consulting-Group-Interview-tips.php

4.3 Booz & Company

An interview with an ex consultant from Booz & Company.

InterviewBay: What is your background?

I joined Booz Allen Hamilton (now Booz & Co) after completing a law degree. During my

studies, I became less and less interested in actually working with it. For the transition into

business, consulting was the perfect place to start because other corporate jobs didnt accept

law graduates and consulting firms took on anyone who had good grades and was able to

pass their tough interview process. Why did I quit in the end? Consulting is not my calling. I

realize that I dont really enjoy being thrown into a new situation and dealing with a complex


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trading and reading annual reports as your hobbies and are thus likely to bore your

recruiter out of his mind during off time, you have a problem.

I wouldnt recommend any particular buzzwords let your achievements and interests

speak for themselves. Be yourself.


http://www.interviewbay.com/interview_tips/Booz-and-Company-Interview-tips.php

4.4 A.T. Kearney

An interview with a management consultant from A.T. Kearney

InterviewBay: A brief background about yourself.

I am a native Indian by descent and an engineer by background having done my bachelors

and masters degrees in Industrial Engineering. I worked within the software industry for 5

years before deciding to undertake Business school (Kellogg) to focus more on general

management, round out my entrepreneurial skills and in the short term get into management

consulting. I joined A.T.Kearney after Kellogg as an Associate in the London office, worked

there for 2.5 years and moved on to Oracle. I currently work as a Senior Director with Oracle

in the UK.

InterviewBay: Why did you choose management consulting?

A few core reasons for joining the management consulting profession from my side:

Intellectual Stimulation I like challenges being thrown at me and ones that are quite

diverse and varied. The profession allows me to sample different customer problems,

situations and industries with the primary objective of producing tangible and

impactful recommendations for the client.

Work hard and play hard attitude work alongside a bunch of people who are

collaborative and supportive not just at work but in general, but at the same time veryintent on ensuring a first class outcome.

Stepping stone to future success management consulting fine-tunes your ability to

have a structure and display logical thinking with any business problem a facet that

proves immensely useful in any later profession.


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InterviewBay: Would you suggest any special attention/keywords for a

consulting resume (CV)?

Your resume should focus on results. I would recommend a STAR (situation, task,

action, result) framework for all bullet points that you include in your work and non-

work accomplishments.

Extracurricular activities are an important way to demonstrate your interest and

passions outside the work environment, and ultimately bringing out the all-

roundedness in you.

Make sure its one page long and not more (unless you have more years of experience

than the average candidate and want to explicitly identify particular experiences in

great detail)

Regardless of your career & industry, you can exhibit the same parallel skills that are

employed by managements consultants namely research and analytics, people

leadership and project management, Client relationship management, Persuasion etc

InterviewBay: How did you prepare for A.T. Kearney interview? (books,

networking, etc)

I used the following resources at my disposal for rigorous preparation:

Case Interview Guides from my business school (Kellogg) as well as reviewing

guides from other schools (Wharton, Duke, Harvard etc)

Adequate case preps with fellow colleagues and seniors at business school

Discussions with a few employees (informally) to gain first-hand view of their work

assignments, culture and priorities

Websites such as vault and wetfeet

Career Resources department within the business school.


http://www.interviewbay.com/interview_tips/AT-Kearney-Interview-tips.php

4.5 LEK Consulting

An interview with a consultant from LEK Consulting.


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InterviewBay: A brief background about you.

I attended a top 10 business school in a general management program and joined LEK

Consulting upon graduation. I was with LEK for approximately 2 years during which time I

worked on ~8 consulting projects. My functional experience on those cases spanned growth

strategy, operational improvement, M&A, and strategic planning. From an industry

perspective, my case work spanned several diverse industries including private equity,

technology, life science, and healthcare. I know work in a Corporate Strategy group at a top

rated venture backed start-up.

InterviewBay: Your perspective on Management Consulting

My decision to enter management consulting post business school was driven by a few

factors: 1) my passion for the fluidity and diversity of project based work, 2) my desire togain broad exposure to a variety of functional areas (e.g., marketing, sales, operations), and

3) a desire to gain formal training in strategy development.

I believe that management consulting, second perhaps only to an entrepreneurial endeavor,

teaches you more about different industries and functional areas than any other post-business

school exit opportunities. The pace of work is quick, hours can be grueling, and the work is

often at a very detailed level (even 'blue sky' strategy projects); what one gains in return the

opportunity to work with and for senior executives to solve their most pressing challenges.

Consulting forces a rigorous, analytical, and systematic approach to problem solving---key

transferable skills to any job.

InterviewBay: What are your suggestions for writing a resume for LEK

Consulting

In terms of how to make your resume stand out, ensure that you emphasize your achievement

(not just your function or activity). LEK looks for candidates with strong analytical ability,

demonstrated leadership, and proven team players. Particularly for post-MBA hires, having

experience with the last two criterion (leadership and team) are critical. If your pre-businessschool experience was not extremely quantitative or analytical, be prepared to articulate how

you've taken steps to develop this area (e.g., coursework). And of course, the case interview

will also demonstrate your analytical ability.

An effective way of communicating your achievements is to orient your resume by

articulating the project, your specific activity, and quantifying the impact or outcome of the


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project. This approach is useful even if you do not have experience in a typical, project based

employer. We reviewed all resumes and did not use software programs to scan resumes so

keywords are not particularly useful.

Lastly, be thoughtful in what you list down for your outside interests. I utilized this section

often in the behavioural interviews; digging in to a candidate's personal interests can often

demonstrate the candidate's passion and focus.


http://www.interviewbay.com/interview_tips/LEK-Consulting-Interview-tips.php

4.6 Monitor Group

Interview Process at Monitor Group by an ex-consultant of the firm:

Monitor has two rounds for interview candidates. The first round for undergraduate

candidates includes two case interviews (described below) and one behavioral interview. For

MBA candidates, the first round involves one case interview and one behavioral interview.

The structure of behavioral interviews is largely at the discretion of the individual

interviewer. They will typically begin with the candidate walking the interviewer through

their resume and why they made the decisions they made. The most important part of this

interview then follows, when the candidate will be asked why they are interested inconsulting and why Monitor specifically. The remainder of the interview will be spent

determining if the candidate has deep interests in subject areas and if they are someone that

the interviewer would enjoy having as part of their team. Questions surrounding interest

determination include: what companies do you follow? What issues are you most passionate

about? What leaders you do most respect? Questions to help them determine if they would

want you to be part of their team (other than the candidates general demeanor during the

interview) include: What are your favorite books/movies? How do you spend your free time?

How have you dealt with subordinates or peers that you have had a problem with?Final round interviews always include a group interview, typically 1-2 more behavioral

interviews and one scenario interview.

The group interview is another case interview (the document taking the form described

below). However, the candidate is in a room with 5-6 other candidates, each reading the

exact same case. This case will have 5-6 questions that need to be answered and before


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working on the case each candidate will be assigned one of these questions to answer. After

they have approximately 30 minutes to read the case and prepare their answer, the candidate

who was assigned the first questions goes up to the front of the room and presents his answer

to the other candidates. In answering the question, the candidate can make use of a

whiteboard. There are two Monitor consultants in the room observing the group interview;

however, they do not speak. The candidate presents his/her answer and the other candidates

are expected to refine the answer in a manner that is more supportive than inciting conflict.

The scenario interview sees the candidate read a brief case describing a scenario (i.e. a

consulting presenting to a client CEO). The scenario typically describes an actual

conversation. The candidate is then asked to indicate the aspects of that conversation that

were strong and those that they should not have said. Often the candidate is asked to present

to the Monitor consultant how they would have presented the same information.


http://www.interviewbay.com/interview_tips/Monitor-Group-Interview-tips.php


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ii. Think about different types of cases and prepare a simple but

logical opening.

4. Other comments/suggestions/remarks that you want to add to help the candidate in

his/her interview preparation.

a. Candidate will probably need to practice more cases with friends who

have a case interviewing background or seasoned interviewers to get

real strong in giving case interviews.

Example 2:

1. Please provide the candidates strengths.

a. Cultural and professional diversity. Emotional intelligence. Strong ethics leadership.

2. Please provide the candidates weaknesses.

a. Talks too much. Too much detail makes it seem like the student

doesnt know where the end point is and what structure to follow.

Hesitant when answering questions suggest to tell the interviewer

that he is thinking.

3. Please provide the key areas that candidate needs to improve to address the target

companys/business schools requirements

a. Speed at answering questions, no hesitation, confidence in

answers, follow the STAR structure when answering questions,

need to have a structure to things.

4. Other comments/suggestions/remarks that you want to add to help the candidate

in his/her interview preparation.

a. I think X is a very competent person and really needs to make a first

impression with the first few minutes. This is the key when the

interviewer will like/dislike him when addressing his candidacy. X

really needs to pound on his strengths, acknowledge his

weaknesses, and bring his inexperience to attention and make it

into a positive (fresh mind, willing to take risks, not jaded by any

system, wise beyond years, etc.)


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Example 3:


a. X has a background in consulting and strong analytic abilities. She

did well on the quick numerical case study, including all the steps

necessary for proper calculation. X also has a clear and friendly

communication style. She comes across honest and intelligent.


a. X would sometimes begin answering a question before she had

time to organise her response. She would benefit from taking the

time to compose a more structured answer. This contributed to X

being less successful with the broader case study. She should

replace saying only way with first way and challenge herself to

think broadly (which she absolutely has the ability to do!)



a. X needs to build her confidence for answering case studies. We have discussed where she can find cases online, which she will

practice out loud. This should also help her with creating structure.



a. Remember to reiterate and clarify the interviewers questions. When

you do, you are right on. (It also give you extra time to think). If you

can catch yourself giving a wondering answer, try to summarise

with the key points.


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Example 4:


a. The candidate has strong professional accomplishments and has

shown risk-taking ability in a short span of time. She also has been

able to articulate career progression and why she wants to pursue

an MBA and that too from the target business school very clearly.

Candidate also has conviction in the path she wants to pursue

forward.


a. Candidate needs to focus a bit on personal accomplishments too.

She is too focussed on her professional accomplishments and

needs to mix around her answers and experiences a bit. for e.g.

she needs to bring out experiences which though may have work-

related background bring out personality like her culture shock

essay.



a. Target business school likes balance people who can not only do

well professionally, but also those that have personal drives and are

fun people to be with. By focussing a little more on personal

landmarks/experiences, the application can be fortified.



a. The candidate also needs to focus on why she considers her

application to be stronger this time around given this is a re-

application to the target business school.


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6.0 Interviewees Testimonials

6.1 Examples

Below are few testimonials provided by some of our customers in regards to the mock

interview service they have taken at InterviewBay.

1. A consultant from USA joining Oliver Wyman, New York

I would like you to thank Julien. I have just accepted an offer at Oliver Wyman. I am

grateful for his help. Thank you

2. A graduate from Germany after receiving an internship offer from

McKinsey.

Thanks again for your great work and feedback! I got the job (internship)! Your

suggestions were really helpful and I think they made the difference! Thanks a lot!

(email to the interviewer)

3. An undergraduate from France, received a full-time offer from McKinsey

I have just passed the last round in Paris and got an offer from McKinsey, Paris! I am

so happy about it. Thank you very much for your help!

Thank you very much again!


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7.0 What next?

If you want to become a consultant and wish to be fully prepared for the real interview, thentake a mock interview with InterviewBay.

InterviewBay was created for those who have interviews and who wish to prepare for the

opportunity through exceptional mock interviews with ALUMNI of the organization.

Interviewees can work with alumni to 'perfect' their pitch and prepare for consulting, finance

and graduate school admissions interviews.

We conduct interviews with alumni of all the top consulting firms including McKinsey &Company, Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Booz & Company, A.T.

Kearney, Accenture, LEK, Monitor Group.

Click on the link below and get fully prepared!

Website: www.interviewbay.comEmail: [email protected] US and International: +1 203 541 0444UK: +44 203 002 0322

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